The Schlegel's Asity (Philepitta
schlegeli) Male, Plumage can found in Madagascar. This fantastic bird is a
species of bird belongs to Philepittidae family. It is endemic to Madagascar,
and its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and
subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Schlegel’s Asity is 12·5 to 14 cm, small bird, rotund, short-tailed, with
short bill and legs. Adult male breeding has head mostly black, brilliant
apple-green wattle. The species is perhaps polygynous, with dispersed male
leks. Its nest is globular in shape and suspended from a low branch of an understory
tree. It is constructed from moss, bark and leaf strips, held together with
spiders' webs. Laying dates are probably at least between October and December.
The male is very distinctive, but the female can be distinguished from the
Velvet Asity by the pale fleshy eye-ring, and the yellow-tinged underparts. Thus,
hints Often feeds from flowering trees in the canopy of western deciduous
forest, or on fruits in the understory.
This species has elaborate
secondary sexual characters. Adult breeding males of the Schlegel’s Asity have
supraorbital caruncles, which are feather less, fleshy excrescences of the
dermis above the eye. These caruncles are pearly light green below and in front
of the eyes, blue above the eyes, and turquoise behind the eyes. The voice of
Male bird song is a quiet but penetrating whistle of c. 7–9 notes, rising and
then falling. The bird likes largely frugivorous, especially in rainy season;
fruits include those of Cabucala (Apocynaceae). The population size of this
species has not been quantified, but it is described as rather scarce. All
forest habitats in Madagascar are under intense human pressure. Because dry
forests within this species’ range are threatened by burning and cattle-grazing
as well as by the extraction of wood for fuel and construction.
