Cinnamon heads

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Cinnamon heads
Zimtkopfliest (Todiramphus cinnamominusreichenbachii)

Zimtkopfliest ( Todiramphus cinnamominusreichenbachii )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Rockers (Coraciiformes)
Family : Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)
Subfamily : Lieste (Halcyoninae)
Genre : Todiramphus
Type : Cinnamon heads
Scientific name
Todiramphus cinnamominus
( Swainson , 1821)
Cinnamon heads at Lincoln Park Zoo

The cinnamon head ( Todiramphus cinnamominus ) is a representative of the kingfisher found in the Pacific region - genus Todiramphus .

features

The cinnamon head is about 20 cm long. It has a large, dark beak, a cinnamon-colored head, a dark eyeliner and blue-green upper wings. The two subspecies T. c. pelewensis and T. c. richbachii are characterized by a white throat and white undersides. In the two northern subspecies, the neck is cinnamon-colored. The males of the subspecies T. c. cinnamominus also have a cinnamon-colored breast and undersides of wings.

Occurrence

The distribution area of ​​the Zimtkopfliest is limited to three archipelagos in the southwestern Pacific , on each of which a subspecies occurs. On a fourth group of islands, another subspecies died out at the beginning of the 20th century.

Hazard and protection

The Ryūkyū Liest ( T. c. Miyakoensis ) is only known from a single specimen that was collected on the Japanese Miyako Islands in 1887 , since then the subspecies has been lost. The Guam-Reads T. c. cinnamominus became extinct in the wild due to the introduction of the brown night tree snake ; There are populations in captivity, but reintroduction would only be possible if snake-free areas can be created. The holdings of T. c. richbachii on Pohnpei have decreased significantly for reasons that are not yet clear.

Subspecies

  • T. c. cinnamominus ( Swainson 1821); subspecies found only on the island of Guam .
  • T. c. pelewensis ( Wiglesworth 1891); endemic to the Palau Islands .
  • T. c. reichbachii ( Hartlaub 1852); their distribution area includes the island of Pohnpei and the archipelago of the Karolinen .
  • † T. c. miyakoensis or Todiramphus miyakoensis ( Kuroda 1919); this subspecies occurred on the Japanese Ryūkyū islands until the beginning of the 20th century . Some authors regard it as a distinct species.

Behavior and food

The Zimtkopfliest is a hide hunter . It feeds on soil insects , grasshoppers, and small reptiles .

literature

Web links