Marañon Gnatcatcher
Polioptila maior
Tiny gray-and-white bird with long cocked tail and rather long slender bill. Fairly common in dry and semi-dry forest in the Marañón Valley; recently also discovered in dry valleys as far south as northern Lima. Often in pairs, traveling with mixed-species flocks. Male has a solid black cap, female has a bold white eyebrow. Generally the only gnatcatcher in range, but compared to White-browed Gnatcatcher, note the white forehead in female Marañon, and lack of white eyebrow in the male.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Polioptila maior
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Polioptilidae
- Genus
- Polioptila
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Plain-bellied Emerald
Chrysuronia leucogaster
Plainly patterned green-and-white hummingbird. Note entirely white underparts and reddish base of bill. Forages actively on flowers like other hummingbirds. Generally absent from regions of undisturbed forest; found in urban areas, mangroves, abandoned plantations, and second-growth scrub; most common in coastal areas. Very similar to White-chested Emerald and may not be safely separable unless seen well; Plain-bellied has longer bill with reddish base.
Shining Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes lucidus
Small, warblerlike tanager of foothills and adjacent lowlands. Found in humid evergreen forest and edge. Feeds at all levels, mostly in the canopy of fruiting and flowering trees and bushes. All plumages have more strongly decurved bill and shorter tail than the more common Red-legged Honeycreeper. Also note distinctive yellow legs. Male is deep blue overall with black throat and wings. Female has a necklace of bluish streaks across chest.
Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler
Helopsaltes amnicola
A nondescript songbird that skulks in taiga undergrowth, where very difficult to see well. Breeds on Hokkaido, Sakhalin Island, and the Kuril Islands. Very similar to Gray’s Grasshopper-Warbler, which breeds on mainland of far northeastern Asia and has a different song. Migrants very difficult to distinguish from Gray’s, but Sakhalin averages warmer-toned and browner, with perhaps a slightly paler throat. Sings from deep cover, day and night, a hurried, loud, choppy song.
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