African dusky flycatcher

Muscicapa adusta

Photo by Robert Wienand (Flickr)

Common name:

African dusky flycatcher (en); papa-moscas-sombrio (pt); gobemouche sombre (fr); papamoscas oscuro (es); dunkelschnäpper (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Muscicapidae

Range:

This African species has an isolated population in Cameroon, but the bulk of its distribution lies from Ethiopia, through Kenya and Tanzania, to Zambia, southern DR Congo and south to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Size:

African dusky flycatcher are 13 cm long and weigh 11 g.

Habitat:

It generally prefers fairly dense evergreen vegetation, such as clearings and edges of mountain and coastal lowland forest, gardens and parks, but also occurs in valley bushveld and floodplainwoodland along large rivers. It occasionally occupies miombo (Brachystegia and alien tree strands with Eucalyptus, pines Pinus, and wattles Acacia, especially on the border with fynbos.

Diet:

These birds mainly eat small flying insects, doing most of their foraging from a low branch, from which they hawk prey aerially and occasionally pounce on insects on the ground. They are known to take beetles, syrphid wasps, midges, noctuid moths and their caterpillars, and aphids. They also eat the fruits of white-ironwood Vepris lanceolata and mulberries Morus.

Breeding:

African dusky flycatchers breed in September-January. Both sexes build the nest, an untidy open cup, usually built of dead leaves, moss, grass, lichens, creeper tendrils, feathers and spider web and lined with more fine material, although it can be made entirely out of moss. The nest is typically placed in a cavity, such as in a pipe, behind peeling bark, in a rock crevice, among driftwood, in a dead tree stump or between the rafters of a thatched roof. They may also use the nests of other birds. The female lays 2-3 eggs, which she incubates alone for about 14-15 days, while being fed by the male. The chicks are mainly brooded by the female but fed by both sexes, fledging 17-22 days after hatching. Each pair usually produces 2 clutches per season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

Although the population size is unknown, this species is described as generally frequent to common over much of its very large breeding range, but scarce in Zambia and rare in Eritrea. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction, but the African dusky flycatcher is not considered threatened at present.

Pacific marsh harrier

Circus approximans

Photo by Wayne Butterworth (Wikipedia)

Common name:

Pacific marsh harrier (en); tartaranhão-dos-paúis-do-Pacífico (pt); busard de Gould (fr); aguilucho lagunero del Pacífico (es); sumpfweihe (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Falconiformes

Family Accipitridae

Range:

This species is widespread in Australasia and the South Pacific, being found in much of Australia (except the arid regions), New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

Size:

Pacific harriers are 53-65 cm long and have a wingspan of 1,1-1,6 m. Females are larger than males, weighing 700-1.100 g while males weigh 500-700 g.

Habitat:

They prefer wetlands such as swamps, salt marshes, wetlands and rice fields, but can also be found in various open landscapes, such as pastures, grasslands, landscapes with sparse tree growth and grain fields.

Diet:

Pacific harriers mostly hunt birds and eggs, large insects, frogs, reptiles and small mammals up to the size of hares or rabbits. They also take fish and shellfish and, in New Zealand, they also often feed on carrion.

Breeding:

These birds breed in September-December. The nest is made of straw and grasses, hidden above the water in dense reeds in a swamp or in crops or long grasses near water. There the female lays 3-4 eggs which she incubates alone for 31-34 days while being fed by the male. During the first few weeks after hatching the female remains in the nest and the male brings food for the family, later the female also start hunting and helps feed the chicks who fledge 43-46 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

Pacific harriers have a very large breeding range and a global population of 10.000-100.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Barred antshrike

Thamnophilus doliatus

Photo by Nick Athanas (Antpitta)

Common name:

barred antshrike (en); choca-barrada (pt); batara rayé (fr); batará barrado (es); binden-ameisenwürger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Thamnophilidae

Range:

This American species is found from Tamaulipas, Mexico, through Central America and Trinidad and Tobago, and a large part of South America east of the Andes as far south as northern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Size:

Barred shrikes are 15-18 cm long and weigh 24-32 g.

Habitat:

These birds are usually found near the ground in dense undergrowth and in a variety of other habitats such as forest edge, closed non-deciduous forest, dry scrub, gardens, deciduous woodland and second-growth forests, second-growth thickets, and scrubs.

Diet:

The barred antshrike is largely a leaf insectivore, taking a large variety of insects and other invertebrates including mantids, phasmatids, Gastropoda, Araneae, Ixodidae, Diplopoda, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Isoptera. They are also known to eat small lizards, fruits and small seeds.

Breeding:

The breeding season of the barred antshrike varies by geographic area, generally taking place in January-September. The nests is a small, deep, open cup with thin walls that is commonly found in densely tangled areas 0,5-3 m above the ground in the forks of two branches. It is built using fine black and brown fibers, tendrils, vines and vegetable fibers, flowering grasses, rootlets and fine grasses. The female lays 2-3 white eggs with brown and purple markings which are incubated by both parents for 11-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 10-12 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

This species has an extremely large breeding range and a global population of 5-50 million individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction through deforestation, but the species is not considered threatened at present.

Red-rumped waxbill

Estrilda charmosyna

Photo by Kristian Svensson (Global Twitcher)

Common name:

red-rumped waxbill (en); bico-de-lacre-de-peito-rosado (pt); astrild des fées (fr); estrilda de vientre rosado (es); feenastrild (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Estrildidae

Range:

This African species is found from southern Sudan and Ethiopia to north eastern Uganda, south-eastern Kenya and the interior of Tanzania.

Size:

The red-rumped waxbill is 10-12 cm long and has a wingspan of 15-16 cm. They weigh 11 g.

Habitat:

They are mostly present in dry to semi-arid thorn bush from the lowlands to low-lying hills.

Diet:

These birds mostly eat the seeds and young shoots of grasses. They may also eat small insect, berries and even ripe fruits.

Breeding:

Red-rumped waxbills build a large pear-shaped nest with a long side entrance. The female lays 4-6 eggs which are incubated for 14 days. The chicks fledge 21 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

Although the global population size has not been quantified, this species is described as common or locally common over its large breeding range. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Chilean tinamou

Nothoprocta perdicaria

Photo by Rodrigo Tapia (Neotropical Birds)

Common name:

Chilean tinamou (en); tinamú-do-Chile (pt); tinamou perdix (fr); perdiz chilena (es); Chilesteißhuhn (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Tinamiformes

Family Tinamidae

Range:

This South American species is mostly found in Chile, from the southern parts of Atacama to Ñuble. It may also be present in adjacent parts of Argentina and was introduced in Eastern island in the 19th century.

Size:

The Chilean tinamou is 29-30 cm long and weighs 160 g.

Habitat:

These birds are mostly found in high altitude scrubland, natural pastures and arid mountain forests in association with such trees as Acacia caven, Porlieria chilensis and the endangered Jubaea chilensis. They can also be found in orchards, agricultural areas, fallow land and even wheat and canola fields. Chilean tinamous are present at altitudes of 400-2.000 m.

Diet:

Chilean tinamous eat a wide variety of seeds as well as ground insects and some crustaceans.

Breeding:

These birds nest on the ground, in a scrape lined with grasses and feathers. There the female lays 5-12 chocolate-coloured eggs, which the male incubates alone for about 21 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching but remain with the parent for several weeks.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

This species has a relatively large breeding range and his described as fairly common. Numbers have been much reduced in recent years, especially in the north of its range, where it is now scarce. It is the most prized game-bird in Chile and is hunted with guns and dogs, as well as being trapped illegally. Competition by the introduced California quail Callipepla californica is another possibly threat. Still this species is not considered threatened at present.

Yellow-browed warbler

Phylloscopus inornatus

Photo by J. Sagardía (Birding in Lanzarote)

Common name:

yellow-browed warbler (en); felosa-bilistada (pt); pouillot à grands sourcils (fr); mosquitero bilistado (es); gelbbrauen-laubsänger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Sylviidae

Range:

This Asian species is found breeding from just west of the Ural Mountains to eastern Siberia, Mongolia and north-eastern China. They winter from north-eastern India, through southern China to Taiwan, and south to the Malay Peninsula.

Size:

These birds are 9-11 cm long and have a wingspan of 17-19 cm. They weigh 4-9 g.

Habitat:

Yellow-browed warblers breed in lowland and mountain forests, showing some preference for open growth broad-leaved rather than coniferous forests, particularly in belts of low birch, poplar, and willow along rivers. They winter in lowland broadleaf and coniferous forests.

Diet:

They eat insects and other invertebrates which they pick or snatch from twigs and leaves of trees and bushes, or sometimes take in flight.

Breeding:

The yellow-browed warbler breeds in June-July. They Nest on the ground, in or against a tussock, mound, windfall debris, or among tree roots. The nest is a domed structure with a side entrance, made of dry grasses, moss, rotten wood, plant fibres and rootlets, lined with finer material. There the female lays 2-7 eggs which she incubates alone for 11-14 days. The chicks fledge 12-13 days after hatching and each pair only raises 1 brood per season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

Although the global population size has not been quantified, this species is common over its very large breeding range, and the European population, which represents less than 5% of their overall range, counts 5.000-35.000 breeding pairs. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Ash-throated flycatcher

Myiarchus cinerascens

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Common name:

ash-throated flycatcher (en); papa-moscas-de-garganta-cinza (pt); tyran à gorge cendrée (fr); copetón cenizo (es); Kalifornien-schopftyrann (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Tyrannidae

Range:

These birds breeds throughout the western United States, from eastern Washington state south to Mexico and east to western Texas and Oklahoma. In Mexico they breeds in Baja California and throughout north-central Mexico down to Guanajuato. They migrate south to winter from southern Mexico to Costa Rica.

Size:

Ash-throated flycatchers are 19-21 cm long and have a wingspan of 30-32 cm. They weigh 21-38 cm.

Habitat:

This species occurs in deserts, where they inhabit cottonwood-willow riparian, mesquite woodland, xeric-riparian woodland, uplands of columnar cacti, and Joshua tree woodland. They also occur outside of deserts in oak woodland and pinyon-juniper habitats. They can be found from sea level up to an altitude of 1.400 m.

Diet:

Ash-throated flycatchers mostly eat insects and spiders. They also feed on small fruits and berries and are known to ocasionally take small reptiles and mammals.

Breeding:

These birds are normally monogamous with the pair aggressively defending the nest against conspecifics and other species. They breed in March-July, nesting in cavities, such as woodpecker holes but also nest boxes and other human structures. Inside the cavity the female builds a cup of fine roots, grass, plant stems, and dried manure and lines it with fine grasses and matted hair and fur. There she lays 3-7 creamy white eggs with dark streaks and blotches, which she incubates alone for 14-16 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 16-17 days after hatching. After fledging they may become fully independent in as little as 3 days or continue to be fed by the parents for up to 2 weeks. Each pair raises 1-2 broods per season, depending on latitude and elevation.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and a global population of 8,9 million individuals. The population has undergone a small increase over the last 40 years so the species is not considered threatened.