Rifleman

Acanthisitta chloris

Photo by Kimball Chen (Kea Photography)

Common name:

rifleman (en); carriça-austral-verde (pt); xénique grimpeur (fr); acantisita verdoso (es); grünschlüpfer (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Acanthisittidae

Range:

The rifleman is endemic to New Zealand, being in present in both the North and South islands.

Size:

This tiny passerine is just 8 cm long and has a wingspan of 10-11 cm. Females are slightly larger than males, males weigh 5,5-6 g while females weigh 6,5-7,5 g.

Habitat:

Rifleman are well adapted to forest, scrubland, and alpine environments.

Diet:

Their diet consists of insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates. Males take prey from tree leaves while females find food within tree bark, using their slightly more up-curved bill to pry and loosen bark away from trees.

Breeding:

They build rock fissures, holes in tree trunks, or even in cavities in the ground. The nest entrance is often so narrow that the birds struggle to get inside. The female lays 3-4 eggs, which are incubated for 20 days by both parents. Chicks fledge after 24 days. Many pairs are able to fledge two clutches per year.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

The species is widespread along its range as is not considered threatened at present.

Chocolate-backed kingfisher

Halcyon badia

Photo by David Greyo (Oiseaux)

Common name:

chocolate-backed kingfisher (en); guarda-rios-chocolate (pt); martin-chasseur marron (fr); alcion castaño (es); kastanienliest (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Coraciiformes

Family Alcedinidae

Range:

This African species is present in sub-Saharan Africa, from the Central African Republic and Sudan in the north, down to Angola in the south, and west to Nigeria, Liberia and Guinea.

Size:

This medium-sized forest kingfisher has a wingspan of 20-22 cm.

Habitat:

Confined to forest and gallery forest, their main habitat are tropical and subtropical lowland moist forests. They can also be found in mountain moist forests, up to an altitude of 1500 m and occasionally in dry savanna.

Diet:

They mostly hunt insects, particularly Orthoptera and Coleoptera. Also known to take mantids, earwigs, bugs, cicadas and even spiders.

Breeding:

This species breeds in July-November, during the rainy season. They nest on a hole in a tree, sometimes a hole excavated by woodpeckers. Usually lays 2 white eggs which are incubated by both parents.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

The chocolate-backed kingfisher is a common and wide spread species within its range and suitable habitats, thus not being threatened at present.

Orange-footed scrubfowl

Megapodius reinwardt

Photo by Toby Hudson (Wikipedia)

Common name:

orange-footed scrubfowl (en); megápode de Reinwardt (pt); mégapode de Reinwardt (fr); talégala de Reinwardt (es); Reinwardthunhn (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Galliformes

Family Megapodiidae

Range:

This species occurs in southern New Guinea, in northern Australia and in some of the islands of Wallacea.

Size:

The orange-footed scrubfowl is 35-47 cm long. Males weigh 850-1200 g and females weigh 560-1200 g.

Habitat:

This species occurs in a range of habitats from sea-level to 1800 m, including lowland and mountain rainforest, swamp forest, mangroves, and more arid bushy or wooded areas near the coast. It is typically more frequent at lower altitudes and seems to adapt well to secondary scrub.

Diet:

The orange-footed scrubfowl feeds on seeds, fallen fruit and terrestrial invertebrates.

Breeding:

Both parents build a very large incubation mound of decaying vegetable matter. These mounds can be up to 12 m across and 3,5 m high. Heat generated by the decaying humus provides the heat source for the incubation of the eggs. No parental care is provided for the chicks, who look after themselves entirely and are capable of flight shortly after digging themselves out of the incubation mound.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

With a population of 100.000 to 1.000.000 and a very large breeding range, this species is not considered threatened at present.

Crowned cormorant

Phalacrocorax coronatus

(Photo from Resim Sitesi)

Common name:

crowned cormorant (en); corvo-marinho-de-coroa (pt); cormoran couronné (fr); cormorán coronado (es); Wahlbergscharbe (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Pelecaniformes

Family Phalacrocoracidae

Range:

The crowned cormorant is endemic to the cold waters of the Benguela current of southern Africa. It can be found along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa between Swakopmund and Cape Agulhas.

Size:

This small cormorant is 50-55 cm in length. They have a wingspan of 85 cm and can weigh up to 800 g.

Habitat:

The species occurs during both the breeding and the non-breeding season along the coastal cliffs of the mainland and offshore islands in the cold waters of the Benguela current. It has never been recorded more than 10 km offshore, or more than 100 m inland. It forages in shallow coastal waters and estuaries, often in kelp beds, among breaking waves or in tidal pools during periods of high tide.

Diet:

The diet is mostly composed of benthic fish, particularly klipfish (Clinidae) and pipefish (Syngnathidae) of up to 16 cm. Shrimps and isopods also form a small part of the diet.

Breeding:

The crowned cormorant breeds in mixed seabird colonies, in sheltered areas of rocks, cliffs, bushes, small trees, kelp wracks, as well as man-made structures including jetties, the supports of guano platforms, wrecked ships and sometimes moored ships. The nest is build with kelp, sticks and finer materials, and it can be used for several years in succession. They lay 2-5 eggs which are incubated for at least 23 days. After hatching the chicks are fed for at least 30 days and become independent after 45-60 days.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)

With a population of just 8700 individuals and a restricted breeding range, the crowned cormorant is threatened by human disturbance and mortality due to entanglement in fishing lines. A recent major oil-spill affected some colonies. The recent increase in Cape fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus abundance lead to increased predation, particularly on fledgelings.

Blue jay

Cyanocitta cristata

(Photo from Wallpaper Collections)

Common name:

blue jay (en); gaio-azul (pt); geai blue (fr); arrendajo azul (es); blauhäher (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Corvidae

Range:

It is common in the eastern half of North America, from southern Canada down to Florida and Texas. The western edge of the range stops where the arid pine forest and scrub habitat of the closely related Steller's jay Cyanocitta stelleri begins. The range as recently expanded north-westwards and is now a regular visitor to the north-west of the United States and the southern Pacific coast of Canada.

Size:

The blue jay is a medium-sized bird with a length of 22-30 cm and a wingspan of 34-43 cm. These birds weigh up to 100 g.

Habitat:

The blue Jay occupies a variety of habitats within its large range, from pine woods to spruce-fir forests. It is less abundant in denser forests, preferring mixed woodlands with oaks and beeches. It has expertly adapted to human activity, occurring in parks and residential areas, and can adapt to deforested areas if human activity creates other means for the jays to get by.

Diet:

The blue jay is an omnivorous bird, eating a wide range of food. In the winter they mostly eat plant matter, including acorns, beechnuts, seeds and berries. At other times they will feed on grasshopper and other large insects, caterpillars, mice, bird eggs and baby birds.

Breeding:

Blue jays typically form monogamous pairs form life. Both sexes build the nest, a cup-shaped bowl composed of twigs, small roots, bark strips, moss, cloth, paper and feathers. The nest is placed at a height of 3 to 10 m, in a tree or shrub. They can also nest in mailboxes and even appropriate the nests of other songbirds. The clutch of 4-5 eggs is layed in April-May and incubated for 16-18 days by the female. Both parents raise the chicks until fledging which takes place 17-21 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status – LC (Least Concern)

With a population of 22 million and a wide breeding range, there are no significant threats to this species at present.

Spoon-billed sandpiper

Eurynorhynchus pygmeus

Photo by Jan van de Kam (Birds Korea)

Common name:

spoon-billed sandpiper (en); pilrito-colhereiro (pt); bécasseau spatule (fr); correlimos cuchareta (es); löffelstrandläufer (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Charadriiformes

Family Scolopacidae

Range:

This rare species breeds only in northeastern Siberia, in the Chukchi Peninsula and southwards along the isthmus of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It migrates down the Pacific coast through Japan, Korea and China, to its main wintering grounds in south and south-east Asia, where it has been recorded in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

Size:

This small sandpiper is 14-16 cm long and has a wingspan of 22-24 cm.

Habitat:

The spoon-billed sandpiper inhabits a very specific breeding habitat, almost exclusively sea-coasts where there are sandy ridges sparsely vegetated by mosses, dwarf willows and grasses, interspersed with or neighbouring to salt marshes and brackish ponds. During winter it prefers mixed sandy tidal mudflats with uneven surface and very shallow water, mainly in the outermost parts of river deltas and outer islands, often with a high sand content and a thin mud layer on top. In same areas may also use saltpans.

Diet:

They use the bill to probe for small invertebrates. The chicks eat mainly small insects and seeds.

Breeding:

This monogamous bird nests in June–July. They nest on the ground, in areas never more than 6 km away from the sea. The clutch is composed of 4 brownish mottled eggs which are incubated for 19-23 days. The chicks are tended by both parents for another 2 weeks until fledging. In some cases the female leaves the family in the final few days before fledging.

Conservation:

IUCN status – CR (Critically Endangered)

With a population of just 450-1000 individuals, this species is in critical danger of extinction. The main threats to its survival are habitat loss on its breeding grounds and loss of tidal flats throughout its migratory and wintering range. An important staging area at Saemangeum, South Korea, has already been partially reclaimed, and the remaining wetlands are under serious threat of reclamation in the near future. Hunting is also a serious threat in some areas of south-east Asia.

Inca tern

Larosterna inca

Common name:

Inca tern (en); andorinha-do-mar-Inca (pt); sterne Inca (fr); charrán Inca (es);

Inkaseeschwalbe (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Charadriiformes

Family Sternidae

Range:

Confined to the Pacific coast of South America, these birds breed in the coasts of Peru and Chile.

Size:

The Inca tern is a large tern, 40-42 cm long. Males and females are similar in size, with a wingspan of 60 cm and a weight of 220 g.

Habitat:

This species feeds in the cold waters of the Humboldt current. It breeds on inshore (and occasionally offshore) islands and rocky coastal cliffs.

Diet:

The Inca tern feeds by plunge diving for fish. Often in large flocks, they prey on schooling anchoveta Engraulis ringens, mote sculpins Normanychtic crokeri and silversides Odothestes regia. They also eat crustaceans and scavenge offal and scraps from sea-lions and fishing boats.

Breeding:

The Inca tern nests in a hollow or burrow, or sometimes the old nest of a Humboldt penguin Spheniscus humboldti, and lays one or two eggs. The two main peaks of egg-laying occur in April-May and October. The eggs are incubated for about 4 weeks, and the chicks leave the nest after 7 weeks.

Conservation:

IUCN status – NT (Near-threatened)

Although still common in many locations, the current population of 150.000 is much lower than in the past. Recent phenomena of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have caused mass breeding failure. The guano industry and overfishing of their prey are the two main threats on this species.