Audouin's Gull
Ichthyaetus audouinii
Elegant slim gull with long legs, and narrow wings. Adults have a light grey body with a paler white head. The wings are light gray with black tips, lacking conspicuous white spots. Legs are dark gray and the bill is dark red. Eyes are dark. Juveniles are similar to Lesser Black-backed Gull, with strongly barred underwings and a U-shaped white rump patch and dark tail. In their 1st winter they develop a gray-brown mantle and in their second winter the head is already white; the tail and secondaries have a black band.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ichthyaetus audouinii
- Authority
- (Payraudeau, 1826)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Ichthyaetus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : e North Atlantic coast of s Portugal and Spain; coasts and islets of Mediterranean and associated seas to Cyprus and s Turkey
- Non-breeding range
- to coast of Gambia (tropical North Atlantic)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-billed Streamertail
Trochilus polytmus
This long-tailed beauty is Jamaica’s national bird along with Black-billed Streamertail, which is now considered a separate species. Male has a glittering green body, black crown, and red bill; younger males and molting birds may not have the signature tail streamers, giving them a somewhat different look. Female lacks the long tail and is similar to Black-billed Streamertail, but usually shows a pink tinge to the base of the lower part of her bill. Her relatively large size and longer bill help separate her from Vervain Hummingbird. Found in forest in most of the island except for the far east, where it is replaced by Black-billed Streamertail, and readily comes to feeders. Local names for this species include “doctor bird” and “swallow tail humming bird”.
Choco Warbler
Myiothlypis chlorophrys
Small warbler found in cloud forest in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Field marks include bright yellow underparts a well as dark stripes through face and on sides of crown. Orange central crown stripe may not be evident in the field. Similar to Three-striped Warbler, but yellower, has thinner crown stripes, and lacks crescent below eye. Pairs or small groups forage actively in lower to middle levels in the forest, often with mixed species flocks. Song is a rising and accelerating buzzy trill. Formerly called Golden-bellied Warbler.
San Blas Jay
Cyanocorax sanblasianus
Handsome blue-and-black jay of tropical forests, woodlands, and gardens endemic to west Mexico. Usually in small groups, which can be noisy and conspicuous or very quiet and easily overlooked; often with Yellow-winged Caciques. Around the town of San Blas (in Nayarit, Mexico), appreciably larger Purplish-backed Jay occurs at southern end of its range (and northern end of San Blas Jay’s range). Purplish-backed is deep purplish blue on back and tail, not strikingly two-toned blue-and-black like San Blas Jay, and has bright yellow legs. Voices also very different. Purplish-backed occurs in mangroves and adjacent woodlands in and around town while San Blas Jay occurs in foothill forest of coffee plantations south of town.
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