Grant's Bluebill
The Grant Samenknacker ( Spermophaga poliogenys ) is a species of the family of finches. The rare and elusive species is found in central Africa and inhabits the dense undergrowth of tropical forests.
Description
The Grant Samenknacker reaches a body length of 13-14 cm, the wing length is 65-73 mm. The tail is fairly long and slightly downgraded at the top. The feet are olive - green to brown.
In the male, the whole head with the front sides of the neck, the chest and the abdomen until the middle is intense scarlet. The red color puts on the flanks even further to the under tail-coverts, and can also be found on the upper tail-coverts. The rest of the plumage is from the back of the head and neck black with shiny parts on the back and shoulders. The eyes are brown with a pale blue lid margin. The lower mandible shows a rather high base, the upper beak is curved. It is metallic blue with a pink top and just such edges.
In the female, only the chin, throat and upper breast are bright red or orange. The forehead, the sides of the head and the entire rest of the top are dark slate gray with a bluish sheen on the back. The glossy black Federsäume form a scale pattern. The body bottom is very dark gray with white, arranged in pairs drops stains that form distinct rows down to the lower abdomen and the under tail-coverts.
The juvenile plumage is similar to that of the female, but paler and without the red part of the chest. The white spotting the bottom is missing. This forms when the young females but from quite soon. The beak is bluish to gray- blue.
Voice
The Grant Samenknacker calls hoarsely Tschip and can sometimes hear a melodic Tiee - diuh. But he is generally little ruffreudig.
Dissemination and lifestyle
The distribution area of the monotypic Grant seed cracker extends from the north and the northern center of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south- east Uganda. The type is a state bird that spends most of its life in a relatively small area.
The Grant Samenknacker lives in the dense undergrowth of tropical primary and secondary forests. He thinks he's there mainly near the ground. Sometimes he goes to the nearby clearings, but is rarely seen outside of the cover. It eats seeds, besides also berries, insects and spiders.
The breeding behavior of the Grant seed cracker is poorly understood, the exact period of reproduction could not be determined so far. Prepare breeding birds were observed in the Congo in the months of December to February, May and August to September. Most young birds are observed in November. The nest consists of three white eggs.
Attitude
A pair of Grant Samenknacker was imported in 1963 in Switzerland. This was probably the first introduction of European. More imports are not known. In observations showed that they had significant differences for Rotbrust and red-headed Samenknacker in their behavior. Among other things, the two partner birds always sat close together and talked preferably in the darkest corner of the aviary.