Blauflügel-Spatelschwanz

Bestimmung

It has mainly dark green plumage on back, an olive/green on its breast and belly. Male birds have a pale blue with small red patch on its forehead and forecrown. Females look identical to the male except, they do not have a red spot on their forecrown. The primary feathers blue on outer webs while the middle tail feathers green. Racquet feathers black tinged with blue. Their side tail feathers are green tipped black. Their bill has a blue-grey hue.<p>It has been described as a rather tame bird and does not usually fear human presence (which has also led to its critically endangered status). They are usually seen in pairs flying over and in the high canopy of trees. It is also rather noisy in flight. This bird feeds on the fruit and flowers of fruiting trees.

Taxonomie

Wissenschaftlicher Name

Prioniturus verticalis

Autorität

Sharpe, 1893

Ordnung

Psittaciformes

Familie

Psittaculidae

Gattung

Prioniturus

Verbreitung und Lebensraum

Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.It is now assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List with population estimates being just 50 - 249 mature individuals. Its main threat is habitat loss and trapping. Once prevalent throughout all the islands of the Sulu Archipelago, the blue-winged racket-tail is now only found on isolated places on Tawi-Tawi due to rapid habitat destruction during the past 200 years.<p>One of this bird's threats is its own tame behavior. This tame behavior is taken advantage of by trappers and has made it an easy target to capture for the illegal exotic pet trade. Deforestation of the blue-winged racket-tail's natural habitat to make way for both legal and illegal logging agriculture, mining, and the uncontrolled settlement by humans has destroyed most of this bird's original habitat.

Zugverhalten

Resident species

Schutzstatus

Bestandstrend

declining