The Cape sparrow or mossie ( Passer melanurus ) is a bird of the Passeridae sparrow family found in South Africa. A medium-sized pigeon 14-16 cm (5.5-6.3 inches), has distinctive feathers, including a large pale headline in both sexes. Its fur is mostly gray, brown, and brown, and the males have some thick black and white markings on their head and neck. Species occupy semi-arid savannahs, cultivated areas, and towns, and range from the central coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Swaziland. The three subspecies are distinguished in different parts of its range.
Cape sparrows primarily feed on whole grains, and also feed on soft crops and insects. They usually breed in colonies, and when they do not breed they gather in large groups of nomads to move for food. The nest can be built in trees, shrubs, cavities, or unused nests of other species. A typical clutch contains three or four eggs, and both parents are involved in the nursery, from building nests to feeding the children. Cape sparrows are common in most of its territory and coexist successfully in urban habitats with its two relatives, southern-headed sparrows and sparrows, introduced species. Cape Cape's sparrow populations have not recorded significant declines, and are not seriously threatened by human activity, thus valued as the least-visited species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Video Cape sparrow
Description
For sparrows, Cape sparrows are very colorful and distinctive, and medium-sized with a length of 14-16 cm (5.5-6.3 inches). Adults range in weight from 17 to 38 grams (0.60-1.34 oz). Breeding men have mostly black heads, but with wide white marks on each side, arcing from the back of the eye to the throat. In the throat a narrow black band connects the black bib from the breast to the black head. The lower part is grayish, darker on the sides. The back of the man's neck is dark gray, and his back and shoulders are bright brown. Males have white and black wing blades under their shoulders, and flying feathers and gray and black gray tails.
Females are hairy like men, but more dull and have gray heads with different patterns than men, although bear little signs of a pale male head. Teenagers are like women, but young men have black marks on the head from an early age.
The call of Cape Sparrow is similar to a sparrow, but much more musical and gentle. Basic calls are used in flight and are socially perched and transcribed as chissip , chirrup , chreep , or chirrichup . The harsh and distinctive calls used by men to advertise proprietary nests can be written as tweeng or twileeng ; this call can be extended to a jerky and repetitive song, cheerup chip, cheerup chip .
Maps Cape sparrow
Taxonomy
The Cape Sparrow was first described by Philipp Ludwig Statius MÃÆ'¼ller in 1776, as Loxia melanura. Some biologists previously described Cape sparrows in Loxia or Fringilla, but were otherwise considered to be members of the genus Poets along with sparrows and other sparrows in the Old World. Within this genus, morphological and geographical comparisons are not sufficient to explain which species of Cape bird is closest to its relationship. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny has strongly suggested that Cape tree birds are one of the most basal members of its genus, having diverged from the rest of the genus during the late Miocene, more than 5 million years ago. It is genetically closest to southern gray-headed birds and other gray-headed birds in Africa and saxaul birds from Central Asia, so this species may be a sister species of Cape sparrows or the same early branch.
The special name Cape sparrow comes from the Greek ????? ( melas , "black") and ???? ( oura , "tail"), while the genus name Passer comes from the Latin word for small birds.
Cape Sparrow has three subspecies. The subspecies nominate Passer melanurus melanurus found in eastern South Africa, east to western Free State. The subspecies vicinus , which is sometimes included in subspecies melanurus , occurs from the eastern Free State to the Eastern Cape and Lesotho. The subspecies of damarensis range from the extreme southern Angola coastal regions of Namibia, Botswana and southern Zimbabwe, as well as northern South Africa.
Distribution and habitat
Cape Sparrow inhabits South Africa south of Angola and as far east as Swaziland. The northernmost point in its ranks is Benguela in Angola, and it is found in parts of the coast and central part of Namibia, except for the driest part of the Namib Desert. It takes place throughout South Africa except in the farthest east, in southern Botswana, and is recklessly in the Kalahari Basin in central Botswana. In the east, it breeds in a small number of areas southeast of Zimbabwe. It has been recorded as a homeless man in Harare, in central Zimbabwe. The eastern boundary of its reach is reached in the Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal wetlands, stretching into the hills of western Swaziland.
The native habitat of this species is the semi-arid savanna, thornveld, and light woods typical of southern Africa. When settled agriculture arrived within reach of about a thousand years ago, it adapted to farmland, and since the arrival of the settlement, he moved to the cities. Cape Sparrow prefers habitats with annual rainfall of less than 75 cm (30 inches), though in desert areas it is usually found near watercourses or watering holes. While it occurs in urban centers, it prefers parks, gardens, and other open spaces, and has poor reproductive success in more developed areas.
In the cities, Cape sparrows competed with western-sparrowed sparrows and local sparrows, which were introduced to southern Africa in the 19th century. As he is more stable around the human within his reach, he manages to compete with both species, although they may exclude him from nesting in the hole. A survey by birdwatchers completed in 2000 found Cape tree birds increasing abundantly in some suburbs of South Africa (northern Johannesburg area, and Pietermaritzburg) and decreased in other areas (southern Cape Town area). Sparrows are reportedly declining in some urban areas, as is the case in some parts of Europe, the decline caused by factors including increased cultivation density and increased predation.
Behavior
Social behavior
Cape sparrows are social, live in groups, and usually breed in colonies. Far from the residential areas he spent all year long traveling nomadically, in groups of up to 200 birds. In areas cultivated and built, smaller cattle groups are formed where food is provided for livestock or birds. In such places, it deals with other seed-eating birds, such as sparrows, Cape weavers, and weavers of the genus Euplectes . The birds from the urban areas form a large flock on a seasonal basis and fly to the nearby countryside to eat the ripening grains, returning at night to perch.
Mountain sparrows prefer to be perched on nests, and while wandering outside the breeding season, birds in untested areas lodge in old nests or dense bushes. On farms and in towns, Cape sparrows build a special nest for perches, lined worse than nursery nests but incorporating more insulating material.
Unusual social behavior has been described from Cape Sparrows in Johannesburg. Groups of birds 20-30 separated from larger flocks and stood close together on the ground with tails on the ground and heads held high. These groups sometimes move in an unconcentrated way by jumping slowly. Often birds fly and drift 30-60 cm (12-24 inches) above the ground. During this encounter the birds are silent and never antagonistic. The significance of this behavior is unknown, and is not reported in other species of sparrow.
Feed
Cape Sparrows mostly eat whole grains, feeding on trees and on the ground. Larger seeds of cereal, weeds, and other small plants are preferred, with wheat and khakiweed ( Alternanthera caracasana ) being favorites. Shoots and soft fruit are also taken, causing massive damage to the farm. Insects are eaten, and nestlings seem to be fed exclusively on caterpillars. Cape sparrows eat gentle shoots of plants, and dig aloes for nectar, but this is not an important food source.
Breeding
Dating and colonies
Cape sparrows usually breed in colonies of 50-100 birds. 10 to 20 percent of birds that breed in any nesting population are far from the colony, for unknown reasons. Cape sparrows are usually monogamous, but some records of males and two females nesting and young breeding in one nest have been made in the Western Cape. It appears that the pair is formed on a non-breeding herd, but it is not known how the pair is formed, or if the couple's bond is to live. Once ready to breed, the newly married couple search for suitable nesting places, spend the morning searching, and return to their flocks in the afternoon. Once a site is selected, the two birds begin to build their nest. Other couples looking for nest sites joined them, and in this way colonies formed quickly.
Courtship view is not well recorded. Ornithologist J. Denis Summers-Smith looks at the display where the male jumps beside the female in the tree, drops his wings and ruffles the chestnut-colored fur on his back. Groups of two or more men have been observed pursuing women. In a sparrow house there is a similar look, where a woman who is not ready to marry is chased by her partner, who joins another man. It is not known whether the display on Cape sparrow has the same significance. When ready to mate, women bend in the invitation and installed by men. Examples of hybridization with house sparrows, southern gray-headed birds, and prisoners or releases from Sudan's golden sparrow birds have been reported.
Nested
Cape sparrows use various nesting places. Shrubs and trees, especially acacia, seem to be preferred, and many nests can be built in one tree. Holes and other closed sites are seldom selected. The nest has been recorded from the roof of the building, on the vines on the wall, in the hole in the earth bank, and in the hole in the haystack. Sometimes Cape sparrows nest in other unused birds' nests, such as weavers and swallows. Couples nesting from colonies usually choose low shrubs or power poles as nesting places. The nest is placed at least one meter above the ground, and can be just a few centimeters apart in the colony. Only the nest and surroundings are so close that it is maintained as a region. Men defend their territory with threatening postures, and sometimes by fighting with bills on the ground.
Nest built in the open is a large dome structure and not tidy, built from dry grass, twigs, and other plant materials. Each leaf or spines in the tree can be processed into a nest. In a cavity hole, the hole is filled with a grass of amorphous grass with a cup of soft material containing the egg on the inside. When the ape nests used are not in use, they are given a soft coat. The nest entrance is on the side, and sometimes extended into a short funnel. Male and female females build a joint nest, staying close when finding material and weaving together. The inner layer of the Cape sparrow nest can blend large portions of aromatic leaves such as wolbossie ( Helichrysum pumilio ), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), and camphor (Cinnamomum ). This consistent use of aromatics shows that they have several goals such as protection against parasites.
Egg and young
The clutch contains between two and six eggs, usually three or four. The variation in clutch size depends on the amount of food available for young birds. Presumably because of the greater availability of food, the grip is greater during the peak of the breeding season, and in the southern latin of Cape Sparrow. Both birds hatch eggs during the day, switching every ten or fifteen minutes. At night, only the females incubate the egg, while the male crows outside or inside the nest. In couples laying outside the colony, birds leave the nest to make room for their partners after hearing their partner approaching. Among the colonial couples, the incubation bird waits until the couple reaches the nest, to prevent other birds from entering the nest. Incubation seems to begin before the clutch is finished, and lasts 12-24 days.
Young children from the clutch hatch for two or three days and reflect until their feathers grow and eyes open five days after hatching. Young children are fed insects until they fly 16-25, usually 17 days after hatching. After this they are fed for a week or two. When feeding the nest, the female is dominant over the male. Cape sparrows are among the main parasitic parent mothers by the dideric cuckoo in southern Africa, and occasionally parasitise their own species nests.
Relationships with humans
Cape sparrows are birds and human habitats are abundant and familiar in most of southern Africa. It is not believed to be in danger, and is therefore listed as the least-visited species in the IUCN Red List. This can be a pest of agriculture, especially cultivation of grains and vineyards.
As vineyards in the south-west Cape began letting weeds grow among the vines to save humidity, around 1956, Cape sparrows moved out. Cape Sparrow quickly consumed the beans and began to eat grapes. The Cape is now a serious pest in the vineyard. Vineyards are not an optimal habitat, and some populations have low reproductive successes so they can not be maintained without immigration.
The Cape Sparrow performed on the lowest denomination of South African coins, ranging from farthing (Ã,¼ cent) in 1923 to a penny that stopped printing in 2002, with designs based on the original by George Kruger Gray. This is said because the woman who was interned in concentration camps in Bethulie during the Boer War adopted a biblical passage (from Matthew 10) as their motto: "Are not two sparrows sold for a thorn, and one of them will not fall on the ground without your Father. "It has also been featured on stamps from Lesotho and the Central African Republic.
References
The work cited
External links
- Cape Sparrows in Birds' Internet Collection
- Text of sparrow species at South African Atlas of Birds
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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