Woodchat shrike

Lanius senator

(Photo from Rflx-s)

Common name:

woodchat shrike (en); picanço-barreteiro (pt); pie-grièche à tête rousse (fr); alcaudón común (es); rotkopfwürger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Laniidae

Range:

The woodchat shrike mostly breeds in the Iberian Peninsula, but they can be found throughout the Mediterranean basin, from Iberia and Morocco in the west to the Balkans, Turkey and Israel and through the Caucasus into northern Iran. They winter in sub-Saharan Africa, throughout the Sahel belt, from western Africa to Ethiopia, Eritrea and the extreme south-west of the Arabian Peninsula.

Size:

These birds are 18-19 cm long and have a wingspan of 26-28 cm. They weigh up to 50 g.

Habitat:

They mostly breed in areas of scattered trees and tall bushes, namely in the cork and Holm oak woodlands of Spain and Portugal. During the winter they occupy dry forest and rainforest clearings, as well as thorny bush savannas.

Diet:

Woodchat shrikes mostly hunt large invertebrates and small vertebrates, including beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas and crickets, but also ants, butterflies, caterpillars, snails, earthworms, centipedes, spiders, mice, small birds, lizards and frogs. Exceptionally they also take berries and other fruits.

Breeding:

These birds start breeding in May-June. The nest is a compact, semi-spherical bowl made of stems, branches and twigs, with the interior lined with fine materials such as feathers and the inflorescences of small plants. There the female lays 5-6 eggs, which she incubates alone for 18 days. Both parents feed the chicks until fledging, which takes place 15 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

Although the woodchat shrike is believed to be facing a widespread decline owing to various factors, they have a global population of 2-7 millions and a very large breeding range which justify the species not being considered threatened at present.

Grey partridge

Perdix perdix

(Photo from Animal Photos)

Common name:

grey partridge (en); perdiz-cinzenta (pt); perdrix grise (fr); perdiz pardilla (es); rebhuhn (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Galliformes

Family Phasianidae

Range:

This species breeds throughout Europe from the UK to Kazakhstan, extending north to Scandinavia, and with a patchy distribution in southern Europe. They have been successfully introduced to many parts of the world for shooting, including vast areas of North America.

Size:

Grey partridges are 28-32 cm long and have a wingspan of 45-48 cm. They weigh 340-450 g.

Habitat:

This species is mostly found in open farmland, but also on wasteland, moors, and sand dunes. Adults prefer to occupy open grass or vegetation, but tend to move their chicks into cereal crops.

Diet:

Adults feed on grass, seeds and shoots. They also take some insects during the breeding season. The young feed completely on invertebrates such as sawflies, beetles and aphids for the first 2 weeks after hatching.

Breeding:

Grey partridges breed in April-September. The nest is a scrape in the ground lined with grass and leaves, usually hidden at the base of a hedge or clump of vegetation. There the female lays up to 20 olive-brown eggs, which she incubates alone for 20-25 days. The precocial chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and start hunting insects while escorted by their parents. After 16-19 days the chicks fledge and change into a mostly granivorous diet.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has suffered a marked decline in all parts of its native range owing to habitat loss and degradation caused by agricultural intensification and loss of insect prey caused by pesticides. Still, with a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 5-10 million, this species is not considered threatened at present.

Fiery minivet

Pericrocotus igneus

Photo by Neon Rosell (Philippine Bird Photography Forum)

Common name:

fiery minivet (en); minivete-flamejante (pt); minivet flamboyant (fr); minivete encendido (es); feuermennigvogel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Campephagidae

Range:

This Asian species is found in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, and parts of Malaysia and Brunei, as well as the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo and the Palawan Province islands of the Philippines.

Size:

Fiery minivets are 15-16,5 cm long and weigh 14-16 g.

Habitat:

They are found in the canopies of forests and along forest edges, but it will also occupy pine plantations and casuarina groves. This species is most common in lowlands, but they are also sighted in the mountain forests of Sumatra up to an altitude of 2.700 m. They also inhabit coastal mangrove swamps.

Diet:

This species is largely insectivorous, mostly taking moths and caterpillars.

Breeding:

Fiery minivets breed in different seasons at different parts of their range, in the Philippines they breed during the dry season, in December, while in Malaysia they breed during the rainy season, starting in May. These birds are believed to be monogamous, with mated pairs working together to build a cup-shaped nest of fine plant parts, spider webs, and lichens, fungus, that they place high in a tree. There the female lays 2 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 14-16 days. Both sexes care for the young until fledging, which takes place 2-3 weeks after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near Threatened)

Although the global population is yet to be quantified, this species is believed to be declining moderately rapidly throughout its range. This species is mostly threatened by habitat loss as a result of forest clearance. Rates of forest loss in the Sundaic lowlands have been extremely rapid, owing partly to the escalation of illegal logging and land conversion, with deliberate targeting of all remaining stands of valuable timber including those inside protected areas. Forest fires have also had a damaging effect. Still, the magnitude of these threats may be allayed by the species tolerance of secondary forest.

Harpy eagle

Harpia harpyja

Photo by Tom Friedel (Wikipedia)

Common name:

harpy eagle (en); harpia (pt); harpie féroce (fr); águila harpía (es); harpyie (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Falconiformes

Family Accipitridae

Range:

Harpy eagles are found from southern Mexico down to Bolivia, northern Argentina and southern Brazil.

Size:

One of the largest eagles in the world, these birds are 89-105 cm long and have a wingspan of 176-201 cm. Females tend to be larger than males, with males weighing 3,8-5,4 kg while females weigh 6,5-9 kg.

Habitat:

This species occurs in gallery rainforests in lowlands and foothills up to about 2,000 m above sea level. They can apparently survive in isolated patches of primary forest, selectively logged primary forest, and even late second-growth forests with a at least a few large emergent trees.

Diet:

Harpy eagles mainly feed on medium-sized mammals, including sloths, monkeys, agoutis, armadillos, and deer, large birds like guans, curassows, and macaws, large lizards, and occasionally snakes.

Breeding:

These birds can breed all year round. Both parents build the nest, a huge platform of sticks with a shallow central cup, placed in a high crotch of a huge emergent tree in primary forest, or partially logged forest with remaining large trees. There the female lays 2 dull white eggs, only one of which will hatch. The female mostly incubates the eggs alone for 55-60 days. The chick is fed by both parents and fledges 141-148 days after hatching. After hatching the chick is generally inactive and continues to be fed by the parents for another 6-10 months. Pairs will only raise one chick every 2-3 years.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)

Harpy eagles are sparsely distributed and generally rare throughout their very large breeding range. The global population is estimated at 20.000-50.000 individuals and suffering a moderately rapid decline, mostly due to habitat loss and hunting. This species is threatened by the escalating rate of forest destruction in the neotropics and also suffers from competition with humans for prey.

Lesser goldfinch

Carduelis psaltria

Photo by Gary Kinard (Flickr)

Common name:

lesser goldfinch (en); pintassilgo-capa-preta (pt); chardonneret mineur (fr); jilguero aliblanco (es); Mexikozeisig (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Fringillidae

Range:

These birds are found from the south-western United States and Mexico, along Central America, and into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Size:

Lesser goldfinches are 10-12 cm and have a wingspan of 20-22 cm. They weigh 9-10 g.

Habitat:

They are typically found in dry, open woodlands and in pastures, steppes, forest openings, and along streams.

Diet:

They mostly eat tree buds and weed seeds, but may occasionally take some arthropods.

Breeding:

In the northern parts of their range, lesser goldfinches breed during the summer, but in the tropics they breed all year round. The female builds the nest, a compact, open cup made of fine plant materials such as lichens, rootlets, and strips of bark, placed in a bush or at low or middle levels in a tree. There the female lays 3-5 bluish white eggs, which she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The male brings her food while she incubates, and while she broods the young for the first few days after they hatch. After that, both parents bring food to the young. The young fledge 2 weeks after hatching, but the parents continue to feed the young for at least another week.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 3 million. It may have undergone a small decline over the last few decades, but the species is not considered threatened at present.

Marsh owl

Asio capensis

(Photo from Território Selvagem)

Common name:

marsh owl (en); coruja-moura (pt); hibou du Cap (fr); búho moro (es); Kap-ohreule (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Strigiformes

Family Strigidae

Range:

This African species is found throughout much of southern and central Africa, extending from South Africa to Ethiopia, Sudan and Madagascar, with scattered populations in West Africa including Cameroon, Chad, Morocco and Senegal.

Size:

These birds are 29-38 cm long and has a wingspan of 82-99 cm. They weigh 225-375 g.

Habitat:

The marsh owl can be found within a multitude of habitats, ranging from estuarine marshes and mangroves, to sub-tropical grasslands, open savannas, inland wetlands and agricultural areas.

Diet:

They hunt a wide range of animals, including invertebrates like crickets, locusts and grasshoppers, beetles, termites and snails, but also rodents, bats, shrews, birds, lizards, snakes and frogs.

Breeding:

Marsh owls mostly breed in October-April. The nests is a slight depression in the ground, concealed in dense grass and weeds, where the female lays 2-4 eggs. The female incubates the eggs alone for 27-28 days, while the male does all the hunting, storing his prey in caches to be eaten later by either him or the female. The chicks stay in the nest for about 14-18 days, after which they crawl around the surrounding bush for a few weeks, at least until they learn to fly. The fledglings are thought to remain dependent on their parents until they are about 80 days old.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

Although the global population is yet to be quantified, the species is described as common throughout its very large breeding range. With no evidence for any declines or substantial threats, this species is not threatened at present.

Royal cinclodes

Cinclodes aricomae

Photo by Jean Talla (Chocolate Caramelo)

Common name:

royal cinclodes (en); curriqueiro-real (pt); cinclode royal (fr); remolinera real (es); weißkehl-uferwipper (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Furnariidae

Range:

The royal cinclodes is restricted to a few small areas in the Andes of south-east Peru (Cuzco, Apurímac, Puno and Junín) and adjacent Bolivia (La Paz).

Size:

This species is 20-21 cm long and weighs 50 g.

Habitat:

This species is mostly confined to tiny, humid patches of Polylepis woodland and mountain scrub, but can also be found in Gynoxis woodland. They are found at altitudes of 3.500-4.800 m above sea level.

Diet:

The diet of the royal cinclodes consists of invertebrates which they find in moss, leaf litter and decaying wood. They may occasionally take small vertebrates, like frogs, and seeds are also sometimes eaten.

Breeding:

These birds nest in November-March. The the nest is built at the end of a tunnel dug into a bank or cliff face, although natural crevices and rodent burrows can also be used for nesting. The female lays 2 eggs but there is no further breeding information about this species.

Conservation:

IUCN status - CR (Critically Endangered)

This species has a very small, fragmented and declining breeding range, and the population is down to just 50-250 individuals. The species is suspected to be rapidly declining owing to the loss of Polylepis forest as well as burning and grazing which cause degradation and loss of understorey moss and prevent regeneration. altogether the royal cinclodes is currently considered critically endangered.