Rose-throated Becard
Pachyramphus aglaiae
Rather chunky, big-headed bird with a bushy crest. Male varies from pale gray (in drier areas) to dark slaty gray (in rainforest); pink throat patch absent in darkest rainforest birds. Female also variable, but always has bushy blackish cap. Young male looks like female with variable pink on throat. Widespread in tropical and subtropical areas in Middle America, also locally in the highlands. Favors woodland and forest edge, but also found in brushy fields, hedgerows, and most habitats with a scattering of larger trees; often at fruiting trees. Feeds rather sluggishly, often craning its head back and forth deliberately.
Identification
The most distinguishing characteristics of this bird is the rose-colored neck bib found in adult males. Males are mostly gray in color, with a contrasting darker upperside and a pale gray underside. Males also show a black crown. Females are mostly brown in color, with a rusty brown upper side, and a pale buffy underside. The crown is a dark gray, not nearly as stunning as the males. Its usual call is a mournful "seeeeuuuwww".[citation needed]
Taxonomy
The classification of the rose-throated becard was long controversial, with taxonomists arguing either that it was a cotinga or a tyrant flycatcher. However, genetic evidence indicates that it is in a separate family altogether.
- Scientific name
- Pachyramphus aglaiae
- Authority
- (Lafresnaye, 1839)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tityridae
- Genus
- Pachyramphus
Range and habitat
Rose-throated becards usually occur in riparian areas of pine-oak woodlands and evergreen forest. They breed from south-easternmost Arizona and extreme southern Texas of the United States to western Panama. Breeding is local and sporadic in the US, and becomes more regular in Mexico. Birds are normally permanent residents, but birds found in the United States generally migrate for the winter.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Most breeding activity runs from May to July, but the season may be delayed at high elevation. They make a domed, pendulous nest that hangs from a high tree branch. Three to six eggs are laid, with great variation in color including off-white, light purple, olive, and pinkish. Eggs have scrawling, spotted, markings at the larger end.<p>The becard feeds primarily on insects, which it will glean from the vegetation, but captures some in flight as well. They will also take berries and seeds.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pycroft's Petrel
Pterodroma pycrofti
Small gadfly petrel. Gray upperparts and head, with darker “M” across wings. Underside white, with thin dark wing edge leading into a short diagonal bar cutting into the underwing. Main colonies breed on Mercury, Hen and Chickens, Poor Knights, and Ririwha Islands in New Zealand. Forages in warmer waters off the northern North Island. After breeding, migrates to the central North and Southwest Pacific. Cook’s Petrel is larger and paler but hard to differentiate at sea. Gould’s Petrel has a darker head, giving it a capped appearance, and more extensive dark on the underwing.
Oriole Cuckooshrike
Lobotos oriolinus
A spectacular cuckooshrike that resembles an oriole, with a yellow-green back, wings and tail, yellow underparts, a dark head and bill, and large fleshy orange wattles under the eyes. The sexes differ slightly: the head of the male is jet black and the female has a less contrasting brownish head. Juvenile is like the female but barred above, with a less distinct head pattern. Rare, found singly or in pairs in the canopy of primary and secondary lowland forest, often near water. Moves stealthily through the canopy, where it joins mixed-species parties; flight call is a thrush-like “tsik.” Differs from forest orioles by having a dark (not red) bill and fleshy wattles under the eyes.
Rio Branco Antbird
Cercomacra carbonaria
A slender, long-tailed bird of dense gallery forests and river islands in northern Brazil and extreme southwestern Guyana. Male is mostly black with tail feathers tipped white and with white scalloping on wings. Female is very different: brownish-gray above and buffy below, with a black tail and white throat streaked black. Like other Cercomacra, tends to stay concealed in dense vine tangles in the canopy and midstory, where it clambers slowly about, usually in pairs, searching for insects. Best detected by voice; two-noted song is given in series of 3–5 phrases, with hiccupping effect; similar to song of Gray Antbird but higher-pitched, faster, and less hoarse. Female is unlike any other species in range. Male is darker than Gray and Blackish antbirds, which do not occur in the same habitat and have different voices. Plumage recalls Dot-winged Antwren, but Rio Branco Antbird is considerably larger.
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