Black-billed Capercaillie
Tetrao urogalloides
A powerfully built terrestrial bird of remote northern Chinese and Siberian taiga. Male massive, with glossy black head and chest, white-spotted brown wings, and fiery red stripe above the eye. Female smaller, with brown head and neck and black-striped body. Male displays with neck stretched upward and broad black tail tilted up and fanned. Males engage in fierce battles on leks during courtship season.
识别特征
A male black-billed capercaillie has an average length of about 89–97 centimetres (35–38 in) and weighs 3.4–4.6 kg (7.5–10.1 lb), with females measuring around 69–75 cm (27–30 in) and weighing 1.7–2.2 kg (3.7–4.9 lb). Their wingspan stretches approximately 75–115 cm (30–45 in) long. Compared to the western capercaillie, it is slightly smaller in size with a slimmer body profile and longer neck, has a black beak (hence its name) instead of being horn-colored, and a longer, more spatulate tail. The eastern capercaillie has a somewhat glossy bluish-black head & neck down to a metallic turquoise breast. Distinct white markings at the tips of its upper and undertail coverts, as well as the wing coverts and flanks, give this grouse the nickname 'spotted capercaillie'. The female is similar to that of its western counterpart, except that its plumage is grayer overall with more heavily scaled underparts, lacks a solid rufous chest unlike the wood grouse, and has noticeably larger white spots on its wing and tail coverts.
分类信息
The black-billed capercaillie has two recognized subspecies:
- 学名
- Tetrao urogalloides
- 命名信息
- Middendorff, 1853
- 目
- Galliformes
- 科
- Phasianidae
- 属
- Tetrao
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
From the crack of dawn until late morning, male capercaillies in the spring display by fanning out their tails, puffing their chest feathers out, lowering their wings, and angling their heads upward with an open beak to defend their space from other males and win over the mating rights of females. The size of the males' territories were usually 30 by 30 metres (98 ft × 98 ft), similar to black grouse territories, based on a research project by the University of Nebraska. A group of hens will carefully squat with drooping wings while the lekking male is present to signal that they're ready for breeding. Their castanets-like call can be heard up to 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away, much louder than the western capercaillie. It consists of a series of loud repeating clicks ascending in tempo. Other performances used to attract females involve flutter flights. They jump off the ground (>2 metres (6.6 ft) high, 8–10 metres (26–33 ft) far have been recorded) and rapidly beat their wings during takeoff and landing, generating a thundering flurry that resonates through the dense stands of conifers.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
White-throated Kingfisher
Halcyon smyrnensis
Large-headed, predominantly brown kingfisher with electric-blue back and wings, heavy red bill, and snow-white patch from the throat through the breast. Common both near and away from water; frequently seen perched on fence posts and telephone lines near wetlands, lakes, agricultural fields, and clearings. Gives jarring, raptor-like descending trills and cackles, often in flight.
Senegal Lapwing
Vanellus lugubris
A small, dour, gray-brown lapwing with a white belly and a well-defined white patch on the forehead. In flight it has a distinctive white wedge on the back of the inner wing. Small groups scurry over open dry savanna and short-grass plains below 1600 m, looking for insects. It moves to areas experiencing bush fires as it prefers breeding in recently burned grasslands. It can be surprisingly unobtrusive, but the loud two-note “chi-whoo” call often gives it away. The similar Black-winged Lapwing differs by preferring high-altitude grassland and cultivation above 1300 m and in being larger, having reddish (not dark) legs, a larger, diffuse forehead patch, and a dark edge to the back of the inner wing.
Black-bellied Bustard
Lissotis melanogaster
A lithe, medium-sized bustard with black daubs on a mostly tan-colored back. The male has a black belly, neck stripe, throat, and face patch. The female is uniform buff-brown from the belly to the head. In flight, both sexes have white windows in the wings. Singles and pairs inhabit tall grassland and grassy savanna. Its strange display involves the male stretching his neck and making a frog-like “kwoork” croak, and as he retracts his head to the shoulders, follows with a “grrrr” growl and champagne-cork-like “pop” while his head lifts again. He also performs an aerial display with the wings held back rigidly and with a puffed throat exposed.
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