Monk parakeet

Myiopsitta monachus

Photo by Juan Emilio (Wikipedia)

Common name:
monk parakeet (en); caturrita (pt); conure veuve (fr); cotorra argentina (es); mönchssittich (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Psittaciformes
Family Psittacidae

Range:
This species originates from southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina, but it has been introduced to several areas outside their native range, including several cities in the eastern United States, in Mexico, in the Caribbean, in southern Europe and in western Europe.

Size:
This birds are 28-33 cm long and have a wingspan of 45-50 cm. They weigh 80-120 g.

Habitat:
The monk parakeet is mostly found in open savannas and degraded tropical forests, but also tropical moist forests, palm groves, pastures, arable land, rural gardens and parks within urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.000 m.

Diet:
They eat a wide variety of seeds, fruits, blossoms, buds and also some insects.

Breeding:
Monk parakeets breed in July-December. They build a stick nest on a tree or a man-made structure, sometimes breeding colonially with a single large nest with separate entrances for each pair. The female lays 5-11white eggs which are incubated by both parents for 25-31 days. The chicks fledge 6-7 weeks after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common.  The population is suspected to be increasing as ongoing habitat degradation is creating new areas of suitable habitat.

Nonggang babbler

Stachyris nonggangensis

Photo by James Eaton (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
Nonggang babbler (en); zaragateiro-de-Nonggang (pt); timalie de Nonggang (fr); timali de Nonggang (es); Nonggang-timalie (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae

Range:
This species was recently described from Nonggang Nature Reserve, in the Chinese province of Guangxi. It apparently occupies a limited area along the Chinese-Vietnamese border in that region.

Size:
These birds are 16-17 cm long and weigh 33-38 g.

Habitat:
The Nonggang babbler is only mostly found in seasonal rainforest associated with limestone karsts and also on limestone outcrops.

Diet:
They feed on insects and other invertebrates, which they hunt on the ground, between rocks and among the forest leaf litter.

Breeding:
The Nonggang babbler breeds in April-June. The nest is made of aerial roots, leaves, twigs, and soft grasses, and placed in cavities in limestone cliffs or large rock located on the mountainside. The female lays 4-5 white eggs, which she incubates alone for 18-20 days. There is no information ragarding the length of the fledgling period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a small breeding range and a global population estimated at 2.500-10.000 individuals. The population trend has not been quantified; however, it is suspected to be declining due to ongoing habitat degradation and fragmentation through selective logging, agricultural expansion and road building.

Reddish egret

Egretta rufescens

Photo by John Avise (Natural History of Orange County)

Common name:
reddish egret (en); garça-avermelhada (pt); aigrette roussâtre (fr); garceta rojiza (es); rötelreiher (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Ciconiiformes
Family Ardeidae

Range:
This species is found along the coasts of the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and into northern Venezuela and Colombia.

Size:
These birds are 68-82 cm long and have a wingspan of 116-125 cm. They weigh 360-870 g.

Habitat:
The reddish egret is found in shallow coastal waters, salt pans, mud and sand flats, rocky shorelines and sandy beaches, breeding on rocky offshore islands and mangroves. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 50 m.

Diet:
They feed on small fishes, such as minnows, mullet and killifish, frogs, tadpoles, crustaceans and occasionally aquatic insects.

Breeding:
Reddish egrets can breed all year round. They nest in colonies, each pair building a stick platform lined with grass, placed on mangrove trees or on the ground, always near or above water. The female lays 3-4 pale blue-green eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for 25-26 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 6-7 weeks after hatching. Each pair raises a single brood per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 10.000-20.000 individuals. The population seems to be declining in most areas, although it is increasing in
in parts of its range where it is well protected and has safe nesting sites. Populations were heavily exploited for until the early 20th century, but today population declines are apparently related with nest predation. Predator control has lead to population recoveries in some areas.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

Photo by Dominic Sherony (Wikipedia)

Commons name:
yellow-bellied sapsucker (en); pica-pau-de-barriga-amarela (en); pic maculé (fr); chupasavia norteño (es); gelbbauch-saftlecker (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae

Range:
This species breeds across Canada and in the north-eastern United States, and migrate south to winter in the western United States, the Caribbean and Central America as far south as western Panama.

Size:
These birds are 18-22 cm long and have a wingspan of 34-40 cm. They weigh 43-55 g.

Habitat:
The yellow-bellied sapsucker breeds in deciduous and mixed coniferous forests, in boreal and temperate zones. Outside the breeding season they mostly use moist tropical forests, but also pastures, rural areas and even urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude 3.500 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects, such as beetles, ants, moths and dragonflies, but when insects are not available they rely mostly on sap from various trees, namely poplar, willow, birch, maple, hickory, pine, spruce and fir. They also eat fruits, nuts, seeds and buds.

Breeding:
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers breed in April-July. The nest is a hole in a live tree, excavated by both sexes and placed 2-20 m above the ground. There the female lays 4-6 eggs which are incubated by both parents for 10-13 days. The chicks fledge 23-30 days after hatching and become fully independent about 6 weeks later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the population is estimated at 5-50 million individuals. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is retracting in range, possibly owing to loss of suitable feeding and nesting trees.

Grey cukooshrike

Coracina caesia

Photo by Ian White (Flickr)

Common name:
grey cuckooshrike (en); lagarteiro-cinzento (pt); échenilleur gris (fr); oruguero gris (es); waldraupenfänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Campephagidae

Range:
This species is patchily distributed in East Africa, from Ethiopia down to eastern and southern South Africa. There is also a population is southern Nigeria and western Cameroon.

Size:
These birds are 25-27 cm long and weigh about 65 g.

Habitat:
The grey cuckooshrike is mostly found in tropical moist forests, including mountain rainforests and coastal rainforests. They also use dry scrublands, plantations and areas along rivers and streams.

Diet:
They are insectivorous, mostly hunting caterpillars, but also grasshoppers, beetles and spiders in the upper canopy of the forest.

Breeding:
Grey cuckooshrikes breed in October-February. The nest is shallow bowl built of old-man's beard lichen Usnea sp. cemented with spider web and placed either on a thick branch or in the fork of a tree, usually on the forest edge. There the female lays 1-2 eggs which are incubated by both sexes. There is no information regarding the length of the incubation and fledgling periods, but the chicks are known to remain with the parents until the next breeding season.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large but patchy breeding range. It is reported to be common in the north of its range, but uncommon in the south. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat destruction.

Northern beardless-tyrannulet

Camptostoma imberbe

Photo by Guy Poisson (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
northern beardless-tyrannulet (en); risadinha-nortenha (pt); tyranneau imberbe (fr); mosquerito imberbe (es); nördlicher blasskleintyrann (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae

Range:
This species is found from southern Arizona, through most of Mexico and into Guatemala, Honduras, western Nicaragua and north-western Costa Rica. The populations in Arizona and northern Mexico migrate south to winter along the southern parts of the range.

Size:
These birds are 9,5-10,5 cm long and weigh 7,5 g.

Habitat:
The northern beardless-tyrannulet is mostly found in tropical deciduous forests and moist scrublands, but also use dry savannas, dry scrublands, deserts, riparian vegetation along rivers and streams, plantations, rural gardens and even urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.500 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects and small fruits.

Breeding:
These birds breed in April-July. The nest is a small globular structure with a small side entrance, placed in a small twig at the end of a branch or on an epiphyte. It is usually 1-9 m above the ground. The female lays 2 white eggs with brown spots, which she incubates alone for 14-15 days. The chicks fledge about 17 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is although there is no information on population sizes, the population in North America is increasing.

Red-legged kittiwake

Rissa brevirostris

Photo by Doug Sonerholm (Flickr)

Common name:
red-legged kittiwake (en); gaivota-tridáctila-do-Pacífico (pt); mouette des brumes (fr); gaivota piquicorta (es); klippenmöwe (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Laridae

Range:
This species is found in the northern Pacific ocean, with breeding colonies around the Bearing sea, in the Pribilof, Bogoslof, Budir and Aleutians islands of the United States, and in the Commander islands of Russia. They wander in the Pacific between parallels 35º and 62º N.

Size:
This small gull is 35-40 cm long and has a wingspan of 84-92 cm. They weigh 325-510 g.

Habitat:
The red-legged kittiwake is a pelagic predator, foraging in the open ocean and breeding in vertical sea cliffs and rocky offshore islands.

Diet:
They feed on small fishes, namely lampfish and pollack, as well as squids, small crustaceans such as amphipods and carrion.

Breeding:
Red-legged kittiwakes breed in April-September. They breed in colonies, nesting in a shallow cup of mud, grass and kelp placed on a ledge in a vertical cliff. The female lays 1-2
grey to buff or greenish eggs with brown blotches, which are incubated by both parents for 23-32 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 38-48 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a relatively large breeding range and a global population estimated at 337.000-377.000 individuals. From the 1970s to the 1990s the population declined by 35 %, a trend which as since stabilized for a total decline of 30-50% over the last 4 decades. The reasons for the population decline remain unclear, but it has been attributed to a reduction in food supply resulting from excessive commercial fishing. Shifts in the distribution of prey fish species, resulting from climate change and rising sea temperatures, may also contribute to current and future declines, while climate change may also have a direct impact on this species which as a breeding range restricted to within 10º latitude from the polar edge. There may also be some impact of subsistence hunting in some islands. If rats reach the islands where they breed they could pose a further threat, so a rat prevention programme is underway in the Pribilof Islands