Puaiohi

Myadestes palmeri

Photo by Mitch Walters (Flickr)

Common name:
puaiohi (en); tordo-solitário-puaiohi (pt); solitaire puaïohi (fr); solitario puaiohi (es); Palmerklarino (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Turdidae

Range:
This species is endemic to the island of Kaua'i, in the Hawai'i archipelago, where it is presently only found at the Alaka`i Wilderness Preserve.

Size:
These birds are 17 cm long and weigh 37-43 g.

Habitat:
The puaiohi is now restricted to high-elevation rainforests, favouring ravines and stream banks with a rich understorey. They are present at altitudes of 1.000-1.500 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on fruits and berries, namely olapa Cheirodendron trigynum, lapalapa C. platyphyllum, ōhia ha Syzygium sandwicensis and kanawao Broussaisia arguta. They also hunt some invertebrates, such as snails and insects, especially during the breeding season. Being the only frugivore in Kaua'i this species possibly plays an important role in seed dispersal.

Breeding:
The puaiohi is monogamous, but there is some evidence of extra-pair paternity. They breed in march-September, nesting in cavities or ledges on cliffs or trees which are lined with moss and ferns. There the female lays 2 grayish-green to greenish-blue eggs with irregular reddish-brown splotches. She incubates the eggs alone for 13-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 16-22 days after hatching. Each pair may raise up to 4 broods per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - CR (Critically Endangered)
This species has a very small breeding range and a global population estimated at just 130-330 individuals. Following past declined and range contractions caused by habitat destruction, the species is now increasing thanks to a captive breeding and reintroduction programme in the Alaka'i Wilderness Preserve, having more than doubled in the last 15 years. The main threats to the puaiohi include diseases, hurricane damage, predation by native short-eared owls Asio flammeus and introduced rats, competition with introduced insects, birds and mammals and habitat changes causes by introduced plant species. The destruction of the understorey by feral pigs has been implicated in past declines and may still be a problem in the future. Beside the ongoing captive breeding and reintroduction programme, other conservation initiatives include the control of rat populations, the installation of rodent-resistent nest boxes and ungulate exclusion fences.

Australasian bittern

Botaurus poiciloptilus

Photo by Marlene Lyell (Flickr)

Common name:
Australasian bittern (en); abetouro-australiano (pt); butor d'Australie (fr); avetoro australiano (es); Australische rohrdommel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Ciconiiformes
Family Ardeidae

Range:
This species is found throughout most of New Zealand, in New Caledonia and in Australia, in south-western Western Australia and from southern Queensland to Tasmania and south-eastern South Australia.

Size:
These birds are 66-76 cm long and have a wingspan of 105-120 cm. The females weigh 570-1.130 g, while the males weigh 880-2.080 g.

Habitat:
The Australasian bittern is found in shallow, freshwater wetlands with lots of tall reeds, rushes and other dense vegetation, occasionally also using estuaries and other tidal wetlands and rice paddies. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 800 m.

Diet:
They forage mainly at night, hunting frogs, fishes, crayfish, snails and aquatic insects. It has also been recorded feeding on lizards, birds, rats, mice, leaves and fruit.

Breeding:
Australasian bitterns breed in September-February. They are monogamous, solitary nesters, nesting in a well-constructed saucer of flat pieces of reeds or rushes that are laid across one another and may be sheltered above by stems of the surrounding vegetation. It is placed 30 cm above the water. The female lays 3-6 olive-brown eggs, which she incubates alone for about 25 days. The chicks are fed by the female alone and fledge 7 weeks after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - EN (Endangered)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 1.000-2.500 individuals. The population trends are unknown for the small New Caledonian population, whilst in New Zealand the species is suspected to be stable. In Australia, the population has declined by over 70% since the 1970s, mainly due to wetland drainage for agriculture, as well as changes brought about by high levels of grazing and salinisation of swamps. Human disturbance and predation by introduced red foxes may also pose a problem to this species.

Short-billed pipit

Anthus furcatus

Photo by Roberto Maisonnave (Aves Uruguay)

Common name:
short-billed pipit (en); caminheiro-de-unha-curta (pt); pipit à plastron (fr); bisbita piquicorto (es); weißbauchpieper (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Motacillidae

Range:
This species is found in Peru, Bolivia, northern and central Argentina, Uruguay and marginally into south-eastern Brazil.

Size:
These birds are 14-14,5 cm long and weigh 20 g.

Habitat:
The short-billed pipit is found in pastures and puna grasslands, from sea level up to an altitude of 4.000 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground, taking larval and adult insects, such as grasshoppers, butterflies and flies, and other invertebrates, but also eat some seeds.

Breeding:
Short-billed pipits breed in September-February. The nest is a cup made of gasses, placed on the ground well concealed among the vegetation. There the female lays 3-4 buffy white eggs with brown spots, which she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The chicks are mainly fed by the female , fledging 12-13 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Leat Concern)
This species ha a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Eurasian three-toed woodpecker

Picoides tridactylus

Photo by Johan Stenlund (PBase)

Common name:
Eurasian three-toed woodpecker (en); pica-pau-tridáctilo (pt); pic tridactyle (fr); pico tridáctilo euroasiático (es); dreizehenspecht (de)

Taxonomy
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae

Range:
This species is patchily distributed in central and eastern Europe, with population in Switzerland and Austria, Romania, the Ukraine and Greece, and from Scandinavia and Belarus, through most of Russia and into Kazakhstan, Mongolia, central and northern China and northern Japan.

Size:
These birds are 20-24 cm long and have a wingspan of 32-35 cm. They weigh 60-85 g.

Habitat:
The three-toed woodpecker is mainly found in mature coniferous forests, especially spruce, ocurring both in taiga at higher latitudes, where they prefer damp or swampy areas with much dead wood, and in sub-alpine forests at lower altitudes. They are present at altitudes of 650-4.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on the larvae of tree-dwelling insects, spiders, some berries, and bark cambium.

Breeding:
Three-toed woodpeckers are monogamous and breed in April-July. The male excavates a hole in a dead or dying tree, where the female lays 3-6 white eggs. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 12-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 22-25 days after hatching. Each pair raises a single brood per year and they young reach sexual maturity after the first year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and a global population estimated at 5-50 million individuals. Although declines occurred in parts of its European range from since the 1970s, it has been stable across much of its European range since the 1990s.

Black-throated finch

Poephila cincta

Photo by Vladimír Motyčka (BioLib)

Common name:
black-throated finch (en); diamante-de-garganta-preta (pt); diamant à bavette (fr); diamante gorjinegro (es); gürtelgrasfunk (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Estrildidae

Range:

This species is endemic to Queensland, Australia, where it is currently found on the Cape York Peninsula. In the past its range extended southwards into northern New South Wales.

Size:
These birds are 10-12 cm long and weigh about 15 g.

Habitat:
The black-throated finch is found in dry, grassy savannas and open forests dominated by eucalypts, paperbarks or acacias, and also uses scrublands, pastures and arable land.

Diet:
They mainly feed on the seeds of various grasses and herbs, such as such as Urochloa mosambicensis, Digitaria, Melinis repens, Chloris inflata, Dactyloctenium, Eremochloa, Paspalidium and Setaria. They also take some spiders, ants and termite alates.

Breeding:
Black-throated finches can breed all year round. They breed in colonies and the nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a round structure woven from dried grasses with tube-like entrance. It is typically placed in a fork in a tree or scrub, about 5 m above the ground. There the female lays 3-9 matte white eggs, which are incubated for 12-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 21-22 days after hatching, but only become fully independent 3 weeks later. Each pair raises 1-2 broods per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as fairly common or locally common, but less common in the south of its range. The population is suspected to be in decline at a slow rate, owing to the clearance and degradation of its habitats, mainly due to the spread and intensification of pastoralism, changes in fire regime and increases in the density of native woody weeds in grassy savannas. Despite this, the black-throated finch in nor considered threatened at present.

Greater sand plover

Charadrius leschenaultii

Photo by Ahmet Karatash (Trek Nature)

Common name:
greater sand plover (en); borrelho-grande-do-deserto (pt); pluvier de Leschenault (fr); chorlitejo mongol grande (es); wüstenregenpfeifer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Charadriidae

Range:
This species breeds in central Asia, from Mongolia, southern Russia and northern China, west through southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and into the Caucasus. There are also some isolated breeding population in Turkey and Jordan. They migrate south and south-west to winter along the coasts of southern Asia, Australia, eastern Africa, and also along the Mediterranean coasts of Libya, Egypt and Israel.

Size:
These birds are 22-25 cm long and weigh 70-105 g.

Habitat:
Greater sand plovers breed in open deserts or semi-arid areas with sparse vegetation, grasslands, steppes and in seasonal saline, brackish or alkaline lakes and flats. Outside the breeding season they are mostly found in sandy or muddy intertidal flats, in coastal lagoons and estuaries, sand dunes, rocky coastal areas and tide pools. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 3.000 m.

Diet:
During the breeding season they feed on terrestrial insects and their larvae, including midges, ants, beetles and termites, also being known to occasionally eat small vertebrates such as lizards. Outside the breeding season they feed mainly on marine invertebrates, including snails, worms, small crabs and shrimps, also eating some adult and larval insects.

Breeding:
The greater sand plover breeds in April-July. The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground lined with a thin layer of plant material. It is placed in an area of sand, gravel or other barren site. There the female lays 3-4 cream to light brown eggs with darker spots. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 24 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, but rely on their parent for brooding and protection for about 30 days.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 180.000-360.000. The population trend is difficult to determine because of uncertainty over the impacts of habitat modification on population sizes.

Pale-edged flycatcher

Myiarchus cephalotes

Photo by Nick Athanas (Antpitta)

Common name:
pale-edged flycatcher (en); maria-cavaleira-dos-Andes (pt); tyran givré (fr); copetón montañero (es); Andenschopftyrann (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae

Range:
This species is found form northern Venezuela and along the eastern slopes of the Andes through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and into central Bolivia.

Size:
These birds are 18-20 cm long and weigh 24-28 g.

Habitat:
The pale-edged flycatcher is mostly found in mountain rainforests, but also in lowland rainforests and degraded patches of former rainforest. They are present at altitudes of 800-3.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects and other arthropods, especially butterflies and moths, cicadas, flies and wasps, but also katydids, dragonflies, beetles, spiders and millipedes.

Breeding:
Pale-edged flycatchers breed in March-December. They nest in a cavity in a tree or building, lined with dead leaves and small sticks. The female lays 2-3 white eggs with reddish-brown streaks, which she incubates alone for 18 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge after 18 days, but only become fully independent 9-10 weeks later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as uncommon. This species exhibits flexibility in habitat choice and consequently its population is suspected to be stable.