Cuckoo-finch

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Cuckoo-finch
Parasitic Weaver (Anomalospiza imberbis).jpg
Midmar Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Viduidae
Genus: Anomalospiza
Shelley, 1901
Species:
A. imberbis
Binomial name
Anomalospiza imberbis
(Cabanis, 1868)
Synonyms

Crithagra imberbisCabanis, 1868

The cuckoo-finch (Anomalospiza imberbis), also known as the parasitic weaver or cuckoo weaver, is a small passerine bird now placed in the family Viduidae with the indigobirds and whydahs. It occurs in grassland in Africa south of the Sahara. The male is mainly yellow and green while the female is buff with dark streaks. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The species was described in 1868 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis based on a specimen from East Africa, probably from the coast opposite Zanzibar. [3] It was initially placed in the genus Crithagra but later moved to a genus of its own, Anomalospiza. The name of the genus means "anomalous finch" with spiza being a Greek word for finch. The specific name imberbis comes from Latin and means "beardless". [4]

Its closest relatives are thought to be the indigobirds and whydahs of the genus Vidua . [5] These birds are now usually considered to form a family, Viduidae. Previously they were treated as a subfamily, Viduinae, within either the estrildid finch family, Estrildidae, or the weaver family, Ploceidae. [2]

Description

The cuckoo-finch is a small finch-like bird, about 11–13 cm long. [6] It has a short tail, large legs and feet, and a large, deep, conical bill. The adult male has a black bill and a yellow head and underparts. The upperparts are olive-green with black streaks. [7] The yellow areas become increasingly bright prior to the breeding season as the feathers become worn. [8] The adult female is buff with heavy black streaking above and light streaks on the flanks; its face is largely plain buff and the throat is buff-white. [6] [7] It has various chattering calls. [9] Displaying males have a nasal song. [7]

Distribution and habitat

The cuckoo-finch has a scattered distribution across sub-Saharan Africa where it occurs in open or lightly wooded grassland, especially near damp areas. [8]

In West Africa, it occurs in Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, eastern Nigeria, and north-west Cameroon with vagrant records from Gambia and Mali. [10] Further east it is found in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, southern and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and locally in the Republic of the Congo. [6] [10] In southern Africa, it occurs in Malawi, Zambia, southern and eastern Angola, north-east Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern South Africa, and Eswatini. [11]

It has a large range and an apparently stable population and so is classified as least concern by BirdLife International. [12]

Behaviour

The cuckoo-finch typically occurs in pairs or small flocks during the breeding season and larger flocks outside the breeding season. It forages on the ground or perched on the flower heads of grasses or herbs. It feeds mainly on grass seeds. [9]

The species is an obligate brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of cisticolas and prinias. The eggs are white, pale blue or pink with brown, reddish or violet markings. They are 17–17.3 mm long and 12.5–13 mm wide. The eggs are incubated for 14 days. [9] The young bird fledges after 18 days and remains dependent on its hosts for another 10–40 days. [8] The young of the host bird usually disappear although there have been records of the host's nestlings surviving alongside the young cuckoo-finch. [8] [9] Sometimes two cuckoo-finch chicks have been found in the same nest. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viduidae</span> Family of birds

The indigobirds and whydahs, together with the cuckoo-finch, make up the family Viduidae; they are small passerine birds native to Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estrildidae</span> Family of birds

Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "finch" being included in the common names of some species, they are not closely related to birds with this name in other families, such as the Fringillidae, Emberizidae or Passerellidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood parasitism</span> Subclass of parasitism, phenomenon that an animal relies on other inidivids to raise its young.

Brood parasitism is a subclass of parasitism and phenomenon and behavioural pattern of certain animals, brood parasites, that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own, usually using egg mimicry, with eggs that resemble the host's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village indigobird</span> Species of bird

The village indigobird, also known as the steelblue widowfinch or the Combassou finch, is a small songbird belonging to the family Viduidae. It is distinguishable from other indigobird species by bill and leg colours, the colour tinge of the male's breeding plumage, song, and to lesser extent, the nestling's plumage and mouth pattern. The bill colour can be red or white depending on the population, and there is some regional variation in the colour tone of the male's plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pin-tailed whydah</span> Species of bird

The pin-tailed whydah is a small songbird with a conspicuous pennant-like tail in breeding males. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed paradise whydah</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed paradise whydah or eastern paradise whydah is from the family Viduidae of the order Passeriformes. They are small passerines with short, stubby bills found across Sub-Saharan Africa. They are mostly granivorous and feed on seeds that have ripen and fall on the ground. The ability to distinguish between males and females is quite difficult unless it is breeding season. During this time, the males molt into breeding plumage where they have one distinctive feature which is their long tail. It can grow up to three times longer than its own body or even more. Usually, the whydahs look like ordinary sparrows with short tails during the non-breeding season. In addition, hybridization can occur with these paradise whydahs. Males are able to mimic songs where females can use that to discover their mate. However, there are some cases where females don't use songs to choose their mate but they use either male characteristics like plumages or they can have a shortage of options with song mimicry. Paradise whydahs are brood parasites. They won't destroy the eggs that are originally there but will lay their own eggs in other songbirds nest. Overall, these whydahs are considered least concerned based on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2018). "Anomalospiza imberbis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22719254A131992732. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22719254A131992732.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Payne, Robert (2010). "Family Viduidae (Whydahs and Indigobirds)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 15: Weavers to New World Warblers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN   978-84-96553-45-3. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  3. ↑ Lowther, Peter E. (2005). "Host list of avian brood parasites - 5 - Passeriformes: Viduidae" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Kidd, D. A. (2003). Collins Gem Latin Dictionary. Collins.
  5. ↑ Sorenson, Michael D.; Robert B. Payne (2001). "A single ancient origin of brood parasitism in African finches: implications for host-parasite coevolution". Evolution. 55 (12): 2550–2567. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2001)055[2550:ASAOOB]2.0.CO;2. hdl: 2027.42/72018 . PMID   11831669. S2CID   198154320.
  6. 1 2 3 Sinclair, Ian; Peter Ryan (2003). Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. Cape Town: Struik.
  7. 1 2 3 Zimmerman, Dale A.; Donald A. Turner, Donald; David J. Pearson (1999). Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania. London: Christopher Helm.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnsgard, Paul A. (1997). The Avian Brood Parasites: Deception at the Nest. Oxford University Press.
  9. 1 2 3 4 McLachlan G. R.; Liversidge, R. (1981). Roberts Birds of South Africa. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN   0-620-03118-2.
  10. 1 2 van Perlo, Ber (2002). Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Western and Central Africa. London: Collins.
  11. ↑ van Perlo, Ber (1999). Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Southern Africa. London: Collins.
  12. ↑ BirdLife International (2009) [ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2014-04-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=8596&m=0 Species factsheet: Anomalospiza imberbis]. Downloaded from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2014-04-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) on 17 January 2010.
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