Editing Piapiac

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Piapiac
| image = Piapiac Kedougou.jpg
| image_caption = adult with beak full of termites
| image2 = Piapiac (Ptilostomus afer) sub-adult (l) and immature (r).jpg
| image2_caption = sub-adult (l) and immature (r)<br>[[Semliki Wildlife Reserve]], [[Uganda]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Ptilostomus afer'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T22705925A118780210 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22705925A118780210.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Ptilostomus
| parent_authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1837
| species = afer
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)
| range_map = Ptilostomus distribution map.jpg
| range_map_caption = Distribution map
| synonyms = ''Corvus afer'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}}
}}

The '''piapiac''' ('''''Ptilostomus afer''''') is an African bird in the [[crow family]], and is the only member of the [[genus]] '''''Ptilostomus'''''. It is most closely related to the Central Asian [[ground jay]]s.

==Taxonomy==
In 1760 the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] included a description of the piapiac in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''La pie du Sénégal'' and the Latin ''Pica Senegalensis''.<ref name=brisson>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=2 | language=fr, la | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=40–41, Plate 3 fig 2 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36011220 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial system]] and are not recognised by the [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]].<ref name=allen>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | hdl=2246/678 }}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] updated his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' for the [[12th edition of Systema Naturae|twelfth edition]], he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.<ref name=allen/> One of these was the piapiac. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the [[binomial name]] ''Corvus afer'' and cited Brisson's work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii  | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=157 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946353 }}</ref> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''afer'' is Latin for "Africa".<ref name=hbwkey>{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/afer | access-date=16 May 2018 }}</ref> The piapiac is the only species placed in the [[genus]] ''Ptilostomus'' that was introduced by the English naturalist [[William Swainson]] in 1837.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1837 | title=On the Natural History and Classification of Birds | volume=2 | place=London  | publisher=John Taylor | page=266 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41945044 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr  | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=260 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485633 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=16 May 2018 }}</ref> The species is [[monotypic]].<ref name=ioc/>

A [[molecular phylogenetic]] study published in 2005 found that the piapiac from Africa was most closely related to the ground jays in the genus ''[[Podoces]]'' that inhabit Central Asia.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Ericson | first1= Per G. P. | last2=Jansén | first2=Anna-Lee | last3=Johansson | first3=Ulf S. | last4=Ekman | first4=Jan | year=2005 | title=Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data | journal=Journal of Avian Biology | volume=36 | issue= 3 | pages=222–234 | doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x | url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf | citeseerx= 10.1.1.493.5531 }}</ref>

==Description==
In size it is a little smaller and slimmer than the [[European magpie]] (''Pica pica'') though the bill is relatively thicker. It is {{cvt|35|-|42|cm}} in length and weighs {{cvt|121|-|130|g}}. The overall colouring is black with the [[feather]]s quite silky in texture and having a purplish gloss in good light. The base of the tail tends to be more brown in colour than the rest of the body. Unusual for a [[passerine]] it has 10 rather than 12 tail feathers. The nasal plumes are somewhat upturned on top of the [[beak|bill]] but fully cover the nostrils. The bill itself is black in the adult but partly reddish-pink towards the base in juvenile specimens. The bird's legs and feet are black and the iris is variable, but tends towards violet, purple or mauve with a bluish-purple outer ring.  The voice is usually described as a shrill squeaking often with the [[jackdaw]]-like overtones. There is also a croaking alarm call given in anger where the head bobs.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last=dos Anjos | first=L. | year=2009 | chapter=Family Corvidae (Crows) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-96553-50-7 | pages=494–640 [616–617] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0014unse/page/616/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
The range of the species is the [[tropical]] [[equator]]ial region of central [[Africa]] from [[Senegal]] on the west coast, eastwards in a broad band to [[Sudan]] and southern [[Ethiopia]]. Within this [[Range (biology)|range]], its favoured [[habitat]] is towards more open country of cultivated land with fields and [[pasture]] and small associated towns and villages.

==Behaviour==

===Feeding===
Food is obtained in flocks of ten or more birds moving together on the ground including [[insect]]s and other [[invertebrate]]s but will take a degree of carrion, possibly attracted as much by the associated insects this attracts as much as the meat itself. Some fruit is also taken in trees, with the oily fruit of the [[oil palm]] (''Elaeis guineensis'') being a favourite. Able to run fast with some agility, it tends to hop at slower speed and will catch insects disturbed by the feet of [[cattle]], sometimes hitching a ride on their backs and darting out to catch the [[prey]].

===Breeding===
The piapiac often nests in a palm tree, but other nesting sites are also used. Strips of palm leaf and grass stems are cemented together with mud and lined with palm fibre to form a cup, in which three to seven eggs are laid between March and April. Piapiac eggs are very pale blue, or greenish-blue with a few brown blotches.

==External image links==
* [https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/piapia1/cur/introduction Photos and videos] on Birds of the world

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Corvidae|1}}
{{Corvides|Co.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q386672|from2=Q10809560}}

[[Category:Corvidae]]
[[Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1766]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]