Gray Thornbill
Acanthiza cinerea
A tiny bird of montane forest canopy. Medium gray above and clean white below with a black bill and dark eye. Forages very actively in small single or mixed species flocks and often hovers to catch insects. Similar to Papuan Thornbill and Brown-breasted Gerygone, but Gray Thornbill is distinctly gray rather than brown above. Voice very similar to Brown-breasted Gerygone and birds even respond those calls. Song, a descending series of high-pitch, slurred notes. Call, high-pitch chips.
Identification
A tiny bird of montane forest canopy. Medium gray above and clean white below with a black bill and dark eye. Forages very actively in small single or mixed species flocks and often hovers to catch insects. Similar to Papuan Thornbill and Brown-breasted Gerygone, but Gray Thornbill is distinctly gray rather than brown above. Voice very similar to Brown-breasted Gerygone and birds even respond those calls. Song, a descending series of high-pitch, slurred notes. Call, high-pitch chips.
Taxonomy
Genus: Acanthiza; Family: Acanthizidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Acanthiza cinerea
- Authority
- (Salvadori, 1876)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Acanthizidae
- Genus
- Acanthiza
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Sao Tome Pigeon
Columba malherbii
A small-to-medium-sized dark pigeon with slaty wings, a grayish head and breast, an iridescent green-pink sheen on the mantle, a buffy vent, and red feet. Sexes differ in plumage: male has a gray belly and female has a buff-rufous belly. Pairs are fairly common in the canopy and at middle levels of forest, including degraded forest and edge, but rarer at higher altitudes. Calls include a grating “krrrrk-krrrrk” and song is “kruueh-kruuw-koo-koo-ko-ko-kokokoko” with notes speeding up like a bouncing ping-pong ball. The larger Maroon Pigeon has yellow legs and bill and lacks Sao Tome Pigeon’s iridescent green nape; Lemon Dove has a white face and frequents the forest floor.
Little Black Cormorant
Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Small all-black cormorant with green eyes. Often forms large flocks both in the air and while foraging on the water. Much smaller than Great Cormorant, and lacks that species’ yellow/white face. Abundant along coasts and inland waterways.
Usambara Thrush
Turdus roehli
A typical thrush with brownish upperparts and paler rufous-and-gray underparts. Also note the darker face, yellow bill, and striped throat. Found in the understory of montane forest and along forest edges. Occasionally bold, but typically quite shy, with only calls betraying its presence in the undergrowth. Abyssinian Thrush is similar, but does not overlap in range. Usambara Thrush gives a typical melodic thrush song, and calls include a "chk-chk" and thin "tseeep" notes.
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