Blue-capped Ifrita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iBlue-capped Ifrita | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Ifrita kowaldi De Vis, 1890 |
The Blue-capped Ifrita, Ifrita kowaldi also known as Ifrit is a small olive brown cinclosomatid bird found in mountain forests of New Guinea. It measures up to 16.5cm long with blue-capped black crown and yellowish brown below. The male has a white streak behind its eye, while female's ochraceous.
The Blue-capped Ifrita is distributed and endemic to rainforests of New Guinea. The only member in monotypic genus Ifrita, it is placed in the family Cinclosomatidae. The monotypic genus Ifrita is the second bird genus with poisonous member. The first being the genus Pitohui, also from New Guinea.
This enigmatic poisonous bird, along with Hooded Pitohui, is known to sequester Batrachotoxin in its skin and feathers that caused numbness and tingling sensations to the bird-touchers.
The Blue-capped Ifrita creeps on trunks and branches in search of its insects diet. The toxins are acquired from part of its diet, the Choresine beetle.[1]
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Blue-capped Ifrita is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Ifrita kowaldi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 26 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
