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The rifleman (''Acanthisitta chloris'') (
The rifleman is New Zealand's smallest endemic bird, with fully grown adults reaching around in length. Male birds typically weigh around , females . The bill of the female is also longer, as is its hind claw. The difference in between the sexes may be ecological in its origin, reflecting different foraging niches the two sexes have during times when they have high energy demands (feeding chicks). The male rifleman is bright green above, with a yellow-green rump. The wings are black, green and white with a yellow band across the flight feathers. The tail is black with a whitish tip. The throat, breast and belly are white, sometimes with a yellow wash, and the flanks are yellowish. The female is of a more somber brownish tone and her head and back are flecked with ochre. Both birds have white eyebrow stripes. They have short, rounded wings, a very short tail and a long thin awl-like bill which is brownish and slightly upturned for insertion into cracks. The rifleman flies quickly with a wing beat producing a characteristic humming sound like a hummingbird.
The true habitat of this bird is thinly wooded forests, but other similar New Zealand species live near rocky outcrops.
The rifleman is the most widespread species of acanthisittid in the two main islands of New Zealand but occurs only rarely in latitudes north of Te Aroha. The North Island subspecies, ''A. c. granti'', occurs mainly in lowland tawa forest, while the South Island subspecies, ''A. c. chloris'', is found in high-altitude
Both sexes are responsible for building the nest, which is a dome or ovoid of finely interwoven blades of grass, down feathers, and other light materials. The nest entrance, a small tunnel in the side, is often so narrow that the bird struggles to get inside. The rifleman builds its nest in holes in tree trunks, on a branch, or even in cavities in the ground.
Courtship feeding is an important part of the breeding of the rifleman, with the male feeding the female up to 42% of the food that he collects, representing 35% of her food intake around the time of laying. The average clutch size is two to five eggs, which are incubated for 19-21 days by both sexes. Both parents feed the chicks, and they may be helped by the young from previous broods. Chicks fledge after 21-27 days, and are fully independent after four to six weeks. Two broods per year are common. The species readily takes to nesting in nest boxes, and doing so increases the fledging success of the chicks.
Facts Sheet, Photo, Video
{{Taxonbar, from=Q646366 Acanthisittidae Endemic birds of New Zealand Birds described in 1787 Taxa named by Anders Sparrman
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
: ''titipounamu'') is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the family Acanthisittidae, also known as the New Zealand wrens, of which it is one of only two surviving species. The rifleman resembles a wren
Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
in form, but is not related to the family of true wrens, Troglodytidae, nor the fairy-wren
The Australasian wrens are a family (biology), family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the wren, true wrens. The family comprises 32 spec ...
s of Australia.
Taxonomy
The rifleman was described by Anders Sparrman in 1787 based on a bird collected in Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand'sSouth Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. He originally placed it in the nuthatch genus '' Sitta''. Frédéric de Lafresnaye placed it in its own monotypic genus ''Acanthisitta'' in 1842. The name ''Acanthisitta'' is a portmanteau of the thornbill genus ''Acanthiza
''Acanthiza'' is a genus of passeriform birds, most endemic to Australia, but with two species (''A. murina'' and ''A. cinerea'') restricted to New Guinea. These birds are commonly known as thornbills. They are not closely related to species i ...
'' and the genus ''Sitta''.
The rifleman is named after a colonial New Zealand regiment because its plumage drew similarities with the military uniform of a rifleman.
Description
The rifleman is New Zealand's smallest endemic bird, with fully grown adults reaching around in length. Male birds typically weigh around , females . The bill of the female is also longer, as is its hind claw. The difference in between the sexes may be ecological in its origin, reflecting different foraging niches the two sexes have during times when they have high energy demands (feeding chicks). The male rifleman is bright green above, with a yellow-green rump. The wings are black, green and white with a yellow band across the flight feathers. The tail is black with a whitish tip. The throat, breast and belly are white, sometimes with a yellow wash, and the flanks are yellowish. The female is of a more somber brownish tone and her head and back are flecked with ochre. Both birds have white eyebrow stripes. They have short, rounded wings, a very short tail and a long thin awl-like bill which is brownish and slightly upturned for insertion into cracks. The rifleman flies quickly with a wing beat producing a characteristic humming sound like a hummingbird.
Vocalisations
The rifleman has a range of simple high-pitched calls, the most commonly used call being a squeaky and repetitive ''zipt''. At least part of calls of the rifleman falls in the ultrasonic range of frequencies, although it is unknown what function this serves or even if riflemen are able to hear sounds at these frequencies.Distribution and habitat
The true habitat of this bird is thinly wooded forests, but other similar New Zealand species live near rocky outcrops.
The rifleman is the most widespread species of acanthisittid in the two main islands of New Zealand but occurs only rarely in latitudes north of Te Aroha. The North Island subspecies, ''A. c. granti'', occurs mainly in lowland tawa forest, while the South Island subspecies, ''A. c. chloris'', is found in high-altitude beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
forest or lowland areas forested with podocarp.
The rifleman covers the same or similar territory every day, which a male/female pair defend. They can only fly short distances, meaning they are unlikely to cross open areas. The bird was once common across New Zealand, but the fragmentation of forests from land development has meant less habitat and more isolated populations.
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
Both sexes are responsible for building the nest, which is a dome or ovoid of finely interwoven blades of grass, down feathers, and other light materials. The nest entrance, a small tunnel in the side, is often so narrow that the bird struggles to get inside. The rifleman builds its nest in holes in tree trunks, on a branch, or even in cavities in the ground.
Courtship feeding is an important part of the breeding of the rifleman, with the male feeding the female up to 42% of the food that he collects, representing 35% of her food intake around the time of laying. The average clutch size is two to five eggs, which are incubated for 19-21 days by both sexes. Both parents feed the chicks, and they may be helped by the young from previous broods. Chicks fledge after 21-27 days, and are fully independent after four to six weeks. Two broods per year are common. The species readily takes to nesting in nest boxes, and doing so increases the fledging success of the chicks.
Feeding
The rifleman isinsectivorous
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores were ...
and searches for maggots and small insects on tree trunks and among leaf litter on the forest floor. It searches for food in a similar way to the treecreeper. The bird begins its search from the base of a tree and climbs up it progressively, spiralling up around the trunk. Upon finishing its search of a particular tree, the bird glides to the foot of a neighbouring tree and begins its search again.
Cultural references
The rifleman was pictured on the reverse side of the New Zealand $2 note from 1967 until the note was phased out in 1991.References
* Buller, W.L. ''Birds of New Zealand'', 1888. * Oliver, W.R.B. ''New Zealand Birds'', 1955.Further reading
*External links
Facts Sheet, Photo, Video
{{Taxonbar, from=Q646366 Acanthisittidae Endemic birds of New Zealand Birds described in 1787 Taxa named by Anders Sparrman