Yellow-browed woodpecker

Piculus aurulentus

Photo by Ricardo Gentil (Flickr)

Common name:
yellow-browed woodpecker (en); pica-pau-dourado (pt); pic à bandeaux (fr); carpintero cejigualdo (es);weißbrauenspecht (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae

Range:
This species is found in south-eastern Brazil, from Espírito Santo down to Rio Grande do Sul, and marginally into south-eastern Paraguay and extreme north-eastern Argentina.

Size:
These birds are 20-22 cm long and weigh about 75 g.

Habitat:
The yellow-browed woodpecker is mostly found in mountain rainforests, also using rainforests at lower altitudes, dry tropical forests, forest edges and dense second growths. They occur at altitudes of 750-2.000 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on ants and their larvae, and possibly also the larvae of other insects found on tree bark. Occasionally, they also take fruits.

Breeding:
Yellow-browed woodpeckers breed in August-November. Both sexes excavate the nest hole, usually placed in a tree 2-7 m above the ground. There the female lays 2 white eggs with brown spots which are incubated by both parents for 21 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 26 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a large breeding range, but is described as uncommon and suspected to be declining at a moderately rapid rate due to forests clearance for pastures and cultivation, and fires spreading out from cultivated areas.

Sooty-capped bush-tanager

Chlorospingus pileatus

(Photo from Flickr)

Common name:
sooty-capped bush-tanager (en); saíra-do-mato-de-sobrolho-branco (pt); chlorospin à sourcils brisés (fr); frutero copetón (es); weißbrauen-buschtangare (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Thraupidae

Range:
This species is found in the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama.

Size:
These birds are 13,5-14 cm long and weigh 16-24 g.

Habitat:
The sooty-capped bush-tanager is mostly found in mossy, moist and wet mountain rainforests, and elfin forests, also using tall second growths and high-altitude scrublands. They occur at altitudes of 1.500-3.000 m.

Diet:
Sooty-capped bush-tanagers feed on small arthropods and fruits such as Miconia, Fuchsia, Rubus and several Ericaceae.

Breeding:
These birds breed in February-July and may show cooperative breeding, with several adults tending the same nest. The nest is a bulky cup placed in a dense scrub or hidden amongst epiphytes up to 11 m above the ground. The female lays 2 white eggs with pink-brown markings. There is no information regarding the incubation and fledging periods.

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

Long-billed wren-babbler

Rimator malacoptilus

Photo by Christoph Moning (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
long-billed wren-babbler (en); zaragateiro-pequeno-de-bico-comprido (pt); turdinule à long bec (fr); ratina picuda (es); Assamzwergsäbler (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae

Range:
This species is found in extreme north-eastern India, and in adjacent parts of northern Myanmar, Bhutan, and north-western Yunnan in southern China.

Size:
These birds are 11-12 cm long and weigh 18-21 g.

Habitat:
The long-billed wren-babbler is mostly found in broadleaved evergreen temperate forests, also using forest edges, bamboo thickets and second growths. They occur at altitudes of 900-2.700 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground and in the forest undergrowth, taking various invertebrates.

Breeding:
These birds breed in May-July. The nest is a untidy globe with an entrance near the top, made of loosely woven dead leaves, grass, fern fronds and roots. It is placed on the ground, among the leaf litter, near the base of a large tree. The female lays around 4 pinkish-white eggs with reddish-brown spots and blotches. There is no information regarding the incubation and fledging periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as generally rare. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo

Surniculus dicruroides

Photo by Vijay Ismavel (Flickr)

Common name:
fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo (en); cuco-drongo-de-cauda-forcada (pt): surnicou à queue fourchue (fr); cuclillo-drongo de cola furcada (es); gabelschwanz-drongokuckuck (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Cuculiformes
Family Cuculidae

Range:
This species breeds in most of India, with the exception of the north-western part of the country, and through Nepal and Bangladesh into northern Myanmar, northern Vietnam and southern China. The eastern populations migrate south to winter in Indochina and western Indonesia.

Size:
This species are about 25 cm long and weigh around 35 g.

Habitat:
The fork-tailed drongo is found in moist tropical forests, mangroves, dry tropical scrublands and rural gardens. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 2.100 m.

Diet:
They feed on insects and other arthropods, and possibly also some fruits.

Breeding:
There is no available information on the reproduction of this species.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range but the population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction.

Brown-bellied swallow

Notiochelidon murina

Photo by Leif Gabrielsen (iGoTerra)

Common name:
brown-bellied swallow (en); andorinha-de-barriga-castanha (pt); hirondelle à ventre brun (fr); golondrina ventriparda (es); mausschwalbe (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Hirundinidae

Range:
This species is found along the Andes from western Venezuela south to central Bolivia.

Size:
These birds are 14 cm long and weigh about 12,5 g.

Habitat:
The brown-bellied swallow is mostly found in open mountain habitats, particularly high-altitude grasslands, but also scrublands, elfin forest, Polylepis woodland, arable land and urban areas. They occur at altitudes of 1.800-4.100 m.

Diet:
They catch various flying insects on the wing, usually foraging alone, in pairs or in small groups.

Breeding:
Brown-bellied swallows breed mainly in June-October. The nest is simple mound of dry grass and moss placed in a cave, crevice in a cliff or hole in a building. the female lays 2-3 white eggs. there is no information regarding the incubation and fledging periods.

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

Mount Cameroon speirops

Speirops melanocephalus

Photo by Morten Venaas (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
Mount Cameroon speirops (en); olho-branco-dos-Camarões (pt); zostérops du Cameroun (fr); anteojitos del Camerún (es); Kamerunbrillenvogel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Zosteropidae

Range:
This species is endemic to the slopes of Mount Cameroon, in south-western Cameroon.

Size:
These birds are 13 cm long and weigh 9-12,5 g.

Habitat:
The Mount Cameroon speirops in mostly found in open, moist tropical forests, forest clearings, and in areas with scattered trees within grassland or scrubland. They generally avoid denser, closed-canopy areas. They occur al altitudes of 1.800-3.000 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on insects, also taking berries and other vegetable matter.

Breeding:
These birds possibly breed in November-March. There is no further information on the reproduction of this species.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a small breeding range and the global population is estimated 6.000-15.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats, but the regular burning of grassland by hunters, which extend to destroy large areas of forest, may peril the habitat of the species within its narrow altitudinal belt. Since 2009, most of the breeding range of the Mount Cameroon speirops became part of the Mount Cameroon National Park.

Lesser jacana

Microparra capensis

Photo by Paul Jones (Flickr)

Common name:
lesser jacana (en); jacana-pequena (pt); jacana nain (fr); jacana chica (es); zwergblatthühnchen (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Jacanidae

Range:
This species is patchily distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, from Mali and Côte d'Ivoire east to South Sudan and Ethiopia, through Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and into southern Angola, northern Namibia, northern Botswana, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 15-16 cm long and weigh about 40 g.

Habitat:
The lesser jacana is found in areas of shallow water around the edges of of permanent and seasonally flooded wetlands, including lakes, dams, flood plains, swampy river edges, coastal lagoons, grassy swamps and sometimes ponds. They favour areas of sparse sedge, aquatic grasses and stands of floating vegetation such as water-lilies.

Diet:
They feed mainly on insects, but also take small pieces of aquatic vegetation.

Breeding:
The lesser jacana breeds during the local wet season. They are monogamous and nest in solitary pairs, with both sexes helping build the nest, a tiny floating stack of plant stems, typically placed alongside a grass or sedge tuft in shallow water. there the female lays 2-5 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for about 21 days. The chicks can leave the nest soon after hatching, but remain within 2 m of the nest in the first 3 days and wander increasingly far until they begin to fly, about 32 days after hatching. They become fully independent about 2 months after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding rang, but its small size and secretive habits contribute to uncertainties regarding their precise distribution and abundance. The population trend is also difficult to determine because of uncertainty over the impacts of habitat modification on population sizes.