Rusty-winged Starling
Aplonis zelandica
A rather small, pale grayish-brown starling, paler on Vanikoro, with a smudgy black patch in front of the eye and distinctive rusty wings. Found in forest and secondary growth, especially montane forest. Similar to Polynesian Starling, but paler above, with a dark eye and more uniform wings. Common call is a melodious “zee-twee.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Aplonis zelandica
- Authority
- (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sturnidae
- Genus
- Aplonis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds

Black Shama
Copsychus cebuensis
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of lowland forest, bamboo, and scrub on Cebu, where it has a preference for valley bottoms. Male is entirely black with a glossy sheen, where the female is sooty gray with a rusty belly. Catches insects on the ground, in the undergrowth, or even on the wing. There are no other species of similar shape and size on Cebu. Song is a series of long, slightly out of tune, often quavering whistles.

Yellow-backed Tanager
Hemithraupis flavicollis
Small warblerlike tanager. Male is distinctive: mostly black above with yellow patch on back, yellow throat and undertail coverts, and dingy whitish belly. Female is less striking: overall yellowish with grayer flanks, yellow edging on wing feathers, and orange lower bill (sometimes dull). Widespread from eastern Panama to southeast Brazil. Typically seen in pairs foraging in the canopy of lowland forest, often following a mixed-species flock.

Black-backed Antshrike
Thamnophilus melanonotus
A short-crested antshrike with a heavy bill and bold wing markings, found along coastal slope of northern Colombia and Venezuela. Male is mostly black with white flanks and wing and tail markings. Female is dull buff colored with a dusky spotted crown, dark wings with buffy markings, rufous tail, and a prominent buffy eyering. Locally common but hard to see in dense vine tangles in dry forest and shrubby areas. Territorial, mostly in pairs in the understory to mid-levels of the forest. Best found by voice, a nasal and harsh “kuarrrr!” repeated every two seconds. Similar to Black-crested Antshrike, but that species has a much more prominent crest, and the female has black wings and rufous crown.
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