Streaky-breasted Flufftail
Sarothrura boehmi
Small rail of grassland habitats. Very shy and elusive bird that is unlikely to be seen unless expressly searched for. Male has a rufous head and black body with heavy white streaks. Female is dark brown with barring below. Found mainly in seasonally flooded grassland, and sometimes in drier grassland. Main call is a simple, repeated hoot. Also gives quicker series of calls with a similar quality. Similar to Striped and Red-chested Flufftails, but males have more white below, with less rufous on the chest than Red-chested, and more than Striped. Females are darker below.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Sarothrura boehmi
- Authority
- Reichenow, 1900
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Sarothruridae
- Genus
- Sarothrura
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Wrybill
Anarhynchus frontalis
A small, pale plover endemic to New Zealand. Gray above, white below. Note distinctive black bill with tip curving to the right, unique to this species, used to forage under stones for invertebrates. Breeding birds have a clear black band across their chest, thinner in females and varying from absent to distinct in non-breeding or juvenile birds. Breeds only along the braided rivers of Canterbury and Otago. The majority of the population migrates north to winter in large flocks in the harbors and estuaries of the northern North Island, particularly the Firth of Thames and Manukau Harbour. Commonly heard giving a “chip” call.
Rufous-winged Buzzard
Butastur liventer
A rather small hawk with demonic-looking pale eyes. Grayish-brown with a white belly and warmer cinnamon-brown tones in the wings and tail that are most prominent when the bird is in flight. Proportions somewhat halfway between a Buteo and an Accipiter. Often hunts from an exposed perch in open dry forests, as well as open edge habitats such as fields and scrubby areas.
Chucao Tapaculo
Scelorchilus rubecula
Fairly common to common in native temperate forest, adjacent shrubbery, wooded patches, and thickets along rivers and streams, especially with bamboo. Loud ringing song is commonly heard, but calling birds can be elusive. At other times can be confiding, walking out at close range as if curious, usually with tail cocked. Plumage distinctive, with bright rusty eyebrow, throat, and breast. Compare with the larger and fatter Chestnut-throated Huet-huet.
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