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Galliformes and other animals for South America
JOrnitho: Hello! I'm back with ideas for some new species for South America. I found in my computer an archive with some ideas for fauna and flora that I had some time ago and decided to show there to ask your opinion about them. The first is about a descendant of the domestic chicken. [more]Copper jacumitan (Jacumita cuprinus) Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae Habitat: Savannas and woodlands of Central South America. During the Holocene, the man introduced many species in other continents. The jacumitan is a descendant of domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) that are introduced in South America. It replaced the birds in the family Cracidae, which are extinct in the Neocene, in some areas. In a matter of fact, the name jacumitan is the junction of the words jacu, the popular name in Brazil for guans of the Genus Penelope, and the tupi word mitã (mitan) that means new, this way the name means “new guan”. The copper jacumitan is the type species of this genus and lives in the savannas and woodlands of Central South America. The copper jacumitan is sexually dysmorphic. The male measure 190 cm, due to the long tail, it has a bright coppery brown upperbody plumage and reddish-brown feathers below. They also have metallic dark green feathers on the tail and wings. Only males have a bright red naked skin on the face, with two wattles that conceal the sides of its head. This characteristic is shared by all males of the genus Jacumita. The males of the genus also have crests formed by white feathers with black tips. During courtship and panic moments, they rise the crests. The females have 75 cm of length and are cryptic brown and adapted to camouflage, its naked skin on the face is pale pink and don’t have flesh wattles. The young males are similar to the females until they reach 9 weeks, at this time the wattle begin to develop. Both sexes have long orange colored legs and grey beak. The males have spurs that they use in fights for dominance. The neck is long and slim. Copper jacumitans can fly, but prefer to run from the predators flying only as last resort. These birds are omnivorous and feed on insects, seeds, and fruits. Its forage for food by scratching the ground, usually near herbivores this way there is other animals observing for the presence of predators. Often the male sits on a high perch, to serve as a lookout for his group. He sounds an alarm call if predators are nearby. At night it will sleep perched on branches. Copper jacumitans are polygamous; the male will have a harem with 5 to 12 females and will guards the area where his females are nesting, and attack other males that enter his territory. To initiate courting, the males will dance in a circle around or near a female, raising their crests and lowering the wing which is closest to the hen. Then, he will vocalize and when she responds to his call, the male will mount her and proceed with the mating. The females make their nest in the ground, laying 6 to 14 red eggs which are incubated for 22 days. Chicks are precocious, leaving the nest shortly they are born. They fledge in about 4 to 5 weeks, and at 13 weeks old are chased out of the group by their mother, at which point the young males start to form a harem and the females join an existing one. Sexual maturity is reached at 6 months and the lifespan of this species is of 13 years, however is common for males to die early due to predation. Other species in the genus Jacumita are: Golden jacumitan (Jacumita aurea) Living in the forests of the Atlantic coast of South America, the males of this species has 200 cm of length, from beak to tail, while the females have 83 cm. The plumage of the male have a bright golden-yellow plumage in the upperparts, being scarlet in the chest and belly. They have dark metallic green wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. Red jacumitan (Jacumita amazonica) Living in the "terra firme" forests of the Amazon , the males of this species has 185 cm of length, from beak to tail, while females have 70 cm. The plumage of male is bright orange-red in the upperparts, while their chest and belly is yellow. The males also have dark metallic blue wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. Andean jacumitan (Jacumita andina) Living in the highland forests in the slopes of the Andes, the males of this species has 170 cm of length, from beak to tail, while females have 68 cm. The plumage of the males is white in the upperparts and yellowish-red in the belly and chest. The males also have dark metallic blue wing feathers and tail while the female is cryptic brown. This other one is about a descendant of the californian quail: Common austral grouse (Tetraoinus australis) Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae Habitat: Forests of Southern South America During the Holocene, the man introduced many exotic species different habitats, the ancestor of the austral grouse was one of these species. Their ancestor was not a true grouse, but the Californian quail, due to evolutionary convergence they acquired characteristics similar to the true grouses of North America. Living in the forests of Southern South America, the male austral grouse are 55 cm long and the female have 44 cm of length. The male have a dark grey body plumage, black-and-white bridled head pattern, black back and a greyish-blue belly. They have a curving crest or plume, made of six feathers that droops forward (long and black in males /short and brown in females) and long forked blackish tail with white undertail coverts. Females and immature birds are mainly greyish-brown with a light-brown belly. Both sexes have a black bill and relatively long grey legs. Their diet consists mainly of seeds and leaves, but they also eat some berries and insects. In some regions their main source of food are the seeds of trees of the Genus Araucaria. These birds are not elegant fliers, however they sleep perched in branches. Given a choice, they will normally escape on foot. During the courtship, the male austral grouse do displays on a lek, each male have a “personal space”. The males strut around their chose space, doing a display. The display consists of the male posturing himself with the head near the ground. Then, they start to move it from right to left showing their crests, simultaneously they raising the tail feathers, showing their withe undertail coverts. After that, they will raise their heads abruptly and whilst make a highly distinctive mating call. When another male invade the personal space of other, a fight happens, in this case the male will try to take of the crest of the rival, this way they will not be capable to display for the females. The female usually lays approximately 12 spotted eggs. The nest is a shallow scrape lined with vegetation on the ground. Incubation lasts from 21–25 days, usually performed by the female and rarely by the male. The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest with their parents within hours of hatching. The male stay with the female until the young leave, with 3 months. The young reach sexual maturity with 1 year, with this age the young males acquire the coloration of an adult male. Their lifespan is of 27 years. In the forests of Tierra del Fuego another species lives, the Black boreal grouse (Tetraoinus nigrus). Their main difference to the other species is that the males have an all-black plumage, with only a faint shade of blue in the chest and brown undertail coverts. The females are similar to that of the common austral grouse. The males have 52 cm and the females 41 cm.[/more] I also have in this archive some names for possible species that I never developed bayond some few facts. Maybe someone could help me make their descriptions.
JOrnitho: Áèîëîã ïèøåò: The hummingbirds (Trochilidae) have very weak beaks, too weak to drill through petals. Also, why would they need to drill? This would be OK for some type of entirely closed flowers that cannot be cross-pollinated in a way other than some animal drilling or gnawing through its petals (or self-pollinated). And this looks unlikely. I had this idea after reading some articles about cases of hummingbirds that developed this strategy to have easy access to nectar. They do it frequently in flower with longer corolla. My idea was that these hummingbirds would haver short beaks with thin tips to pierce the petals. While they still can reach nectar in short flowers, they will practice nectar robbery in longer ones. Such practice would be more common than that of their ancestors, with them visiting the longer flowers more frequently. These links are of images of how I thought that these thief hummingbirds could do it. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIt81N5hwX4CCZFdb3E5Xs1s3x_efF8R99hw&usqp=CAU https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZqQNQON0gpHaNZkFVnrmv-rypl_UZ4GhmLw&usqp=CAU
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho OK, I agree then. I am not a trained ornithologist, ya know Then, the idea is good! But still we already have almost a dozen species of hummingbirds in neocene - just go to the Index and press Ctrl-F for "Find on page" (or use the same command on the smartphone/iphone browser), then type in "Trochilidae" and tap Enter.
JOrnitho: Áèîëîã ïèøåò: OK, I agree then. I am not a trained ornithologist, ya know I never paid much atention to hummingbirds until I started to read some articles about them recently. Then I found out about their nectar robbery. Áèîëîã ïèøåò: But still we already have almost a dozen species of hummingbirds in neocene - just go to the Index and press Ctrl-F for "Find on page" (or use the same command on the smartphone/iphone browser), then type in "Trochilidae" and tap Enter. Well, South America have thousands of hummingbirds in the Holocene, but I understand if the species that already exist are good enough. I only though that could be interesting to have these flying thieves. By the way, I finished the description of more animals for the chapter about the Andes. Andean social cuy (Sociocavia andina) In face of the anthropogenic onslaught, some resilient species were capable of surviving. In South America, the guinea pigs (genus Cavia) were one of these survivors. In the Neocene one of their direct descendants is the genus Sociocavia, the social cuy. The members of this genus are highly social animals that form large colonies with burrows, which can be used by other animals. One of the representatives of this genus is the Andean social cuy, a species endemic to the Andean Plateau. The Andean social cuy have 42 cm of length, with males being slightly heavier than the females. They are generally tan in color, with lighter-colored bellies. However, there could be color variation in their pelt, such as dark fur on their back in black and brown tones. Their forelimbs are strong, with them using it to dig complex tunnels. The tail is very short. This mammal is a herbivore and feeds on grasses and other herbs. It's diurnal, mainly emerging in the early morning to forage and again in the evening. During the winter months, these rodents don't hibernate. They continue to leave the burrow to forage, but will enter a state of torpor at night to conserve energy. Torpor is categorized by a drop in metabolism, heart rate and respiration similar to hibernation, but is involuntary and shorter in duration. On average, a mountain social cuy will lose twenty percent of its body weight during the fall and winter seasons when they go through bouts of torpor. As winter progresses, the amount of time spent in torpor increases. The Andean social cuy is a highly social rodent. They form large colonies with several individuals. Colony size may range from five to thousands of individuals, and may be subdivided into two or more wards, based on topographic features. These groups may contain 15–26 family groups. There may also be subgroups, called "wards", which are separated by a physical barrier. Family groups exist within these wards. Most social cuy family groups are made up of one adult breeding male, two to three adult females and one to two male offspring and one to two female offspring. Females remain in their natal groups for life and are thus the source of stability in the groups. Males leave their natal groups when they mature to find another family group to defend and breed in. Breeding takes place at the beginning of austral spring. The gestation period is about 62 days and females can have five litters in a year. The number of young born averages two and ranges from one to five. The minimum age at which the young adults can breed is thirty days. They have a lifespan of 7 years. Red-billed bullfinch (Parapyrrhula erythroramphus) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. Even during the Holocene, the family Thraupidae always showed a great morphological diversity. Its members evolved to fill the most different niches. From the tropical rainforests, to the Andes, the members of this family could be seen in all of them. In the cold Andean Plateau region, the red-billed bullfinch appeared. This species has a similar lifestyle to the true bullfinches from Eurasia (Genus Pyrrhula). The red-billed bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. They have 13 cm of length and a wingspan of 29 cm. The males have a slaty gray plumage with black wings, back and head. Their short and thick bills are bright red. The females are pale gray with patches of brown in the wings and head. Their bill is pale pink. Both sexes have dark gray legs. They feed mainly on seeds and buds, but can occasionally eat invertebrates. When winters arrive in the Andean Plateau, these birds engages in altitudinal movements by winter, traveling to as low as 1,800 m or even to 1,060 m. The red-billed bullfinch lives in pairs or small flocks that usually perch near the tops of bushes, but forage often in lower vegetation or even on the ground. They fly in tight flocks in a fast, direct but sometimes undulating flying style. Their nesting season starts early in the spring and until the end of summer, the pairs can have 3 to 5 clutches. The nests are built in cavities, usually rock crevices. The female lays 3 brown-speckled pale blue eggs, which are incubated solely by her for 11 days. The chicks fledge after 4 weeks, but can remain with parents until the migration. During this period, they help their parents take care of the other clutches. This species reaches sexual maturity with 6 months, but mist only start to nest in the next spring. They have a lifespan of 7 years. Mountain redgem (Rubetrochilis andinus) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The hummingbirds were one of these survivors and now their descendants are the proof of their survival. In the Andean Plateau, a new species appeared. It's the mountain redgem, a bird that is adapted to survive in this region. During the cold nights, these birds will enter in torpor, congregating in small flocks inside rock crevices or in protected branches. By staying together, they are capable of staying warm. During the winter, these birds will migrate to the lowlands close to the Andes. The mountain redgem is a small bird. They have 11 cm of length, with males having a 10 cm long tail. Both sexes have scaly brown upperparts, but only the males have red iridescent feathers in the throat and chest. In females, this part of the body is reddish ocre. Both male and female have a dark striped belly and a dark patch through the eye, with a white supercilium. The males have dark purple uppertail coverts with light ochre bands and central tail feathers are long with white tips. The tail of the females are short. Like all other species of hummingbird, the mountain redgem feeds on nectar. However, they will eat a variety of insects, including mosquitoes, fruit flies, gnats in flight, or aphids on leaves and spiders in their webs. When foraging, the mountain redgem is a solitary bird, with males even being aggressive with each other when searching for food. However, when they find a place to spend the night, these hummingbirds will congregate in flocks to stay warm during the torpor. The nesting season starts immediately after they return to the Andean Plateau during spring. The male sings during courtship. It's thin and squeaky, interspersed with buzzes and chirps, and is drawn to over 10 seconds in duration. During the breeding season, males can be observed performing an aerial display dive over their territories. When a female flies onto a male's territory, the male rises up about 30 m before diving over the female. As the male approaches the bottom of the dive, it reaches an average speed of 27 m/s. At the bottom of the dive, the male travels 23 m/s, and produces an audible sound by the tail feathers. During this period, the males will attack each other aggressively. The female raises the young without the assistance of the male. The female bird builds a nest in a shrub or tree, in vines, or attached to wires or other artificial substrates. It's constructed of plant fibers, downy feathers and animal hair; the exterior is camouflaged with chips of lichen and plant debris. The nest materials are bound together with spider silk. The female lays two to three white eggs that are incubated for 13 days. The young fledge for 3 weeks. They can already breed in the next spring. This species has a lifespan of 5 years. Andean lesser groundowl (Parvodeinostrix andina) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The genus Parvodeinostrix, the lesser groundowls, is formed by descendants of the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia). It's the sister genus of the Deinostrix, large owls that inhabit North America. Like their Northern relatives, these birds have a long knife-like claw on their internal forward toe. One of its representatives is the Andean lesser groundowl, a species that inhabits the Andean Plateau. During winter, they migrate to plain areas in the foothills. The Andean groundowl have 32 cm of length and 75 cm of wingspan. Adults have chestnut brown heads and wings with white spotting. Their chests and abdomens are cream white with variable black spotting or barring, also depending on the subspecies. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below. The juveniles have a buff bar across their upper wings and their breasts may be buff-colored rather than white. Andean groundowls of all ages have long grayish legs. Their plumage is dense, what helps them to stay warm during the winter of the Plateau. When hunting, they wait on a perch until they spot prey. The perch usually is a rock, cactus or bush. Once they spot it, they swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes, they chase prey on foot across the ground. In these cases, they will kill the prey with a hit of their long claw. The highly variable diet includes invertebrates and small vertebrates. These owls mainly eat large insects and small rodents. Although they often live close to social guinea pigs, they rarely prey upon them. The nesting season happens during the spring. The lesser groundowls usually only have one mate but occasionally a male will have two mates. The owls nest in a burrow, usually these left empty by social guinea pigs. If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. During the nesting season, they will collect a wide variety of materials to line their nest, some of which are left around the entrance to the burrow. The most common material is mammal dung, which helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat. The female lays an egg every one or two days until she has completed a clutch, which can consist of four to 12 eggs. She then incubates the eggs for 4 weeks while the male brings her food. After the eggs hatch, both parents feed the chicks. Four weeks after hatching, the chicks can make short flights and begin leaving the nest burrow. The parents still help feed the chicks for 3 months. They reach sexual maturity with 7 months and have a lifespan of 9 years. Another representative of the Genus is the Savanna lesser groundowl (Parvodeinostrix savanna). This species inhabits several biomes of South America, from the savannas of Central South America to the plains of Patagonia. They have 28 cm of length and 70 cm of wingspan. The upperparts are grey-brown, heavily spotted with white. The underparts are white, streaked with brown. The facial disc is pale and the iris is yellow. There is a white neckband and supercilium. The Patagonian population is migratory, moving north during the winter.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Good descriptions!
JOrnitho: Here is other two descriptions for the "War of the Hollow" chapter. One is of the toucan-like barbet and the other is about a species of bee that vould be a rival of the striped honey bees. Rainbow bald-toucan (Capitocalvus versicolor) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. Some species of barbets (Capitonidae) were capable of surviving. Due to great changes in their environment, these birds ended up needing to adapt and even change much of their morphology. In the Neocene, they give rise to the genus Capitocalvus, the bald-toucans. While they aren’t true toucans, their appearance and lifestyle is similar to that of true Ramphatidae. The type species of this genus is the rainbow bald-toucan, an inhabitant of the tropical and subtropical forested areas of South America, from Amazon to the Atlantic rainforest. The rainbow bald-toucan is the largest representative of its genus. This species has 54 cm of length and a wingspan of 97 cm. Their strong and thick beak is 14 cm long. It has a white color with a black tip. Such pale and simple coloration is a stark difference from the true toucans and their colorful beaks. All males of this genus have a flat projection on the top of their beaks, similar to the casque of the hornbill. It reaches part of their skull, giving a bald appearance. Both males and females have a colorful plumage. The head is bright red, while the underparts are yellow. The back, tail and wing coverts are green, while the primaries and secondary feathers are blue. Their legs are black and strong. These birds are opportunistic omnivores. While fruits are a dominant part of their diet, they will also target other animals as prey. Invertebrates such as insects, scorpions, spiders and centipedes are common prey. Among the vertebrates, the rainbow bald-toucan is capable of killing small mammals, small birds, frogs and lizards. The rainbow bald-toucan is usually found in pairs or small familiar groups. These groups show a marked territorial behavior towards other groups or species, which is usually made clear by the loud duets of breeding pairs, and it is actively protected by the breeding pair by chasing off intruders. The family group's helpers assist in this, especially near the nest. In the absence of interference, these groups can occupy a particular territory for a year or longer. The rainbow bald-toucan breeds cooperatively, with several helpers aiding the dominant breeding pair with incubation and raising the young. Groups are larger outside the reproductive season but generally shrink to three individuals in season, usually composed of previous immature offspring that stay with their parents and help with the new hatchlings. After the breeding season, the group increases due to greater acceptance of non-family members. These helpers significantly increase the reproductive success of the breeding pair. The breeding season of this species starts in the middle of spring and lasts until the end of autumn. Pairs may have two or even three broods per year. They build their nests inside holes carved in cliffs. The construction of such holes is made solely by the male, who uses their strong beak to remove the soil. They also use the flat part on their beak and head to leave the soil inside it compacted. The female will fiscalize the construction and when it's deep enough, she will fill it with leaves and lianes. The female usually lays two to four white eggs a few days after mating. The eggs are incubated by both sexes and hatch after 18 days. The young will be attended in the nest by their parents and siblings, until they fledge with 20 days. Sexual maturity is reached with one year and they have a lifespan of 14 years. Another species of the genus is the blue-throated bald-toucan (Capitocalvus cyanogullaris), an inhabitant of the cloud forests at the slopes of the Andes. This species is 32 cm long and has a wingspan of 68 cm. Their plumage is mostly green, with the exception of their throat and chest that is blue, and head that is red. Manduri (Manduri infestantibus) In the South America of the Neocene, not only the Africanized bees survived. Some of the members of the Genus Melipona were capable of surviving the pressure that it suffered during the Holocene. These stingless bee survived competition and destruction of their habitats by becoming aggressive and developing large heads with large mandibles capable of cutting wood. The Manduri is one of the species of this genus. This word was used as a regional name in Brazil for their ancestors. This insect inhabits the tropical and subtropical areas of South America. have dark black, rounded bodies with slightly curved antennae and translucent wings. Size is from 29 to 30 mm, and they are more heavily build than the Apis bee. This bee can be identified by the large bright yellow head and black mandibles. Their mandibles are large and well developed, giving them a wasp-like appearance. The abdomens of the queens swell with ovarian development, making older queens larger than workers which is typical of most social bees. Queens vary slightly in their coloring, having brown eyes and brown hair compared to the black eyes and hair of worker bees. Workers are smaller than the queen. Workers have black eyes and black hair on their thorax and abdomen. Older workers will go out foraging while younger workers, 12 to 21 days old, will construct and provision cells in the comb. Like their ancestors, they are highly eusocial bees that are characterized by having perennial colonies that are typically headed by a single-mated queen. The average number of adult workers and queens within a colony is 300–400. There is rare cases of temporal polygyny within a colonies having more than one egg-laying queen. New colonies are established in a slow process, when the number of worker bees exceed 500 or 600 individuals in the parent colony. Then, a number of worker bees start to build a new nest by using their large mandibles to carve a tree cavity well suited for this purpose, and store honey and pollen in there. When the new nest is ready, a "princess bee" (mated gyne) join the workers, and if accepted it starts laying eggs and becomes the new queen. After a while the abdomen of the new queen expands to 3 or more times the initial size (a phenomenon called physogastrism) and it becomes incapable of flying, never leaving the nest again. Eggs are laid singly in a cell in a wax honeycomb, produced and shaped by the worker bees. Using her spermatheca, the queen can choose to fertilize the egg she is laying, usually depending on into which cell she is laying. Drones develop from unfertilised eggs and are haploid, while females (queens and worker bees) develop from fertilised eggs and are diploid. Larvae are initially fed with royal jelly produced by worker bees, later switching to honey and pollen. The exception is a larva fed solely on royal jelly, which will develop into a queen bee. The larva undergoes several moultings before spinning a cocoon within the cell, and pupating. Young worker bees, sometimes called "nurse bees", clean the hive and feed the larvae. When their royal jelly-producing glands begin to atrophy, they begin building comb cells. They progress to other within-colony tasks as they become older, such as receiving nectar and pollen from foragers, and guarding the hive. Later still, a worker takes her first orientation flights and finally leaves the hive and typically spends the remainder of her life as a forager. Worker bees cooperate to find food and use a pattern of "dancing” to communicate information regarding resources with each other. While they feed on nectar of different flowers, the manduri and honey bee (subgenus Striatoapis) compete for hollowed trees to make their hives. The first will carve their own nests that can be usurped by the second. Such conflicts can result in fights between swarms of workers of both species. The honey bees will try to sting their rivals, while the manduri will use their mandibles to cut off their heads. The species emerging victorious in such disputes can depend of several factors, such as the number of bees involved.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Very good!
JOrnitho: I finished the description of the other two birds for the chapter "War for the Hollows". Purple headed parrot (Neopionus amazonicus) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The genus Pionus had survived the anthropogenic onslaught and gave rise to the Neopionus parrots. The type species is the purple headed parrot, an inhabitant of the Amazon rainforest, being more common in the varzea forests. The purple headed parrot has 38 cm of length and 73 cm of wingspan. They have a mainly green plumage with a purple head, neck and upper breast, red undertail coverts, and some orangish-yellow on the wing coverts. Their tail is short and rounded. The beak is dark gray and strong. The legs and feet are pale gray. These birds feed primarily on seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, buds, nectar, and flowers, supplemented by leafy matter. Their beaks enable them to crack nut shells with ease. The purple headed parrots are gregarious and monogamous. The pairs will be seen flying close to each other in the flocks. The breeding season starts during the beginning of spring and lasts until the end of summer. The pairs will make their nests inside hollowed trees. The members of the genus Neopionus have the habit of putting leaves in it to cover the eggs. Among the leaves used are those of repellent tobacco, which help them to maintain bees away from the nest. The female lays 3 to 5 white eggs that can be laid with an interval of three to four days. Females are responsible for the entire incubation period 28 days, and only leave the nest for short feeding periods. Males will protect the nest from potential predators and repel the approach of golden-faced parakeets, which can destroy the eggs to occupy the nest even if the blue headed parrot is larger than them. The chicks are born blind, naked and completely vulnerable. Only after 10 days, they begin to open their eyes and their feather quills break through. Both parents participate in feeding the chicks. The young leave the nest within 67 days, but they still depend on their parents for 7 to 8 weeks after hatching. They only become independent after 9 to 12 weeks. These birds are sexually mature around 2 years of age and have a lifespan of 32 years. Another representative of the genus is the yellow-bellied parrot (Neopionus xanthoventer), an inhabitant of the Atlantic coast forests of South America. They have 35 cm of length and a wingspan of 68 cm. Their plumage is mainly green, with a blue crown and face. Their main characteristic is the bright yellow belly. The primary feathers are red. The red tailed parrot (Neopionus erythrourus) is another representative of the genus. This species inhabits the woodlands and gallery forests of Central South America. They have 37 cm of length and a wingspan of 70 cm. Their plumage is mainly green, with a blue crown. The main characteristic of this species is the bright red feathers of the tail. Golden-faced parakeet (Eupsitulla belicosa) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The genus Eupsitulla was one of these survivors and new species exist. One of them is the golden-faced parakeet, an inhabitant of the Amazon rainforest. The golden-faced parakeet has 32 cm of length and a wingspan of 60 cm. Their head and face is bright orangish-yellow. The throat and rest of the body is green. The primaries and secondary feathers are red. Their 12 cm long tail is olive-green with a blue tip. The beak and legs are gray. These birds mainly feed on fruits, flowers, berries, blossoms, seeds, nuts, and insects. They feed on both ripe and half-ripe seeds of both fruits and berries. They require more protein intake during breeding season, more carbohydrates when rearing young, and more calcium during egg production. When outside of the breeding season, the golden-faced parakeet lives in large flocks. Being monogamous, the pairs remain together in such flocks, even flying and resting close to each other. Their breeding season starts during the spring and ends in early autumn. During this period, the large flocks are dissolved. These once social birds become very aggressive. Their nests are built in tree holes that will be defended by the pair with great aggressiveness. They will also expel birds or bats from holes, even killing those that are smaller than them. They can inflict cuts with their beaks, but most of their attacks are aimed toward the head and chest. Once the hole is secured, the pair will work together to prepare the nest. If necessary, they will remove pieces of wood to enlarge the space. The female lays 3 to 4 white eggs that can be laid with two- to three-day intervals. Females are responsible for the entire incubation period from 23 to 27 days, and only leave the nest for short feeding periods. Males aggressively protect the nest from potential predators and from other golden-faced parakeets, which can destroy the eggs to occupy the nest. The chicks are born blind, naked and completely vulnerable. Only after 10 days, they begin to open their eyes and their feather quills break through. Both parents participate in feeding the chicks. The young depend on their parents for 7 to 8 weeks after hatching, and only become independent after 9 to 12 weeks. These birds are sexually mature around 2 years of age and have a lifespan ranging from 20 to 25 years
JOrnitho: I made the description of another bird for the chapter about the Atlantic forest. It could be prey for the Tamoio cat. Southern night tapaculo (Nyctoscytalopus soricioides) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. Among the survivors were tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae). Representatives of this family survived in the Atlantic forests of South America and continued to evolve. In the Neocene, they gave rise to the Genus Nyctoscytalopus, the night tapaculos. The type species of this genus is the Southern night tapaculo, an inhabitant of the Atlantic lowland forests of Southeastern South America. The Southern night tapaculo is a tiny bird, having 11 cm of length and 23 cm of wingspan. Their plumage in the upperparts is dark gray, while in the lower parts it's dark brown. They have large eyes with well developed tapetum lucidum that are suitable for their nocturnal lifestyle. Their beak and legs are dark gray. This species forages during the night on the ground for insects, spiders, and centipedes. All representatives of this genus are birds of the understory of the forest, rarely leaving it. They are fast, moving swiftly in the ground like a shrew. During the day, these birds rest in small cavities. The Southern night tapaculo is a monogamous species, with the male and female forming pairs for life. It nests in natural cavities in the ground or on fallen logs. It makes its nest in the form of a sphere made of material found in the vicinity of the couple's territory, such as roots, small twigs, lichens and others. The female lays 2 white eggs that incubated solely by her for 17 days. The chicks are feed by both parents. They fledge with 23 days, but remain with the parents for more 4 weeks. They reach sexual maturity with 3 months and have a lifespan of 5 years. Another representative of the Genus Nyctoscytalopus is the Northern night tapaculo (Nyctoscytalopus minor), an inhabitant of the Atlantic forests in Northeastern South America. They have a similar plumage to that of their Southern relative, but are smaller, having 10 cm of length and 20 cm of wingspan. The highland Atlantic forests in the Southeast have an endemic species, the Serra night tapaculo (Nyctoscytalopus montanus). Differently of their lowland relatives, this species have light brown underparts. They have 12 cm of length and 24 cm of wingspan.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Good bird!
JOrnitho: I made the description of another genus of bird. Golden-fronted erythrophonia (Erythrophonia flavifrons) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However the species that were resilient enough survived, with their descendants now living in the Neocene. The Genus Erythrophonia originated from species of Euphonias that survived the anthropogenic onslaught. The golden-fronted erythrophonia is the type species of this genus. It inhabits the canopy of the Atlantic forest of South America. The golden-fronted erythrophonia have 12 cm of length and 21 of wingspan. The male has entirely bright red underparts from the throat to vent save. The upperparts are a dark blue-black except for the yellow crown patch which extends from the bill over the head to just past the eye. The female, like most representatives of this genus, is dull olive above and pale red below. In both sexes, the bill and legs are gray. It’s one of the best imitators among the South American birds. A single male can manifest in a few minutes in the voice of 10 to 16 different bird species. They are perfect imitations, but translated to their own reduced vocal strength. The repertoire of the golden-fronted erythrophonia becomes a faithful copy of the avifauna of the region in which it lives. Such characteristic is shared by all representatives of the Genus. They eat small fruit and berries, particularly mistletoe. Insects can be consumed occasionally, being more frequent when they have chicks. They are social birds, forming flocks of 7 to 20 individuals. Pairs are monogamous, and stay together year round. Both parents build a globular nest of dried grass and stems, lined with finer material and with a side entrance. The female lays three to four cream-colored, brown-splotched eggs, which she alone incubates for 15 days. They have 2 to 3 broods during the nesting season, which starts during the end of winter. Both parents feed the hatched chicks. The chicks fledge within 20 days. Sexual maturity is reached with 12 months and they have a lifespan of 8 years. The Genus Erythrophonia have other representatives. The black-throated erythrophonia (Erythrophonia amazonica) replaces the golden-fronted erythrophonia in the Amazon rainforest. This bird is more common in varzea forests and areas that are flooded during the monsoon. They have 11 cm of length and 20 cm of wingspan. The male of this species have a red belly and chest, with the rest of the plumage being dark blue-black, including the throat. They also have a small yellow patch over their beak. The female is similar to the other species. Another representative is the red-crowned erythrophonia (Erythrophonia estemmenorubrus), an inhabitant of the woodlands and gallery forests of Central South America. This bird has 9 cm of length and 19 cm of wingspan. The male is similar to that of the golden-fronted erythrophonia, with the exception of having red plumage on the crown. The last member of this genus is the Andean erythrophonia (Erythrophonia andina), a bird endemic to the cloud forests at the slopes of the Andes. They have 10 cm of length and 21 cm of wingspan. The adult male has glossy olive upperparts, a yellow forehead, and a bright red belly. The adult female has less glossy upperparts than the male, a yellow crown and a small rufous belly patch.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Good bird!
JOrnitho: I was thinking about the swifts and nightjars of South America. Do you think that they could have developed some different lifestyle from that of their ancestors? For example, I was thinking in a species of nightjar, which males have a pair of long tail covert feathers that they use in courtship rituals.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Swifts and nightjars catch their prey (insects) in the air, in flight. So, long tail feathers will interfere with fast maneuverable flight. But nightjars can have decorative feathers on their wings, like these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard-winged_nightjar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennant-winged_nightjar
JOrnitho: Áèîëîã ïèøåò: So, long tail feathers will interfere with fast maneuverable flight. Well, South America already have a species of long tailed nightjar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-trained_nightjar My idea was a possible descendants of this bird that also developed these long feathers, but with different shapes and sizes.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Ah, I see! I did not know about that species. OK, the idea's good!
JOrnitho: I made the description of another genus of bird. Rufous-bellied choca, or rufous-bellied antshrike (Neothamnophilus rufus) The human actions during the Holocene caused the decline of many species. However some species survived and in the Neocene they gave rise to new species. One of these new species is the rufous-bellied choca, the type species of the Genus Neothamnophilus. The direct ancestors of these birds were Thamnophilus antshrikes that survived the anthropogenic onslaught during the Holocene. The word choca was the popular name of several representatives of their ancestral genus. The rufous-bellied choca lives in the lowland Atlantic forests of South America. The rufous-bellied choca have 15 cm of length and a wingspan of 32 cm. This species, like all the members of this genus, is sexually dismorphic. The male is dark gray with a black crown and a rufous belly. They also have black wings, with white spots in the coverts. The female is completely rufous, with the exception of the crown and wings that are dark brown and lack spots in the coverts. This species is insectivorous, feeding on insects and other arthropods that are captured in low vegetation and on the ground. The rufous-bellied choca lives singly or in pairs, often with dense undergrowth. Breeding is seasonal, starting during the spring and continues through the summer. The nest is a woven cup, generally placed rather low. Both sexes incubate 2 to 3 eggs. The incubation lasts for 10 days, taking 12 days for the chicks to fledge. They remain with their parents for three more weeks. Sexual maturity is reached with 6 months and they have a lifespan of 7 years. The genus Neothamnophilus has other representatives. One of them is the stripped choca (Neothamnophilus striatus), an inhabitant of the woodlands and gallery forests of Central South America. This species has 13 cm of length and a wingspan of 32 cm. The male is black with several white stripes on the belly. They also have white spots in the coverts. The female is pale gray, with the exception of the crown and wings that are black. The Amazon choca (Neothamnophilus amazonicus) is another representative of this genus. Living in the understory parts of "terra firme" forests in the Amazon, this species have 14 cm of length and a wingspan of 31 cm. The male is black with a white belly. They also have brown wings, with white spots in the coverts. The female is completely gray, with the exception of the wings that are dark brown. The Agreste choca (Neothamnophilus minor) is endemic to the transition areas between arid savanna and Atlantic forest located in Northeastern South America. The word agreste was used in Brazil to name this region. These birds have 13 cm of length and a wingspan of 30 cm. The male is brown with a black crown and a black belly. They also have black wings, with white spots in the coverts. The female is completely light brown, with the exception of the crown and wings that are gray.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho OK, good one! I add it to the catalogue and the chapter bestiary.
JOrnitho: Would be interesting if a genus if Amazonic piprids was formed due to the hybridization among close related species during the Holocene? Cases of hybrids happen in this family, with even a species, the golden-crowned manakin (Lepidothrix vilasboasi), having originated this wayclick here. Perhaps with the reduction of the Amazon rainforest during the Holocene, some of these birds ended "inprisoned" in these small forested areas what increased their chances of hybridization.
Áèîëîã: JOrnitho Good idea! It would be the first descendant of a hybrid in neocene project!
JOrnitho: Yes, they could also have genes of other close related species, the result of more hybridization during the end of the Holocene.
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