Bornean Blue Flycatcher

Cyornis superbus

One of a number of similar blue flycatchers on Borneo; endemic to the island, where it inhabits foothill and lowland forests. Unobtrusive and not very active, often perching at lower and middle levels in the forest. Male is brightly-colored, but confusingly difficult to separate from other blue flycatchers; note his orange throat and underparts (darkest on chest), dark face, and paler blue crown and back. Female has brown upperparts, an orange chest, pale belly, and rufous-brown tail; also note her pale orange throat and very weak or absent eye ring. Song is a brief but quite beautiful series of tinkling notes.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Cyornis superbus
Authority
Stresemann, 1925
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Muscicapidae
Genus
Cyornis

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Gray Crow

Gray Crow

Corvus tristis

A large bird of lowland and foothill forest canopy, often near rivers. Somewhat variable plumage but has a long tail, bare, pink, facial skin and blue eyes. Adult, usually has a dark bill and gray-brown plumage, darker in the wing with some iridescence. Juvenile is grey with a paler head and a pink bill. Torresian and Brown-headed Crows have shorter tails. Somewhat similar to Channel-billed Cuckoo but that species has a longer bill and barring on the tail. Voice, an uncrowlike, relatively high-pitch, nasal yelping.

Sooty Oystercatcher

Sooty Oystercatcher

Haematopus fuliginosus

Heavy-set shorebird with entirely black plumage and long, thick reddish bill. It has a distinctive fleshy red or yellow eye-ring and very thick pale-pink feet and legs. Exclusively coastal, where it can be found walking around on the edge of rocky headlands, on rock shelves, and along rocky beaches on small islands. Typically found in pairs or small groups. Its call is a loud slow whistled "chew", or when agitated a rapidly repeated "squeaky toy" call.

Olive-backed Tanager

Olive-backed Tanager

Mitrospingus oleagineus

A bulky bird of tepui highlands, often encountered in groups. Unlikely to be confused within its limited range; plumage mostly coppery-olive (may tend toward yellow in sunlight) with a contrasting gray face and throat. Stout bill is silvery gray. Occurs in canopy of tepui highland forest, generally above 800 m, where groups forage noisily through vegetation, probing into epiphytes and dead leaves and hopping clumsily along branches, eating whatever is in their path. Frequents fruiting trees, and may join mixed-species flocks but are just as likely to be found away from them. Most typical call is a dreadful high-pitched screech, modulated as if the bird is being squeezed, and sounding quite literally like fingernails on a chalkboard.

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