Weißbürzelgirlitz
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Weißburzelgirlitz ( Crithagra leucopygia ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Crithagra leucopygia | ||||||||||||
| Sundevall , 1850 |
The Weißbürzelgirlitz ( Crithagra leucopygia , syn .: Serinus leucopygius ), also known as the gray singer , is a species of finch from the goldfinch-like subfamily . The species is occasionally kept as an ornamental bird in Europe, in Senegal and Gambia the capture and sale of these birds is still of economic importance. There are two subspecies.
The IUCN classifies the Weißbürzelgirlitz as not endangered ( least concern ).
description
The Weißbürzelgirlitz reaches a body length of ten to eleven centimeters. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism . The head and back are ash brown with darker vertical stripes on the top of the body and chest. The wings and control feathers are dark brown with gray edges. The underside of the body is whitish, throat and chest are dashed brown. The rump is white, which is not found in any other type of girlitz. The beak, feet and legs are bright pink in color.
Young birds are more reddish-brown than ash-brown on the upper side of the body, the underside of the body is brownish.
Distribution area and habitat
The distribution area of the Weißbürzelgirlitz extends from Senegal across the African continent to Ethiopia . The habitat of the species is dry grassland with a few isolated trees and bushes on sandy soils. The Weißbürzelgirlitz has also opened up human habitat and occurs on the edges of fields and streets as well as in places and gardens.
Way of life
Weißbürzelgirlitz mainly occurs in pairs or in small groups. During their foraging on the ground, they are often socialized with finches , widow birds and the Mozambique girl. They eat seeds and occasionally buds. They have a particular preference for the seeds of Tridax procumbens , a plant introduced to Nigeria in the 1930s. To get to the seeds, the birds standing on the ground stand up as far as possible, grab the flower stem as high as possible, bend it towards the ground, stand with both feet on the stem and move sideways on the stem standing in front of the flower.
White rumpet girls are single breeders, but eight breeding pairs of white rumpet and Mozambique girls have been observed on one hectare of land. In Mauritania , the breeding season usually falls from October to February, in Senegal between September and March, in Nigeria from July to August and again in December. The nest is a compact bowl made from flower stalks, plant fibers, leaf parts and fine roots. The outer diameter averages six centimeters. The nest is usually set up in less than eight days and is usually found on or between two thin branches between 1.5 and 5 meters above the ground.
The clutch consists of two to four eggs. The breeding season is 13 days. The breeding business as well as the care of the young birds during the first week of life is done by the female alone. The male parent bird only takes part from the 7th day of life.
literature
- Horst Bielfeld : Knowing and caring for 300 ornamental birds. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5737-2 .
- C. Hilary Fry and Stuart Keith (Eds.): The Birds of Africa. Volume VII. Christopher Helm, London 2004, ISBN 0-7136-6531-9 .
Single receipts
Web links
- Crithagra leucopygia inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017.3. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2018.