Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Euplectes macroura
The long-tailed breeding male is a spectacular and unmistakable black-and-yellow bird. Varies geographically, with some birds showing a completely yellow back, and others only a yellow shoulder. Females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown, though males retain their yellow shoulder. Found in many open habitats, including cultivation, moist grassland, marshes, and forest clearings. The song is a series of harsh “zhet” notes, which the male often gives in a display flight. Female can be confused with several other species, but is usually identified by association with yellow-shouldered males.
识别特征
Males are larger than females and acquire longer tails and striking black and golden yellow plumages in the breeding season. The mantle colour is either golden yellow, or in the case of the northeastern race, E. m. macrocercus, black. The yellow shoulders persist in all male plumages, whether breeding or non-breeding.
分类信息
The yellow-mantled widowbird was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the crossbills in the genus Loxia and coined the binomial name Loxia macroura. Gmelin specified the locality as "Whydah"; this is Ouidah on the coast of Benin is East Africa. The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek makros meaning "long" and -ouros meaning "tailed". The yellow-mantled widowbird is now one of 18 species placed in the genus Euplectes that was introduced in 1829 by the English naturalist William John Swainson.
- 学名
- Euplectes macroura
- 命名信息
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Ploceidae
- 属
- Euplectes
分布与栖息地
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is widely distributed in Africa, and is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The distinctive race E. m. subsp. macrocercus occurs in Eritrea, Ethiopia, western Kenya and Uganda.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Migration pattern: Resident species.
保护状况
Population trend: stable.
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
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A large, slender falcon with long wings that nearly reach its tail tip when perched. It has a rusty crown above a thin white brow that can connect to its pale forecrown, above a bold dark eye-stripe that extends to the nape. The moustachial stripe sometimes seems to have a break at the gape line. Upperparts mostly brown; white underparts can be streaked at the breast and solid brown at the thighs. A species of open, arid country that preys mainly on birds.
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Medium-sized swift, very similar to Common Swift, but is noticeably paler, especially against a dark background. Wings are narrower and very pointed and the tail is longer and more deeply forked than Common or Pallid Swifts. Pale throat patch not distinct and difficult to see. Flight is very fast, agile, and erratic. Gives a shrill, wheezy scream that “hiccups” at the end. Breeds primarily on Madeira and the Canary Islands, but may move to North Africa in winter.
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