Masked Lark
Spizocorys personata
An unusual, distinctive, relatively colorful medium-sized lark. Note the black "mask," the pale bill, and the rufous-washed belly. The sides of the tail are pale buff, which can be obvious in flight. Found very locally in dry country, in short grassland and on lava fields. The song is a simple whistled phrase that can be given on the ground or in a flight display.
Taxonomy
Some authorities have placed the masked lark in the genus Calandrella.<p>Four subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Spizocorys personata
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1895
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Spizocorys
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Nomadic movement
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Red-naped Trogon
Harpactes kasumba
Incandescently beautiful but sluggish and surprisingly hard to detect, this is a species of moist lowland and foothill forest. Male has a black head, bright red nape and underparts, brownish-orange back, and black-and-white-barred wings. Female is brownish with a yellow breast and belly. Both sexes have bright blue eye-rings and bills. Gives a series of gulpy squeaks: “kyew, kyew, kyew, kyew”.
Bluish-slate Antshrike
Thamnomanes schistogynus
Medium-sized, fairly long-tailed antshrike of lowland rainforest. Perches upright in the under and midstory of mature rainforest, bamboo, and occasionally forest edges. The male is slaty gray overall while the more distinctive female has a red-orange belly. Often joins mixed-species flocks, where it typically forages slightly higher in vegetation than the similar Dusky-throated Antshrike. Males are best separated from other plain gray antshrikes by more upright posture, slightly longer tail, cleaner gray throat, and voice. Listen for a short series of rising whistles that accelerate into a trill.
Ash-throated Casiornis
Casiornis fuscus
Large rufous flycatcher with a slight crest, a cinnamon back, dusky flight feathers, and buff underparts. Inhabits wooded caatinga (dry scrubby forest) in the breeding season, with migrants also found in Cerrado and Amazonian savannas and light woodland in the non-breeding season. The similar Rufous Casiornis has a rufous back, the same color as the wings.
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