Miniature Flycatcher
| Miniature Flycatcher | ||||||||||||
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Male of the miniature flycatcher ( Ficedula parva ) |
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| Ficedula parva | ||||||||||||
| ( Bechstein , 1792) |
The miniature flycatcher ( Ficedula parva ) is a rare songbird in Central Europe. The obligatory migratory bird belongs to the genus of the cave flycatcher ( Ficedula ), which is represented in about 30 species in the Palearctic from Western Europe to Southeast Asia . Together with the taiga Fliegenschnäpper ( Ficedula albicilla ) and the Kashmir Flycatcher ( Ficedula subrubra ), which used both as a subspecies of Ficedula parva were performed to form a super species .
The focus of the distribution of Ficedula parva is in the southern boreal zone of Europe to the Urals . Small populations exist in central and northern Central Europe as well as in Southeastern Europe.
Appearance
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The miniature flycatcher is one of the smallest flycatchers with a body length of a good 11 centimeters. It is only slightly larger than a wren .
Older males are unmistakable due to their reddish-orange breast and mouse-gray head, but this age-old dress only appears in the second year of life, and older males often only have an indistinct red coloration of the throat. The best distinguishing feature, besides the small size, are the white outer tail feathers, which contrast strongly with the deep black of the rest of the tail. This achieves an effect that is reinforced by frequent stilts and fanning of the tail. The basic color of the head and back is a dull, rather dark brown; strong plumage markings are missing. The throat, chest and belly of males in the first year of life and of females are light with a yellowish tinge on the flanks. A yellowish-orange, narrow wing band is only faintly indicated. The large, black, light-rimmed eyes and the clearly orange-yellow base of the beak when viewed from below are striking.
Young birds are more yellowish-brown in color, colored females show more gray and pale isabel tones , the rust-red throat and chest area reminiscent of a robin is missing in the females. However, the tail drawing is distinctive in all ages and in both sexes.
voice
The dwarf flycatcher is rarely seen as a resident of the upper trunk and crown regions of old trees, but is noticeable because of its loud, far-reaching territorial song. The long stanza, which lasts three to four seconds, is almost always introduced by soft zit or tsiit sounds; this is followed by the clean-sounding, somewhat sloping, multi-part stanza, which can be reminiscent of the singing of a Fitis . The stanzas are individually very different. When singing, the tail feathers are often spread, the wings spread slightly and the throat color is presented. The singing is performed in singing stations, which are usually located in the middle section of the trunk, often on dead branches. As a rule, the miniature flycatcher begins to sing shortly before landing and then completes the verse while sitting. The singing activity of the species lasts only a few weeks and completely disappears with mating and the start of breeding. Even in bad weather, the species hardly sings.
The bright, short and sharp calls can only be heard in the immediate vicinity. Often a combination of a rasping Tzrrt , which, despite the significantly lower volume, is somewhat reminiscent of the wren's annoyance call , with a melodious, fluting Ülii can be heard.
distribution
Ficedula parva inhabits a wide belt of Eastern and Northeastern Europe, eastward to about the western flattening of the Ural Mountains . To the north, the main distribution area extends in places to the Arctic Circle, to the south the central Balkans and the Eastern Carpathians are reached. Further to the east, the southern limit of the closed distribution fluctuates around 50 ° north latitude. Another large breeding area is in the forested plains of the Caucasus , in the foothills of the Elburs Mountains, the northern Zagros Mountains and in the mountainous region of southwestern Turkmenistan . In the Perm Oblast and a little to the north and south of it, there is a wide contact zone with the closely related taiga flycatcher , whose distribution areas are eastward and extend to the Pacific coast .
Occasions in Austria westwards to Vorarlberg , in Bavaria and in some areas of northern and central Germany are partly isolated from this and mostly poor in population . The densest populations of miniature flycatchers in Germany are in the east near the Polish border. The species is also found on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and in places in the western and eastern Pontic Mountains . In Scandinavia , the miniature flycatcher is a regular and not uncommon breeding bird in south-eastern Finland , but it also breeds in places in south-west Finland and in some places in southern Sweden and very occasionally in southern Norway . In southwest Germany, Switzerland and Denmark , breeding season observations are made annually, but stable occurrences are currently unlikely to exist. In 2003, the first proof of breeding for this species in Switzerland was provided in eastern Switzerland ( Prättigau-Davos district ).
habitat
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The habitat structures of the species are very diverse according to the climatically quite different distribution areas. Mostly, however, a closed, old and tall tree population with rejuvenation islands and a crown that is not too tight is preferred. Ideal miniature flycatcher biotopes often have a restless soil relief; they are often located on steep slopes, on deeply cut rivers or in gorges. Proximity to water, a certain amount of dead wood or trees damaged by storm events or snow breakage as well as dying, broken or dead branches in the upper trunk area are also essential for optimal habitat structures of the species.
If these conditions are met, the tree species composition of the populated forests can be very different. There seems to be a preference for old mixed deciduous forests, but the dwarf flycatcher also breeds in the northern Russian spruce taiga , in loosened old oak stands and, if only rarely, in orchards with old, tall fruit trees. However, pure pine forests are usually not populated. In Central Europe and the Balkans, red beech and hornbeam stands are preferred, but various other tree species such as oak , maple or birch or spruce and fir can be added to these .
The vertical distribution of its breeding areas is just as different. Occurrences of miniature flycatchers can be found in the lowlands as well as in the colline and montane levels. In some distribution islands it breeds close to the respective tree line, in Armenia almost up to an altitude of 2300 meters. The Central European occurrences as well as the breeding sites in Southeastern Europe are mostly in the colline and submontane altitudes.
Food and subsistence
Miniature flycatchers feed mainly carnivorous on insects and smaller arachnids. Various ants , small beetle species, hover flies and real flies as well as small butterflies and their developmental stages play the main role in the diet of adult birds as well as nestling food . Occasionally small snails are also eaten. In autumn, berries are consumed as complementary food, in particular black and red elderberries as well as currants and blackberries .
The miniature flycatcher uses various hunting techniques: As a waiting hunter, it preyes on insects flying past in a short, rarely more than two meters long flight. Leaves, especially leaf margins and undersides of leaves, as well as individual trunk sections are inspected in a search flight that is more reminiscent of a leaf warbler, and discovered prey is read in a shaking whirring flight . The species mostly seeks and hunts its prey in the upper trunk section and in the crown area of the trees in its territory; Occasionally, miniature flycatchers can be seen in the shrub layer and rarely on the ground.
behavior
General
The miniature flycatcher is diurnal, but extends its activity phase into the twilight and early hours of the night in the mating and breeding season. During the singing peak in the courtship season, the males begin to sing about an hour before the start of the day, some sing well into the early night. During this time the species is strictly territorial, outside it is rather solitary, only rarely in small groups, sometimes also with other small birds. Particularly during the courtship season, but also outside of it, frequent tail twitching and tail wobbling is noticeable; the tail is often stilted according to the wren type and fanned out slightly so that the distinctive color markings are visible.
Aggression and enemy behavior
Rival males try to drive each other away by vigorous singing and poses. Sometimes they crash towards each other, but there is usually no physical contact.
The miniature flycatcher is usually very shy of potential predators and is extremely calm during the breeding season. In the event of disturbances, fresh clutches can be given up very quickly. This inconspicuous and very cautious behavior changes as the chicks hatch. Now the male is already warning of potential enemies that are very far away, and if they get closer, both parents try to drive the intruder away from the nesting site with beak clippers , wing flapping and swooping attacks.
hikes
The miniature flycatcher is an obligatory migratory bird in its entire range, as are the two closely related species Ficedula albicilla and Ficedula subrubra ; it is one of the rare south-east migrants in the European bird world. Ficedula parva moves individually or in smaller groups, especially during the night. The species only moves on in daylight if there is insufficient food at the resting places. The migration begins in August and reaches its peak in mid-September. Latecomers can be found in their breeding areas until the beginning of October. The move home is very quick. In the middle of March, the first migrants clear their wintering areas; all migrants did not leave their winter quarters until the beginning of May. The males begin to move away up to two weeks before the females and arrive accordingly earlier in the breeding area. In Central Europe, the first homecomers appear in the last decade of April. As with other migratory birds, there are indications of changing migration data.
The main wintering areas are in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. They extend from northwestern Pakistan and the western and southern foothills of the Himalayas south to Karnataka and east to about Bihar and Orissa . They only overlap in a few narrow strips with the wintering areas of Ficedula albicilla . Very few individuals already overwinter in eastern Greece, somewhat more in eastern Iraq or in western Iran and in the east of the Arabian Peninsula . In the wintering areas, the birds roam widely, mostly in small flocks and often with other species.
Reverse train
As with other migratory birds, the reverse migration phenomenon is relatively common in this species . Young birds in particular pull away in a direction that is opposite to the correct direction of migration. The causes of these misdirections have not been fully researched, but currently meteorological conditions in particular are discussed as triggers. Such miscarriages often reach the North Sea coast, southern England and western France in September and later. Especially on the Isles of Scilly , miniature flycatchers are observed regularly, and in some years even more frequently. Some of these birds can reorient themselves and then move in the correct direction, but mostly a little further south. Possibly such birds are the miniature flycatchers observed in northeast Africa and the southern Middle East .
Breeding biology
Most of the miniature flycatchers reach sexual maturity after their first return from their winter quarters, i.e. when they are just under one year old ; many of these annuals do occupy territory but do not yet brood .
The establishment and assertion of the territory and the courtship itself only take a relatively short time, rarely more than 2 to 3 weeks; during this period, which in Central Europe lies between the beginning of May and mid-June, miniature flycatchers can be quite noticeable. Immediately upon arrival, the males occupy a territory that is marked by courtship flights and loud territorial chants. During this, the male flies with fluttering, shaky wingbeats from one singing station to the next. If a female appears in the territory, the male begins to show suitable nesting sites, slips into caves, niches or half-caves in which it performs a ritualized nest hollow. Later the female also takes part in these nesting site explorations. The copulation is preceded by chase flights of several minutes, interrupted by poses in which the male stilts his tail and spreads it like a fan. Sometimes the female prances around the male with hanging wings.
Nest location and nest
The miniature flycatcher is a niche, cave or half-cave breeder. Often it uses small damaged areas in the trunk area, broken knots, niches created by protruding parts of the bark, or nesting holes of the coal tit or the small woodpecker as a breeding place. Sometimes the species also builds relatively free-standing, bowl-shaped nests in twig whorls. Nesting sites in crevices were also found. The miniature flycatcher only very rarely accepts nest boxes. A preference for nesting trees cannot be determined uniformly, but there could be a preference for hornbeams and linden trees ; the heights at which the nests are erected are also very different; they range from the ground close to considerable heights of 20 meters and more.
The nest is built almost exclusively by the female, the male only takes part in its construction in the first few days by bringing in nesting material.
Free-standing nests are tightly interwoven, cup-shaped constructions, but in the usual niche and semi-cave locations the nests are more loose, relatively voluminous accumulations of nesting material. Mainly different mosses , fine twigs and stalks, stems, ferns , and sometimes dry leaves are used to build nests. The lining of the nesting trough consists of various webs of caterpillars, spider threads, picked up wild hair, and sometimes feathers.
Clutch and brood
The clutch consists of 4–7 short oval, almost monochrome, light rust-brown or clay-yellow-looking eggs with an average size of 16.6 × 12.7 millimeters. The laying interval is 24 hours, usually after the fourth egg the female begins to brood firmly. The incubation period is about 15 days; During this time, the male is feeding the female about two to three times an hour. Even in the first days after hatching, the male provides the nestlings and the female alone with food. First it passes the food to the female, and from around the fourth day of life the chicks start to feed themselves. From this time onwards, the female also begins to hunt. During the rearing season, the feeding grounds of the species are very small, and the adult birds rarely move further than 100 meters from the nest. The young remain in the nest for about 16 days, only if there are disturbances they leave it a little earlier. They are already fully fledged and are looked after by their parents for a few days before they migrate .
The breeding period varies considerably from region to region; The earliest full clutch eggs were found towards the end of the first May decade, but the majority of the miniature flycatchers do not lay eggs and breed until mid-June. Miniature flycatchers breed once a year, only when there is a loss of clutch or when the breeding is abandoned, there are regularly smaller laggards.
In 1917 the ornithologist Gustav Wolff from Schötmar succeeded in obtaining the first reliable brood record of the miniature flycatcher in North Rhine-Westphalia , and in June of the same year he was able to take the first photo of a breeding pair in the Schötmar Castle Park.
Stock situation
The miniature flycatcher and the taiga miniature flycatcher are currently not considered endangered; however, little data are available for Ficedula albicilla . Since the miniature flycatcher is one of the species that are rather difficult to map, it could be that some breeding occurrences have not yet been discovered, particularly on the western edge of its range. The species could benefit from the storm events of the last few years, at least in the short term, as the increasing proportion of dead wood in some forest areas improves the availability of suitable prey as well as the availability of suitable nesting sites.
According to the IUCN, however, the stock situation of the Kashmir flycatcher is rated VU (= vulnerable ). The only small area of distribution of this species and the small number of individuals make Ficedula subrubra appear to be very endangered with progressive habitat destruction.
In the 2015 Red List of Breeding Birds in Germany, the species is on the pre-warning list.
Name derivation
With Dwarf ~ types are referred to in the German nomenclature, which are the smallest in their class. The absolute size does not matter. The part of the name snapper describes the predominant hunting method of this genus.
In the 10th volume of his Natural History, Pliny the Elder describes small songbirds snapping at mosquitoes or flies, which he calls ficedulae . A part of the word is probably related to ficus = fig, fig tree . Parva is the feminine form of the Latin adjective parvus and means small.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Beaman (1998) p. 706
- ↑ Mitrus et al. (2005)
- ↑ Mitrus & Socko (2004)
- ↑ Christopher König: Bird of the Month November 2010: The Miniature Flycatcher - a rare guest in North Rhine-Westphalia . In: “Charadrius 46”, Heft 3, 2010, p. 226ff.
- ↑ Christoph Grüneberg, Hans-Günther Bauer, Heiko Haupt, Ommo Hüppop, Torsten Ryslavy, Peter Südbeck: Red List of Germany's Breeding Birds , 5 version . In: German Council for Bird Protection (Hrsg.): Reports on bird protection . tape 52 , November 30, 2015.
- ↑ Wember (2005)
literature
- Hans Günther Bauer, Peter Berthold : The breeding birds of Central Europe. Existence and endangerment. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-89104-613-8 , p. 402 f.
- Mark Beaman / Steve Madge : Handbook of Bird Identification. Europe and Western Palearctic. Ulmer-Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3471-3 , pp. 705-706.
- Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim (Hrsg.): Handbook of the birds of Central Europe . Edited by Kurt M. Bauer and Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, among others. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden. 2nd revised edition 1989. Vol. 13/1, ISBN 3-89104-022-9 , pp. 80-118.
- Ulrich Brendel: Birds of the Alps. Ulmer-Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3502-7 , pp. 110-111.
- Michael Dvorak et al. (Ed.): Atlas of the breeding birds of Austria. Results of the breeding bird mapping 1981–1985 of the Austrian Society for Ornithology. Umweltbundesamt-Wien 1993, ISBN 3-85457-121-6 , pp. 382–383.
- Cezary Mitrus, Beata Soćko: Natural nest sites of the Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva in a primeval forest. Acta Ornithologica, Volume 39, Number 1, Summer 2004, pp. 53-57.
- Cezary Mitrus, et al. : First evidence of phenological change in a transcontinantal migrant overwintering in the Indian sub-continent: the Red breasted Flycatcher "Ficedula parva". In: Ornis Fennica. Volume 82, 2005, pp. 13-19 (English).
- Jochen Hölzinger et al. : The birds of Baden-Württemberg. Singvögel 2. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3483-7 , pp. 38-44.
- Viktor Wember: The names of the birds of Europe. Meaning of the German and scientific names. AULA-Wiebelsheim 2005, ISBN 3-89104-678-2 .
Web links
- Ficedula parva in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on January 1 of 2009.
- Information from birdlife international 2005; en
- Information from birdlife europe 2001–2004; en (PDF file; 219 kB)
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ficedula parva in the Internet Bird Collection
- xeno-canto: Sound recordings - Red-breasted Flycatcher ( Ficedula parva )
