Blue-capped ifrit

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Blue-capped ifrit
Ifrita kowaldi 1899.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Corvoidea
Family: Ifritidae
Schodde & Christidis, 2014
Genus: Ifrita
Rothschild, 1898
Species:
I. kowaldi
Binomial name
Ifrita kowaldi
(De Vis, 1890)

The blue-capped ifrit (Ifrita kowaldi), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small and insectivorous passerine species currently placed in the monotypic family, Ifritidae. [2] [3] Previously, the ifrit has been placed in a plethora of families including Cinclosomatidae or Monarchidae. [2] Blue-capped ifrits are considered an ancient relict species endemic to New Guinea. This corvoid species originally dates back to the Oligocene epoch, on a series of proto-Papuan islands, with minimal known evolutionary divergences. [4]

Contents

Description

The blue-capped ifrit is 16–17 cm (6.5–6.5 in) long and weighs 34–36 g (1.2–1.3 oz). [5] Species plumage is yellowish brown with a blue-black crown atop their broad head. It is a sexually dimorphic species, with ear streak coloration being white in males and more tawny yellow in females. [2] Ifrits tend to have more stout body shapes with broad sternums and shallow keels. [2] Their wings are short and rounded while their legs are booted, having feathers down to their stout and clawed feet. [2] Additionally, blue-capped ifrits have batrachotoxin within their feathers and skin. [6]

Distribution and habitat

Blue-capped ifrits are endemic to Western New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, being found nowhere else on earth and having a distribution of 388,000 km2. [7] Ifrits inhabit montane rainforest of New Guinea, living in altitude ranges of 1,000–4,000 meters (3,300–13,100 feet) above sea level. [2] Typically, they are found at altitudes of 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) or above. [3]

Behaviour and ecology

As birds with weak flight abilities, blue-capped ifrits build nests about 1–3 meters (3.3–9.8 feet) above the ground in the branches of denser rainforest vegetation. [2] These nests are made of plant fibers with some feathers. The parents tend to camouflage the outside of the nest with moss and liverworts. Ifrits lay small clutches with a typical nest containing only a single offspring. [3] The nest camouflage, toxin excretion, and small clutch sizes may have derived from historically high rates of depredation and nest parasitism. [8]

Toxin

Blue-capped ifrits are among a small group of avian species that are poisonous, the others being the little shrikethrush ( Colluricincla ), and several members of the former genus Pitohui, also from New Guinea. Ifrits excrete batrachotoxin into their feathers and skin in order to defend themselves against predators. [8] Generally, batrachotoxin binds and permanently opens the sodium channels in nerve cells and can cause paralysis. [9] The accumulation of toxins varies in individuals based on the region they are found in and this could be due to the availability of beetles in the genus Choresine , which are speculated to be the dietary source of the toxin itself. [10]

Conservation status

Ifrits are of least concern because they have a large range. Ifrits seem to have a stable population and are thought to have quite a large population size. [5] Part of their range lies within conservation sites. [11]

See also

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Ifrita kowaldi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22705379A94015555. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705379A94015555.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Schodde, Richard; Christidis, Les (2014-04-14). "Relicts from Tertiary Australasia: undescribed families and subfamilies of songbirds (Passeriformes) and their zoogeographic signal". Zootaxa. 3786 (5): 501–22. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3786.5.1 . ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   24869551.
  3. 1 2 3 Donaghey, Richard H. (2015-09-07). "Nest and egg of the Dimorphic Fantail Rhipidura brachyrhyncha and a review of clutch-sizes in New Guinean passerines". Australian Field Ornithology. 32 (2).
  4. Jønsson, Knud Andreas; Borregaard, Michael Krabbe; Carstensen, Daniel Wisbech; Hansen, Louis A.; Kennedy, Jonathan D.; Machac, Antonin; Marki, Petter Zahl; Fjeldså, Jon; Rahbek, Carsten (2017-11-02). "Biogeography and Biotic Assembly of Indo-Pacific Corvoid Passerine Birds". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 48 (1): 231–253. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022813 . ISSN   1543-592X. S2CID   43763778.
  5. 1 2 "Blue-capped Ifrit (Ifrita kowaldi)". www.hbw.com. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  6. Bartram, Stefan; Boland, Wilhelm (2001-11-05). "Chemistry and Ecology of Toxic Birds". ChemBioChem. 2 (11): 809–11. doi:10.1002/1439-7633(20011105)2:11<809::aid-cbic809>3.0.co;2-c. ISSN   1439-4227. PMID   11948866. S2CID   6259254.
  7. "LC Blue-capped Ifrit (Ifrita kowaldi)". Bird Life International. Archived from the original on 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  8. 1 2 Freeman, Benjamin G.; Mason, Nicholas A. (2014-01-08). "New Guinean passerines have globally small clutch-sizes". Emu - Austral Ornithology. 114 (4): 304–308. Bibcode:2014EmuAO.114..304F. doi:10.1071/MU14023. ISSN   0158-4197. S2CID   83542583.
  9. "Batrachotoxin", Wikipedia, 2019-10-26, retrieved 2019-11-19
  10. Dumbacher, John P.; Wako, Avit; Derrickson, Scott R.; Samuelson, Allan; Spande, Thomas F.; Daly, John W. (2004-11-09). "Melyrid beetles (Choresine): A putative source for the batrachotoxin alkaloids found in poison-dart frogs and toxic passerine birds". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101 (45): 15857–15860. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10115857D. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0407197101 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   528779 . PMID   15520388.
  11. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-10-18.

Bibliography