Gray-crowned Tetraka
Xanthomixis cinereiceps
Attractive, medium-sized tetraka. Green back, gray head, white throat, and yellowish underparts. Madagascar endemic that is found in eastern rainforest at middle and high elevations. Inhabits the mid-story, most often feeding by creeping along mossy branches like a woodpecker. Frequently joins flocks with tetrakas and other species. Call is a series of high, silvery, sputtered “sit” notes. Separated from Spectacled Tetraka by its smaller size, brighter underparts, gray head, and tree-creeping habits.
Identification
The bird is slender, with a green back, pale grey crown and ear coverts, a white throat, yellow underparts, and grey legs. The slim bill is pale pink with a darker culmen.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Xanthomixis cinereiceps
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1881)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Bernieridae
- Genus
- Xanthomixis
Range and habitat
Its natural habitat is primary humid montane forests along the length of eastern Madagascar. It ranges from 900 to 2000 meters elevation, and is most common in higher-elevation forests at 1,400 to 1,800 meters. It is seldom found in disturbed forests or drier forests in the mountains' rain shadow.<p>It feeds on small insects on mossy tree trunks and sometimes on understory shrubs, but is seldom observed on the ground. It is often found in multi-species flocks.<p>It is threatened by habitat loss.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
White-winged Lark
Alauda leucoptera
Handsome lark with flashing white wing patches. Note streaky gray-brown back, white underparts, and warm rufous shoulder; male also has distinct red cap and ear coverts. Forages in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Favors wide expansive dry steppelands and fields; occasionally encountered in agricultural areas. Song is a jumble of trills, chirps, harsh rasps, and twittering notes.
Eastern Spot-billed Duck
Anas zonorhyncha
Common large duck of lakes, ponds, wet fields, and estuaries. Dark brown overall, with a pale head marked by a whitish eyebrow and two black stripes on the face. Namesake yellow bill spot is visible even from a good distance. White underwings contrast strongly with dark body in flight. Highly adaptable and quite tame, foraging in city parks and small ponds close to human settlements.
Southern Masked-Weaver
Ploceus velatus
This red-eyed masked-weaver has a lightly streaked green back and pink-brown legs. The breeding male has a black face mask with a narrow black band on the forehead above the bill. The female and juvenile are dull. The species is an abundant resident throughout open savanna and semi-arid areas, nesting colonially above water or in large trees. Many similar-looking weavers do not overlap in range. The larger and more robust male Village Weaver differs from Southern Masked-Weaver by having a more mottled back; the female Village Weaver has a stouter, more robust bill and a duller red eye.
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