Cape Starling
Lamprotornis nitens
A medium-sized iridescent blue-green glossy starling that lacks dark ear-patches and has greenish flanks and belly, giving it a more uniform appearance than the “blue-eared” starlings. Pairs and small groups occupy high-altitude grassland, Karoo, and savanna, including drier habitats than other glossy starlings. The species feeds on the ground and in trees on fruit and insects; often it scavenges from people. It gives a rolling “turrreaau” flight call and harsh “karrr” alarm notes. Similar “blue-eared” starlings differ from Cape Starling by being smaller and having blue-magenta flanks and belly that give them a less uniform appearance.
识别特征
The Cape starling has an adult length of about 25 cm (10 in) and weight of about 100 grams (3.5 oz). The plumage of an adult bird is a fairly uniform bright, glossy colour. The head is blue with darker ear coverts and the upper parts of the body are greenish-blue. It has a lengthy warbling song which may include an imitation of sounds it hears in its environment.
分类信息
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Cape starling in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Angola. He used the French name Le merle verd d'Angola and the Latin Merula Viridis Angolensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Cape starling. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Turdus nitens and cited Brisson's work. The specific name nitens is Latin for "shining" or "glittering". This species is now placed in the genus Lamprotornis that was introduced by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820.
- 学名
- Lamprotornis nitens
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Sturnidae
- 属
- Lamprotornis
分布与栖息地
The Cape starling is found in the southern part of Africa. Its range encompasses the extreme south of Gabon, the west and south of Angola, the extreme south of Zambia, throughout Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa. It is a vagrant to the Republic of the Congo but does not breed there. In the other countries in its range it is a resident (non-migratory) species and its total extent of occurrence is about 3,000,000 square kilometres (1,200,000 sq mi). The Cape starling is found where trees in which it can roost and nest are found. It is not a bird of dense forest or of pasture and is not associated with any particular plant type. It does occur in open woodland, plantations, savannah, bushveld, rough grassland, parks and gardens and is quite numerous in the central Kalahari where isolated trees occur.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
The Cape starling is a gregarious bird and forms large flocks in the non-breeding season. It usually feeds on the ground often foraging alongside other species of starlings such as the pied starling, the common starling, the greater blue-eared starling, the lesser blue-eared starling, the wattled starling and Burchell's starling. It is habituated to humans and its diet includes fruit, insects and nectar. It sometimes feeds on ectoparasites that it picks off the backs of animals and it sometimes visits bird tables for scraps.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
La Sagra's Flycatcher
Myiarchus sagrae
An inconspicuous woodland species often first detected by voice. Note its slender build, dull coloration, and tendency to lean forward (often at 45°) when perched. The similar Great Crested Flycatcher has darker gray chest, brighter yellow belly, heftier bill and rustier tail. Vocalizations include a quick “sweet” and whistled “whit-it, did-id-oo.”
Magnificent Sunbird
Aethopyga magnifica
A stunning small bird of lowland and foothill scrub and gardens in the western Visayas. Male has a bright red head, back, and chest, a purple forehead, a broadening purple mustache stripe, a purple tail, black wings and belly, and a bright yellow patch on the lower back. Similar to Purple-throated, but larger; male lacks the purple throat, and female is mainly olive with distinctive reddish wings and tail. Call is a repeated high-pitched “chik!”
European Serin
Serinus serinus
Tiny with very small, stubby bill. Both sexes are heavily streaked, with yellow rumps. Males have a bright yellow face and breast; this is gray-brown in females. Common in parks, gardens, cities, agricultural areas,and forest edges. Often sings from electricity wires, posts, TV antennas, and the tops of trees. Frantically fast song is often delivered in arcing song flight with "slow motion" wingbeats. Feeds on seeds and sometimes invertebrates.
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