Piapiac

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Piapiac
adult with beak full of termites
sub-adult (l) and immature (r)
Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Ptilostomus
Swainson, 1837
Species:
P. afer
Binomial name
Ptilostomus afer
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Distribution map
Synonyms

Corvus afer Linnaeus, 1766

The piapiac (Ptilostomus afer) is an African bird in the

crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. It is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays
.

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist

A

Podoces that inhabit Central Asia.[9]

Description

In size it is a little smaller and slimmer than the

European magpie (Pica pica) though the bill is relatively thicker. It is 35–42 cm (14–17 in) in length and weighs 121–130 g (4.3–4.6 oz). The overall colouring is black with the feathers quite silky in texture and having a purplish gloss in good light. The base of the tail tends to be more brown in colour than the rest of the body. Unusual for a passerine it has 10 rather than 12 tail feathers. The nasal plumes are somewhat upturned on top of the bill but fully cover the nostrils. The bill itself is black in the adult but partly reddish-pink towards the base in juvenile specimens. The bird's legs and feet are black and the iris is variable, but tends towards violet, purple or mauve with a bluish-purple outer ring. The voice is usually described as a shrill squeaking often with the jackdaw-like overtones. There is also a croaking alarm call given in anger where the head bobs.[10]

Distribution and habitat

The range of the species is the

range, its favoured habitat is towards more open country of cultivated land with fields and pasture
and small associated towns and villages.

Behaviour

Feeding

Food is obtained in flocks of ten or more birds moving together on the ground including

prey
.

Breeding

The piapiac often nests in a palm tree, but other nesting sites are also used. Strips of palm leaf and grass stems are cemented together with mud and lined with palm fibre to form a cup, in which three to seven eggs are laid between March and April. Piapiac eggs are very pale blue, or greenish-blue with a few brown blotches.

External image links

References

  1. . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 2. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 40–41, Plate 3 fig 2. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 157.
  5. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  6. ^ Swainson, William John (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. Vol. 2. London: John Taylor. p. 266.
  7. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 260.
  8. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  9. .
  10. .