Yellow chat

Epthianura crocea

(Photo from Australian Photoholics)

Common name:
yellow chat (en); eptianuro-amarelo (pt); epthianure à collier (fr); eptianuro amarillo (es); safrantrugschmätzer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Epthianuridae

Range:
This species is found in northern and central Australia, from northern-eastern Western Australia, through the Northern Territory and into Queensland, north-eastern South Australia and north-western New South Wales.

Size:
These birds are 11 cm long and weigh 9 g.

Habitat:
The yellow chat is mostly found in tall grasslands, scrublands and saltmarshes, also using both fresh and saltwater wetlands and reservoirs.

Diet:
They feed on insects and other invertebrates, foraging within low vegetation or on the ground at the base of the scrubs.

Breeding:
Yellow chats breed in October-March. The nest is a small cup made of grass, twigs or plant stems, placed low on a scrub. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated for about 14 days. The chicks fledge 14 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as locally fairly common to rare. The trend direction for this population is difficult to determine given that there are both positive and negative processes suspected to be affecting it, but it it not considered threatened at present.

Collared aracari

Pteroglossus torquatus

Photo by Ricardo Pasos Enríquez (National Geographic)

Common name:
collared aracari (en); araçari-de-colar (pt); araçari à collier (fr); arasarí acollarado (es); halsbandarassari (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Piciformes
Family Ramphastidae

Range:
This species is found from southern Mexico to northern Colombia and north-western Venezuela.

Size:
These birds are 39-41 cm long and weigh 190-275 g.

Habitat:
The collared aracari is mostly found on the mid and upper canopy of tropical rainforests, but also in swamp forests, second growths, plantations and arable land. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.500 m.

Diet:
They feed on a wide range of fleshy tree fruits such as palm nuts, figs, snake fingers Cecropia sp. and papaya, but also the eggs and chicks of other birds and insects.

Breeding:
Collared aracaris are monogamous and may mate for life. They breed in January-May and nest in a natural cavity in a tree, or in a large woodpecker nest, 6-30 m above the ground. The female lays 3 white eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 15-18 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and also by up to 6 helpers which are most likely siblings from previous broods. They fledge 6 weeks after hatching but continue to live with the family group, which may count up to 15 birds.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 0,5-5 million individuals. The population is suspected to be declining throughout its range as a result of ongoing habitat destruction through deforestation of their rainforest habitats and also hunting, especially for the cage bird trade.

Yellow flycatcher-warbler

Chloropeta natalensis

Photo by Chris Krog (Stellenbosch Birds)

Common name:
yellow flycatcher-warbler (en); felosa-amarela-africana (pt); chloropète jaune (fr); cloropeta común (es); schnäpperrohrsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Sylviidae

Range:
This species is found in sub-Saharan Africa, being patchily distributed from from Nigeria east to Ethiopia, south through eastern D.R. Congo, Angola and Zambia, and into north-eastern South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 14-15 cm long and weigh 12 g.

Habitat:
The yellow flycatcher-warbler is mostly found in moist scrublands along watercourses, and also along the edges of reedbeds and moist tropical forests and in wet grasslands.

Diet:
They mostly glean caterpillars from dense vegetation, but also hawks termite alates from a perch.

Breeding:
Yellow flycatcher-warblers breed in September-March. They nest in a cup made of grass blades,  typically placed between upright stems or in the fork of a scrub, up to 2 m above the ground. There the female incubates 2-3 eggs which she incubates alone for 12 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 14-16 days after hatching, becoming independent 1 month later.

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

Spotted wood-quail

Odontophorus guttatus

Photo by Micah Riegner (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
spotted wood-quail (en); uru-malhado (pt); tocro tacheté (fr); corcovado goteado (es); tropfenwachtel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Galliformes
Family Odontophoridae

Range:
This species is found in southern Mexico, in Veracruz and Chiapas, and also in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and western Panama.

Size:
These birds are 23-26,5 cm and weigh 280-300 g.

Habitat:
The spotted wood-quail is mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical rainforests, but also in secondary forests, at altitudes of 100-3.000 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground, taking fallen fruits, seeds, buds, tubers and also the larvae and pupae of mosquitoes and beetles.

Breeding:
Spotted wood-quails breed in May-August. They nest on the ground and the female lays 4 white or creamy-white eggs with brown spots, which are incubated for about 17 days. There is no information regarding the fledgling period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 20.000-50.000 individuals. Despite its ability to tolerate some habitat degradation, this species is declining owing to habitat loss and, possibly, unsustainable hunting levels, but it is not considered threatened at present.

Western wood-pewee

Contopus sordidulus

Photo by Jim Stuart (New Mexico Ornithological Society)

Common name:
western wood-pewee (en); piui-ocidental (pt); pioui de l'Ouest (fr); pibí occidental (es); westlicher waldschnäppertyrann (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae

Range:
This species breeds in western North America, from Alaska and north-western Canada to Mexico and along Central America down to Honduras. They migrate south to winter in north-western Venezuela, western Colombia and along the Andean slopes of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Size:
These birds are 14-16 cm long and have a wingspan of 26 cm. They weigh 11-14 g.

Habitat:
They mostly breed in open temperate forests, but also in boreal forests, especially along forest edges and in riparian areas. They winter in moist tropical forests. They are found at altitudes of 900-3.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on flying insects, including flies, ants, bees, wasps, beetles, moths, and bugs.

Breeding:
The western wood-pewee breeds in May-July. They are seasonally monogamous and nest on a
shallow cup of woven grass bound together with spider webs and covered on outside with moss, bud scales, or insect puparia. The nest is lined with hair or fine grass and placed in a fork on a tree. The female lays 2-4 creamy-white eggs with brown blotches, which  she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 14-18 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 7,8 million individuals. The population has undergone a small decrease over the last 4 decades but is not threatened.

Grey gerygone

Gerygone igata

(Photo from iNaturalist)

Common name:
grey gerygone (en); gerígono-maori (pt); gérygone de Nouvelle Zélande (fr); gerigón maorí (es); Maorigerygone (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Acanthizidae

Range:
This is endemic to New Zealand, being found throughout the country including several offshore islands.

Size:
These tiny birds are 10-11 cm long and weigh 6-7 g.

Habitat:
The grey gerygone is mostly found in temperate forests, but also in scrublands, mangroves, arable land and urban areas.

Diet:
They feed on spiders, insects and their larvae.

Breeding:
Grey gerygones breed in August-January. The nest is built by the female, using material collected by the male, consisting of a pear-shaped structure with a side entrance made of grass, leaves, rootlets and moss, held together with spider webs. The nest is lined with feather and other soft material and attached to a twig up to 7 m above the ground. The female lays 3-6 pinkish-white eggs with reddish-brown speckles, which she incubates alone for about 19 day. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 15-19 days after hatching. Each pair usually raises 2 broods per season.

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

Eurasian curlew

Numenius arquata

Photo by Jari Peltomäki (Luonto Portti)

Common name:
Eurasian curlew (en); maçarico-real (pt); courlis cendré (fr); zarapito real (es); große brachvogel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae

Range:
This species breeds from France and Ireland to northern Scandinavia and east, through Eastern Europe and Russia as far as northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia and north-eastern China. Most population migrate to winter along the coasts of western and southern Europe, along the coasts of southern Asia, China, southern Japan and Indonesia, along all the coasts of Africa and also inland in Africa, in large wetlands in the Sahel, the Rift Valley and the Okawango river basin.

Size:
These large waders are 50-60 cm long and have a wingspan of 90-105 cm. They weigh 410-1.360 g.

Habitat:
The Eurasian curlew breeds in upland moors, peat bogs, swampy and dry heathlands, fens, open grassy or boggy areas in forests, damp grasslands, meadows, non-intensive farmland in river valleys, dune valleys and coastal marshlands. Outside the breeding season they are found in muddy coasts, bays and estuaries with tidal mudflats and sandflats, rocky and sandy beaches with many pools, mangroves, saltmarshes, coastal meadows, wet grasslands, arable land, and muddy shores of coastal lagoons, inland lakes and rivers.

Diet:
On the breeding grounds they mainly eat insects and their larvae, especially grasshoppers and beetles, but also ants, crane flies, earwigs, flies and moths. They also eat earthworms, and occasionally freshwater crustaceans, amphibians, lizards, chicks and small mammals, and sometimes fruits and other plant material. Outside the breeding season they prey on polychaete worms, molluscs, crabs, shrimps and amphipods, as well as earthworms, insects and spiders, small fishes, amphibians, chicks and eggs of other birds, small mammals and, very occasionally, seeds.

Breeding:
Eurasian curlews breed in April-July. They nest on a large depression in the ground, lined with dry grass and a few feathers, often situated on a tussock or low hummock, among grass or crops, or completely exposed. There the female lays 3-6 light greenish eggs with light brown spots, which are incubated by both sexes for 27-29 days. The chicks are precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching being able to feed themselves. They rely on both parents for protection against predators and adverse weather and fledge 32-38 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a very large breeding range and a global population roughly estimated at 77.000-1.065.000 individuals. The more southern breeding populations have declined on average by 30% in recent decades, but the trend for the more northern population is uncertain and may compensate these declines in the south. The main threat affecting the Eurasian curlew is habitat destruction and fragmentation, as a result of afforestation and agricultural intensification and improvement. Conversely, populations in the central Asian steppes have declined following abandonment of farmland and subsequent increases in the height of vegetation, rendering large areas unsuitable for nesting. The species is also threatened by the degradation of migratory staging areas and wintering areas, owing to land reclamation, pollution, human disturbance, reduced river flows and, in some areas, due to hunting pressure.