Sunbittern

Sunbittern ( Eurypyga helias )

The sunbittern ( Eurypyga helias ) is a species of bird in the tropics of Latin America. Despite its name, it is not closely related with the Rails. She stands kinship as isolated and therefore forms its own family that was traditionally associated with the crane birds, but today is provided along with the Kagu in the order Eurypygiformes.

• 4.1 Outer systematics
• 4.2 Internal systematics

• 6.1 Sources Cited
• 6.2 Literature
• 6.3 External links

Features

A sunbittern is 43 to 48 cm long and 180 to 220 g. It has remote similarity to the unrelated herons; this is especially true for the long, slender beak. The neck is slender and of medium length, but the legs shorter than in herons.

The plumage shows little differences between males and females. The top has a fine gray - brown-black cross bands, which makes a predominantly gray impression from a distance. At the bottom outweigh yellowish- brown hues. The tail has on gray base color on two strong black, front russet lined transverse bands. The head is mostly black with white throat and two white longitudinal bands above and below the eye. If the wings are opened, a conspicuous spot pattern is visible on the wing-feathers, which consists of each side two large russet, rear black fringed spots on yellowish- brown color. This is somewhat reminiscent of the eyespots of some butterflies and may serve similar to those of deterrence of enemies.

The large, rounded wings allow fast flight with long glide phases. Most often, sunbittern keeps it just above the water surface.

Distribution and habitat

The sunbittern inhabited the tropical lowlands and hill regions of Central and South America until about 1800 m altitude. Habitat is river and lake shore in tropical rain forests.

There are three separate areas of distribution. The main area comprises the lowland and hilly regions in the catchment area of the Amazon and Orinoco, south to Bolivia and Mato Grosso, and the countries of Guyana. A second area taking part a Central America, on the Caribbean side to the north to the extreme south of Mexico, on the Pacific side to Costa Rica, and a coastal strip of northwestern Colombia and western Ecuador. The third and smallest area covers part of the Peruvian regions of Junín and Cusco.

Way of life

Nutrition

Sunbittern locate the prey by walk slowly on the forest floor or in shallow water along. They often freeze in the movement. If you have spotted a prey, they come to swift as an arrow.

The food is entirely animal. Invertebrates make it the major portion of, but to a considerable proportion also vertebrates are eaten. Among the captured invertebrates are especially at and aquatic animals such as dragonflies and their larvae, water beetles, snails, crustaceans and worms, but also spiders, butterflies, flies and cockroaches. The vertebrates are eaten mainly small fish, tadpoles and frogs, besides also small lizards such as Anolis and Ameiven.

Reproduction

Outside the breeding season sunbittern strict loner. During the breeding season, however, the couples come together and stay together until the young fledge. About the pairing is poorly understood. It is considered possible that sunbittern mate every year with the same partners, so live in permanent monogamy. They use year after year the same breeding territories. At the beginning of the breeding season sunbittern often fly above the treetops, indicating loud cries of himself as the ' kak - kak - kak ' sound; It is believed that this is Balzflüge.

The nest is built at a height 1-7 m and has a size of 22 x 17 cm. It consists of leaves, moss, and especially mud that holds the nest and attached to the branch. Sometimes sprout from this mud seedlings, so that green plants grow out of the nest and are useful to it in his camouflage. The female lays one to two beige eggs with reddish spots, which have a size of 4.3 x 3.4 cm. The incubation period is 30 days, both partners contribute equally.

The boys are initially very dependent ( altricial ) and not able to move themselves autonomously. They are fed by the parent birds from whose beaks they accept the food. It takes 22 to 30 days until they fledge. During this time, young sunbittern are extremely vulnerable to hazards. The enemies are capuchin monkeys, Tayras, Grisons, ocelots and birds of prey. The parent birds try to nest by a Imponiergeste defend at which they spread their wings and the attacker show the eyespot pattern, place the tail like a fan and lower the chest. Also try an enemy fortzulocken from the nest by pretending a wing injury.

The maximum life span is thirty years.

System

Outer systematics

Traditionally, the sunbittern was assigned to the crane birds. It is the name assigned to the Rails only in German. In English, the name of this bird Sunbittern is therefore classified as Dommel. In fact, the zoologist Peter Simon Pallas described the sunbittern 1781 Ardea helias and set it so that the genus of herons.

Within the Gruiformes the relationship of sunbittern has long been controversial. In recent times there is increasing evidence that the sunbittern is not closely related to Rails and cranes, but forms a common clade with the Kagu and the fossil genera and Messelornis Aptornis condense. The Kagu, an endemic bird of New Caledonia, would thus be the sister species of sunbittern. The Kagu and the sunbittern are perhaps the last remnants of a once much larger clade of birds that was prevalent on Gondwana and was separated by the drifting apart of the continents.

Recently, the sunbittern was put together with the Kagu in the new order Eurypygiformes, which was also recognized by the International Ornithological Congress and the American Ornithologists ' Union ..

Inside systematics

There are three subspecies that are clearly distinguish:

• Eurypyga helias helias in the Amazon and northern South America; the back feathers are striped beige and black; the legs are yellow to orange.
• Eurypyga helias major in Central America and Colombia and Ecuador; largest subspecies; the back feathers are striped gray and black; the legs are red.
• Eurypyga helias meridionalis in Peru; smallest subspecies; similar major, but the black stripes are thinner; the legs are orange.

At times, were helias and major as different types considered, but this is no longer common today.

People and sunbittern

The destruction of the rainforests disappearing also the habitat of the sunbittern. Their total population but lives in a distribution area of 8.5 million km ² in size and is therefore not threatened. The IUCN does not endanger the status.

Were of indigenous peoples of Brazil and Venezuela and sunbittern are sometimes held semi- tame. Because they eat flies and other insects in the villages, they are considered useful.

Sources and further information

Cited sources

The information in this article that come from most of the literature indicated in source, the following additional sources quoting: