Arabian babbler: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Arabian Babbler.jpg|left|thumb|Photographed at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE]] |
[[Image:Arabian Babbler.jpg|left|thumb|Photographed at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE]] |
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The '''Arabian Babbler''' (''Turdoides squamiceps'') is a [[passerine]] [[bird]] belonging to the genus ''[[Turdoides]]'', a genus of [[Old World babbler]]s. |
The '''Arabian Babbler''' (''Turdoides squamiceps'') is a [[passerine]] [[bird]] belonging to the genus ''[[Turdoides]]'', a genus of [[Old World babbler]]s. |
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The communally nesting Arabian Babblers Turdoides Squamiceps an unique resident bird of Rift valleys (Arava desert) and near dead sea of Israel which lives together in relatively stable groups with strict orders of rank. It is one of the 26 species of the genus Turdoides that constitutes together with several other genera the family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes, Cramp & Perrins 1993). The Timaliidae occur in the Aethiopis, Orientalis and Australis, but a few species of the genus Turdoides have penetrated into the Palearctic zone north of the tropics where they live in arid areas of North and East Africa, India and the Middle East (Zahavi 1990). |
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It is 26–29 cm long with a wingspan of 31-33.5 cm and a weight of 64-83 grams. It has a fairly long curved bill, a long tail, rounded wings and strong legs and feet. The [[plumage]] is grey-brown above, paler below. There are dark streaks on the back and the throat is whitish. It has a variety of calls including whistles, trills and chattering. |
It is 26–29 cm long with a wingspan of 31-33.5 cm and a weight of 64-83 grams. It has a fairly long curved bill, a long tail, rounded wings and strong legs and feet. The [[plumage]] is grey-brown above, paler below. There are dark streaks on the back and the throat is whitish. It has a variety of calls including whistles, trills and chattering. |
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Babblers build open cup shaped nest in the dense part of the tree or bush. There breeding period starts generally from February and varies up to July and highly depended on the seasonal rainfall of the region which in turn regulate the food avability. They even do copulate throughout the years. Eggs are laid usually from February to July. Most clutches Contain four eggs, laid on consecutive days. Incubation usually starts after laying the last egg and continues for 14 days until chicks hatch (Ostreiher 1997, 2001). The nestlings fledge about 14 days after hatching (Ostreiher 1997) |
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It is found in eastern, southern and western [[Arabia]], occurring in the [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Oman]], [[Yemen]] and western [[Saudi Arabia]] but absent from the central and north-eastern parts of the peninsula. Its range extends north to [[Jordan]], [[Israel]] and eastern [[Sinai]]. It inhabits arid [[scrubland]] and [[savanna]], occurring up to 2800 metres above sea-level in Yemen. It mainly feeds on the ground and has a very varied diet including [[insect]]s, small [[vertebrate]]s, leaves, berries and seeds. |
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The diet of Babblers includes a variety of invertebrates (mostly arthropods), small vertebrates (lizards, geckoes, snakes) and plant material, like nectar, flowers, berries, leaves and seeds (Zahavi 1990; Cramp & Perrins 1993). |
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The [[nest]] is a large cup of grass, twigs and other plant material. Three to five turquoise [[egg (biology)|eggs]] are laid; sometimes more than one female will lay eggs in the same nest. They are [[avian incubation|incubated]] for 13 to 14 days and the young birds [[fledge]] after about 14 days. Arabian Babblers are very social birds living in territorial groups. [[Group size measures|Group size]] vary from 2 up to 22 birds. Usually a dominant male and female will breed and the other members of the group help with incubating the eggs and feeding the young. |
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Babblers dance and take baths together, offer themselves gifts, clean themselves, and sometimes enter into conflict with each other for the privilege of helping another babbler. They may also feed their counterparts. This peculiar behaviour made them a privileged examples for [[ethology|ethological]] theories concerning [[Altruism in animals|altruism among animals]]. |
Babblers dance and take baths together, offer themselves gifts, clean themselves, and sometimes enter into conflict with each other for the privilege of helping another babbler. They may also feed their counterparts. This peculiar behaviour made them a privileged examples for [[ethology|ethological]] theories concerning [[Altruism in animals|altruism among animals]]. |
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Revision as of 01:03, 23 April 2012
| Arabian Babbler | |
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| Species: | T. squamiceps
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| Binomial name | |
| Turdoides squamiceps (Cretzschmar, 1827)
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The Arabian Babbler (Turdoides squamiceps) is a passerine bird belonging to the genus Turdoides, a genus of Old World babblers. The communally nesting Arabian Babblers Turdoides Squamiceps an unique resident bird of Rift valleys (Arava desert) and near dead sea of Israel which lives together in relatively stable groups with strict orders of rank. It is one of the 26 species of the genus Turdoides that constitutes together with several other genera the family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes, Cramp & Perrins 1993). The Timaliidae occur in the Aethiopis, Orientalis and Australis, but a few species of the genus Turdoides have penetrated into the Palearctic zone north of the tropics where they live in arid areas of North and East Africa, India and the Middle East (Zahavi 1990).
It is 26–29 cm long with a wingspan of 31-33.5 cm and a weight of 64-83 grams. It has a fairly long curved bill, a long tail, rounded wings and strong legs and feet. The plumage is grey-brown above, paler below. There are dark streaks on the back and the throat is whitish. It has a variety of calls including whistles, trills and chattering.
Babblers build open cup shaped nest in the dense part of the tree or bush. There breeding period starts generally from February and varies up to July and highly depended on the seasonal rainfall of the region which in turn regulate the food avability. They even do copulate throughout the years. Eggs are laid usually from February to July. Most clutches Contain four eggs, laid on consecutive days. Incubation usually starts after laying the last egg and continues for 14 days until chicks hatch (Ostreiher 1997, 2001). The nestlings fledge about 14 days after hatching (Ostreiher 1997)
The diet of Babblers includes a variety of invertebrates (mostly arthropods), small vertebrates (lizards, geckoes, snakes) and plant material, like nectar, flowers, berries, leaves and seeds (Zahavi 1990; Cramp & Perrins 1993).
Babblers dance and take baths together, offer themselves gifts, clean themselves, and sometimes enter into conflict with each other for the privilege of helping another babbler. They may also feed their counterparts. This peculiar behaviour made them a privileged examples for ethological theories concerning altruism among animals.
Starting in the 1970s, Amotz Zahavi observed the babbler at length, giving rise to his theory of signal and its correlative, the handicap principle. Although babblers were considered particularly altruistic animals, Zahavi reinterpreted their behaviours according to his theory. Thus, Zahavi (1974) theorized that chick feeding by Arabian Babbler helpers acts as a signal by the helper to gain social prestige within the group.[1]
Footnotes
- ^ Does group size affect field metabolic rate of Arabian Babbler (Turdoides squamiceps) nestlings?, The Auk, Apr 2001 by Anava, Avner, Kim, Michael, Shkolnik, Amiram, Degen, A Allan
References
- Hollom, P. A. D.; Porter, R. F.; Christensen, S. & Willis, Ian (1988) Birds of the Middle East and North Africa, T & AD Poyser, Calton, England.
- Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998) Birds of the Western Palearctic: Concise Edition, Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
External links
- Despret, Vinciane, Poétique du savoir éthologique (in Alliage, 1997) Template:Fr icon