Verdin
Verdin | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Remizidae |
Genus: | Auriparus S.F. Baird, 1864 |
Species: | A. flaviceps
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Binomial name | |
Auriparus flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850)
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The verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) is a
Taxonomy
The verdin was
Six subspecies are recognised:[6]
- A. f. acaciarum Grinnell, 1931 – southwest USA to north Baja California, central Sonora, central Chihuahua and central Durango (northwest Mexico)
- A. f. ornatus (Lawrence, 1851) – south-central USA and northeast Mexico
- A. f. flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850) – central Baja California, south Sonora and north Sinaloa (northwest Mexico)
- A. f. lamprocephalus Oberholser, 1897 – south Baja California (northwest Mexico)
- A. f. sinaloae Phillips, AR, 1986 – northwest Sinaloa (northwest Mexico)
- A. f. hidalgensis Phillips, AR, 1986 – north-central Mexico
Description
The verdin is a very small bird. At 4.5 in (11 cm) in length, it rivals the
Vocalizations
Little is known about geographic or individual variation in vocalizations. Verdins produce a variety of calls, loud for their size. The typical call note is a repetitive "tschep" sound repeated in rapid staccato. In Texas, rapid "chip-chip-chip" calls have been observed, all at the same pitch and at the same speed in each call series.”[8] The day of hatching, nestlings can produce short peep notes, faint and high-pitched. Fledglings, during their post-juvenile molt, can make soft warbling notes, similar to more complex signatures of adult calls.[9] The verdin gives rapid "tschep" calls frequently while foraging. Unmated males sound "tseet" calls repeatedly in early spring, which may function to attract females. "Tseet" calls are also given by either sex of a mated pair, by solitary foraging birds, and by older nestlings. This may be used as an identifier call to help keep members of the breeding pair together as they move through brush to forage.[10] "Tweedle" warbling calls may reinforce a breeding pair bond. The verdin also gives a "gee-gee-gee-gee" alarm call in response to predators or when captured.
Distribution and habitat
Two subspecies nest in the United States. The subspecies A. f. acaciarum is resident from southern California, Nevada, and Utah southward into Mexico; it is associated mostly with the Sonoran Desert. The subspecies A. f. ornatus is found from New Mexico and Oklahoma southward into Mexico and is associated with the Chihuahuan Desert and its scrublands. The remaining 4-5 subspecies are resident to Mexico, and aren't known to migrate into the United States.[2] Verdins nest in shrubs and thorny thickets with few trees. Their nests are best described as spherical masses of bulky twigs and branches that are then lined with grasses, feathers, and hair. The entrance to the nest is about 1" in diameter, and is usually at the bottom of the sphere. They feed in shrub-land and scrubby outcrops where insects are hosted and berries and seeds are plentiful.[11]
Behavior and ecology
Breeding
Verdins nest in the spring and tend to form monogamous pairs, but do not stay together year-round. Otherwise, they are usually solitary. Both males and females build nests for roosting and nesting, and both incubate the eggs and tend to young. Clutch sizes vary from 3-6 eggs, which are light green with irregular dark red-brown spots, concentrated at the bottom end of the egg. No formal courtship display is known for the species, but males sing more frequently during breeding and sometimes also build a "display nest" of sorts. This display nest may help to display partner suitability, but this correlation has not been confirmed. Once paired, the male and female claim a territory (as large as 20
Food and feeding
Verdins are insectivorous, continuously foraging among the desert trees and scrubs. Verdins occasionally try to obtain sugar water from hummingbird feeders. Feeds on many kinds of tiny insects, both adults and larvae, and also consumes hard and soft mast of many trees and shrubs.[11]
Conservation status
Although the verdin is listed as a species of least concern [LC] by the
References
- ^ . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Verdin Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
- ^ Sundevall, Carl Jakob (1850). "Foglar från Nordöstra Afrika". Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-akademiens forhandlingar (in Swedish). 7 (5): 125–133 [129, note].
- ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 69.
- ^ Baird, Spencer F. (1864). Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Vol. 1, North and Middle America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 85.
- ^ Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Waxwings and allies, tits, penduline tits". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Oberholser, H. C. (1974). The Bird Life of Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, USA.
- S2CID 216386862.
- ^ Dawson, W. L. (1923) The Birds of California: A Complete, Scientific and Popular Account of the 580 Species and Subspecies of Birds Found in the State. Volume 2. South Moulton, San Diego, CA, USA
- ^ a b "Verdin". 13 November 2014.
External links
- Verdin profile at State of Utah, Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources
- "Verdin media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Verdin photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Audio recordings of Auriparus flaviceps on Xeno-canto.
- Interactive range map of Auriparus flaviceps at IUCN Red List maps