| Blue-capped Ifrit | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Ifritidae |
| Genus: | Ifrita |
| Species: | Ifrita kowaldi |
The Blue-capped Ifrit or Blue-capped Ifrita (Ifrita kowaldi) is a small, insectivorous New Guinean songbird that is nowadays placed in its own monotypic family, Ifritidae. It is one of the very few birds in the world known to be poisonous; others among them include the Little Shrikethrush complex (now split into several species) and several species of pitohui (most notably the ones of the family Oriolidae).
Description[]
This small insectivorous bird, which weighs about 35 grams, is up to 16–17 cm long and has a yellowish olive-brown plumage, dark above and light under, with a black-blue crown. The male has a white stripe behind the eyes, which is dull yellow in females. It appears to have a stout body shape with a broad sternum and shallow keel. Its wings are short and rounded while its legs are booted, having feathers down to the stout and clawed feet.
Toxicity[]
The Blue-capped Ifrit has batrachotoxin alkaloids on its skin and feathers, which causes numbness and tingling in those who touch the bird, and this also defends them from predators. Generally, batrachotoxin can cause paralysis by the binding and permanent opening of the sodium channels in nerve cells. The toxin is acquired with its diet, specifically with the beetles of the genus Choresine.
Voice[]
It has an upbeat "toowa-wee!" song that has a sound quality likened to the song of a New World spinetail or an Icterine Warbler.
Behavior[]
Blue-capped Ifrits feed on insects, sometimes on soft fruits. They are weak flyers and forage both on trees and on the ground, moving along the trees like a nuthatch and using the tail for support. Nests with eggs were spotted in September as well a nest with chicks in October and November, meaning that it is time of breeding for birds in the middle and at the end of the dry season. The nest is a large thick-walled ball of moss and ferns, intertwined with tendrils and thin roots for camouflage. It is built 1-3 meters off the ground in the branches of denser rainforest vegetation. Birds lay small clutches, and nests typically contain one offspring only. The derived factors of nest camouflage, toxin excretion, and small clutch sizes might have been historically high rates of depredation and nest parasitism.
Distribution and Habitat[]
Found at altitudes of 1,000–4,000 m (3,280–13,123 ft), mainly 1,500 m (4,921 ft) or above, the Blue-capped Ifrit is endemic to the montane and mossy rainforests of New Guinea.
Conservation Status[]
Ifrits are of least concern in conservation due to their large range (388,000 km2), part of which are in conservation sites, and possibly stable population trends and large population size.