Long-tailed Honey-buzzard

Henicopernis longicauda

A large, long-tailed raptor of lowland and montane forest and clearings. Commonly seen in flight soaring in circles over the canopy with wing and tail feathers spread, showing strong barring. The only similar looking raptor that regularly soars is Pacific Baza, but Long-tailed Honey-buzzard has a streaked chest and lacks the buffy underwing and belly. When perched, similar to Doria’s Goshawk, but has yellow eyes and white legs. Usually silent.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Henicopernis longicauda
Authority
(Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1828)
Order
Accipitriformes
Family
Accipitridae
Genus
Henicopernis

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Other Birds

Little Green-Pigeon

Little Green-Pigeon

Treron olax

This aptly-named forest species is the smallest of the green-pigeons. Males are highly distinctive, with a blue-gray head and neck, orange chest, pinkish-maroon back, and green belly. Females are duller, but their combination of size, gray crown, and contrasting yellow-green chest serves to tell them apart from other green-pigeons. Pairs often forage and perch together, often on exposed bare branches. Like other pigeons, frequently gathers at fruiting trees. Song is a series of strangely buzzy rising whistles.

Chuuk Monarch

Chuuk Monarch

Metabolus rugensis

Medium-sized flycatcher-like bird with a long pointed bill. Male is bright white with a black face and throat. Female is entirely dark overall. Juvenile is rufous above and paler buff below. Endemic to the Chuuk Islands of Micronesia, where it primarily inhabits remnant upland native forest, extensive mangroves, and small forested atolls. Less frequently in degraded lowland forest. Favors areas with a dense understory, where it forages singly or in small groups, moving slowly through the foliage. Sparse and declining as a result of habitat loss. Gives low whistles and a nasal “jeer!”

Masked Fruiteater

Masked Fruiteater

Pipreola pulchra

Chunky green bird with a broad, blunt bill. Males have a bright orange bill, a blackish face, a yellow-orange necklace that bleeds into the breast, and a yellow lower belly; females are nearly entirely green with faint streaking below and a dull orange bill. Notice the females’ dull olive legs and streaked, not scaled pattern underneath, which distinguish it from the similar, orange-legged female Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater. Perches inconspicuously in the mid-story of humid montane forest, where it is often found around fruiting trees and occasionally joins mixed-species flocks.

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