Gerigone Gris

Gerygone igata

Un pequeño y esbelto reinitas endémico común en toda Nueva Zelanda. Gris-marrón por encima y gris más pálido a blanquecino por debajo. La cola es más oscura, con puntas blancas, más notable en vuelo. Los adultos tienen un ojo rojo distintivo. El juvenil es similar, con coloración amarilla y ojos marrones. El macho tiene un canto musical distintivo, largo y burbujeante. La hembra emite llamadas de contacto cortas de “chirp”. Más a menudo escuchado que visto, esta especie forrajea insectos en el sotobosque o matorral, a veces cerniéndose entre el follaje exterior y las ramitas. En la Nueva Zelanda continental, es la única especie huésped del parásito de nido Cuco Bronceado Brillante, por lo que se puede encontrar a los padres de Gerygone Gris alimentando polluelos de cuco mucho más grandes. A pesar de habitar las mismas áreas, se distingue del Ojiblanco por su tamaño ligeramente mayor, partes superiores más verdes y la falta de un anillo ocular blanco.

Identificación

One of the smallest birds found in New Zealand, grey warblers are about 11 centimeters long, with a weight of up to 6.5 grams. It has grey-brown plumage (with a slight olive-green tint), with the face, throat and breast being pale-grey. The abdomen is off-white with a slight yellow tinge. The tail is white underneath and dark brown on top with white tips being visible in flight. They also have a distinctive ruby-red eye. Females are typically smaller than the male, but otherwise there is little sexual dimorphism. The young are paler with no hint of yellow and have brown eyes.<p>The male's song often starts with a series of three squeaks and builds into a distinctive long plaintive wavering trill that rises and falls. They sing throughout the year but most vigorously when nesting, during spring. Grey warblers are often heard more than they are seen.

Taxonomía

Nombre científico
Gerygone igata
Autoridad
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
Orden
Passeriformes
Familia
Acanthizidae
Género
Gerygone

Distribución y hábitat

Grey warblers are common throughout New Zealand's main islands and many off-shore islands, but are absent from open country and alpine areas. At home in native and exotic forests it may be found almost anywhere there is some tree or shrub cover.

Migración
Vertical migration

Comportamiento

Grey warblers mainly feed upon spiders, insects and their larvae. They are very active, and almost never stay still as they move from one perch to another.<p>Grey warblers are unique among New Zealand birds in building a pear-shaped nest with a side entrance near the top. The male collects nesting material, but the female builds the nest from grass, leaves, rootlets and moss, held together with spider web threads, anywhere from 2 to 25 feet above the ground, lined with feathers and other soft material. It is attached to a twig at the top, but is often also secured at the back or sides. The male is not involved in nest building or incubation, but helps to feed nestlings and fledglings. The 3 to 6 eggs, each laid 2 days apart, are pinkish-white with fine reddish-brown speckles all over. The eggs, weighing 1.5 g are about 17 mm long and 12 mm wide. Incubation takes about 19 days and the chicks spend another 15 to 19 days in the nest.<p>Their breeding season is from August to January and they usually manage two clutches. The shining bronze cuckoo, a brood parasite, often targets the second clutch.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional
stable

Fotos

Distribución

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