Ecuadorian hillstar

Oreotrochilus chimborazo

(Photo from 10,000 Birds)

Common name:
Ecuadorian hillstar (en); beija-flor-de-Chimborazo (pt); colibri du Chimborazo (fr); colibrí del Chimborazo (es); Ecuador-Andenkolibri (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Apodiformes
Family Trochilidae

Range:
This species is found along the Andes mountain range, in Ecuador and southern Colombia.

Size:
These birds are 11,5-13 cm long and weigh 7,5-8 g.

Habitat:
The Ecuadorian hillstar is found in high-altitude grasslands and pastures, and sometimes also in humid rocky slopes, on volcanic mountains up to the snowline. They occur at altitudes of 3.500-5.200 m.

Diet:
They feed on the nectar of various flowers, particularly the orange flowers of the Chuquiragua scrub, but also take several insects and spiders.

Breeding:
Ecuadorian hillstars can breed all year round, with a peak in October-February. The nest is a small cup made of moss, roots, dry grass, feathers, rabbit fur and vegetable down, typically placed in a cave, gully or crevice in a steep ravine, often below an overhang. The nest may also be suspended from small ferns or built in trees such as Polypelis, up to 6 m above the ground. The female lays 2 white eggs, which she incubates alone for 14-19 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 3-4 weeks after hatching.

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

Black-fronted bulbul

Pycnonotus nigricans

Photo by Hans Hillewaert (Wikipedia)

Common name:
black-fronted bulbul (en); tuta-de-olhos-vermelhos (pt); bulbul brunoir (fr); bulbul encapuchado (es); maskenbülbül (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Pycnonotidae

Range:
This species is found in southern Africa, from southern Angola and Zambia down to South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 21 cm long and weigh around 30 g.

Habitat:
The black-fronted bulbul is found in a wide variety of arid and semi-arid habitats, such Acacia savanna and dry scrublands, but also in riparian vegetation along rivers and streams and in rural gardens and orchards in arid areas.

Diet:
They mainly eat fruits and nectar, but also flowers and some arthropods.

Breeding:
Black-fronted bulbuls are monogamous, territorial nesters. They breed in September-April with the female building the nest, an untidy cup of fine twigs, dry grass and other small plant fibres, reinforced with spider web. It is usually concealed in the fork of a scrub or tree. The female lays 2-3 eggs, which she incubates alone for 11-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest 12 days after hatching, but are only able to fly competently 1 week later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common and widely distributed. The population is suspected to be increasing as this species benefits from the provision of water for livestock and thrives in gardens and orchards.

Brazilian teal

Amazonetta brasiliensis

Photo by Dario Sanches (Wikipedia)

Common name:
Brazilian teal (en); pé-vermelho (pt); canard amazonette (fr); pato brasileño (es); Amazonasente (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae

Range:
These birds are found throughout Brazil and also in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.

Size:
Brazilian teals are 35-40 cm long and weigh 350-600 g.

Habitat:
They are mostly found in inland wetlands, such as bogs, marshes, swamps and lakes, but also in moist scrublands, wet grasslands and tropical moist forests. rarely also on coastal lagoons and mangroves. They occur from sea level up to an altitude of 1.200 m.

Diet:
Brazilian teals feed on seeds, fruits, aquatic roots, aquatic insects, crustaceans, worms and small fishes.

Breeding:
These birds breed in June-December. The nest is usually a mounds of plant matter surrounded by water, bur they can also nest on tree hollows or abandoned nests on cliffs or in trees. The female lays 6-9 pale cream or yellow-tinged white eggs, which are incubated for 23-27 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and are immediately able to hunt insects on their own, but follow the mother until fledging, 50-60 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
The Brazilian teal has a very large breeding range and is described as common in areas with suitable habitat. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats and this species is quite adaptable to habitat changes.

Oriental magpie-robin

Copsychus saularis

Photo by J.M. Garg (Wikipedia)

Common name:
oriental magpie-robin (en); pisco-daial (pt); shama dayal (fr); shama oriental (es); dajaldrossel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Muscicapidae

Range:
These birds are found in southern Asia, from eastern Pakistan, throughout India and Bangladesh and through Indochina into Indonesia, the Philippines and southern and south-eastern China.

Size:
The oriental magpie-robin is 19-23 cm long and weighs 29-42 g.

Habitat:
These birds are mostly found in tropical forests, both in dry and moist areas, but also in mangroves, scrublands, along rivers and streams, in rural gardens, plantations and in gardens and parks within urban areas. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 2.000 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground and in the foliage, mainly taking insects, but also nectar, earthworms, snails, small lizards and some plant matter.

Breeding:
Oriental magpie-larks breed in February-August. The nest is a loose cup made with grass and dried leaves, twigs, moss and roots. The nest is lined with plant fibres or grass and placed in a hole in tree, in a wall, in a building, a ledge under a roof, or sometimes also in thick scrubs, in forks of branches in a small tree, even in an old tin can. The female lays 3-5 pale greenish-blue eggs with reddish spots, which are incubated by both parents for 12 to 13 days. The is no information regarding the fledging period, but the chicks are raised by both parents and remain in the parental territory until the next breeding season.

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

Ground woodpecker

Geocolaptes olivaceus

Photo by Ian White (Flickr)

Common name:
ground woodpecker (en); pica-pau-das-rochas (pt); pic laboureur (fr); pico de la tierra (es); erdspecht (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae

Range:
This species is endemic to South Africa, being found in most of the southern, eastern and western parts of the country, as well as in Lesotho and Swaziland.

Size:
These birds are 22-30 cm long and weigh 105-135 g.

Habitat:
The ground woodpecker is found in rock and boulder strewn mountain slopes, usually in treeless grasslands and scrublands, but also near swamps and marshes. they are present from sea level up to an altitude of 2.100 m.

Diet:
They are highly specialized on ants, digging up subsurface ant nests and licking them up with its sticky tongue. They take adult ants as well as larvae, pupae and eggs, of Camponotus, Anoplolepis, Acantolepis, Crematogaster, Tetramorium, Pheidole, Meranoplus and Solenopsis. Sometimes they also eat beetles and termites.

Breeding:
Ground woodpeckers breed in July-December, with a peak in August-September. They breed in pairs or trios, with both sexes excavate the nest, a long tunnel with an chamber at the end which is usually dug into earthen banks, such as riverbanks and gullies, or in crumbling walls of abandoned buildings or termite mounds. There the female lays 2-5 eggs which are incubated by both parents and possibly also helpers. There is no information regarding the incubation and fledging periods, but the chicks are fed by both parents and helpers and remain with the parents until the onset of the following breeding season.

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

Palm warbler

Dendroica palmarum

Photo by Guy Poisson (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
palm warbler (en); mariquita-das-palmeiras (pt); paruline à couronne rousse (fr); reinita palmera (es); palm-waldsänger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Parulidae

Range:
This species breeds in northern North America, from northern Canada to the northern United States in Minnesota, Wyoming, Michigan and Maine. They migrate south to winter along the pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States, along the Gulf coast into Texas and also in the Caribbean as far south as Puerto Rico and along the Atlantic coast of Central America from southern Mexico to Panama.

Size:
These birds are 12,5-14,5 cm long and weigh 9-11 g.

Habitat:
The palm warbler breeds in open bogs bordered by coniferous forests, mainly spruces and tamaracks. They prefer bogs covered by Sphagnum mosses, sedges and other aquatic plants. Outside the breeding season they are found in a variety of habitats including grasslands, scrublands, swamps and marshes, savannas, mangroves, pastures, rural gardens and urban areas.

Diet:
They mainly forage on the ground, but in the foliage and take insects in flight. Their main prey include grasshoppers, beetles, flies, bugs, butterflies, moths, wasps, bees and ant larvae. Outside the breeding season they also eat berries, seeds and nectar.

Breeding:
Palm warblers are monogamous and breed in May-July. The nest is a cup made of weed stalks, grasses, sedges, bark shreds, rootlets and ferns, placed on moss-covered ground, usually at the base of a small tree near the margins of a bog. There the female lays 4-5 creamy-white eggs with brown markings, which are incubated by both parents for 12 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 12 days after hatching. Typically they raise a single clutch per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 23 million individuals. The population has undergone a large increase of 45% per decade over the last 4 decades.

Streaked flycatcher

Myiodynastes maculatus

Photo by Dario Sanches (Wikipedia)

Common name:
streaked flycatcher (en); bem-te-vi-rajado (pt); tyran audacieux (fr); bienteveo rayado (es); südlicher fleckenmaskentyrann (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae

Range:
This species is found from southern Mexico down to central Argentina, only east of the Andes.

Size:
These birds are 20,5-23 cm long and weigh 37-50 g.

Habitat:
The streaked flycatcher is found in moist evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, swamp forests, mangroves, savannas and second growths, from sea level up to an altitude of 3.000 m.

Diet:
They are mainly insectivorous, taking grasshoppers, bugs, caterpillars, beetles, cicadas, wasps, flying ants, but also eat small lizards, berries and fruits.

Breeding:
Streaked flycatchers breed in March-January. The nest is a rounded structure made of dry leaves and flowers, grasses and twigs, which can be placed in natural tree hollows, old woodpecker cavities, at the base of leaf stems of palms, in masses of bromeliads growing on tree trunks or under the eaves of roofs of houses. There the female lays 2-3 white or creamy-white eggs with reddish-brown or lilac spots. The female incubates the eggs alone for 15-17 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 18-21 days after hatching, only becoming fully independent 1-2 weeks later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 5-50 million individuals. This species tolerates some forest degradation and its population is suspected to be stable.