Recurve-billed Bushbird
Clytoctantes alixii
Unique, medium-sized antbird with a spectacular heavy and markedly upturned bill. Male is slate gray with a black throat, breast, and tail, and black dotted wings. Female is chestnut with a darker tail and buffy spotted wings. Rare, local, and hard to see, typically skulking in the dark understory of second growth and mature forest in foothills, often in areas with dense bamboo. Best found by voice; song a series of short notes accelerating “deeu-deee-dee-dee-eet-et.”
Identification
The recurve-billed bushbird is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long. It is rather stocky with a short tail. Its large bill is pale horn; it is laterally compressed and the mandible is upturned. The sexes have different plumage. Adult males are generally dark gray, with a white patch between their shoulders. Their lores, throat, and the center of their upper breast are black. Their wing coverts have small black spots and their flight feathers are brownish black. Adult females have a dark rufous-brown crown, back, and rump. Their wings and tail are blackish with pale rufous tips on the wing coverts. Their underparts are reddish brown that is darker on their flanks and undertail coverts. Subadult males are dark yellowish and blackish brown; their forehead, sides of the head, and throat are reddish yellow-brown and their wing coverts have white dots.
Taxonomy
The recurve-billed bushbird is monotypic. It shares genus Clytoctantes with the Rondonia bushbird (C. atrogularis).
- Scientific name
- Clytoctantes alixii
- Authority
- Elliot, DG, 1870
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Clytoctantes
Range and habitat
The recurve-billed bushbird is known from a few sites in Venezuela's Sierra de Perijá and in the Colombian departments of Antioquia, Norte de Santander, and Santander. It was formerly much more widespread. The species inhabits dense undergrowth in the understory and edges of evergreen forest, clearings in the forest that are regenerating, and nearby secondary forest. In one Colombian area it is associated with bamboo. In elevation it ranges between 300 and 1,200 m (1,000 and 3,900 ft) in Venezuela. In Colombia it is mostly found between 200 and 1,000 m (700 and 3,300 ft) but occurs as high as 1,150 m (3,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The recurve-billed bushbird is thought to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The recurve-billed bushbird apparently feeds mostly on insects. It has been observed seeking prey by pecking open and pulling strips from stems, and at least once has been seen attending an army ant swarm. It has not been observed as part of a mixed-species feeding flock.<p>The recurve-billed bushbird has been reported to breed in April and May in the western part of its range but breeding may start as early as January. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The recurve-billed bushbird's vocalization is a "loud, mid-range whistling peeeuw peeeuw peeuw-pweet-pweet-pweet.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-faced Apalis
Apalis personata
Black-hooded, green-backed apalis with a white spot on the side of the neck. Found in montane forest of the Albertine Rift. Usually in pairs, which will join mixed-species flocks. An active species that prefers the upper half of the forest, though it will sometimes feed lower. Gives a rattling, repeated three-part call, and also a quick trill. Very similar to Masked Apalis, but has a mostly black head and a white dot rather than a stripe on the side of the neck, and is found at higher elevations.
Matsudaira's Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates matsudairae
Dark brown, lanky seabird, large and long-billed for a storm-petrel, with long, angular wings Breeds on southern Japanese islands and winters in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. Powerful, slow flight style contrasts with swifter flight of smaller species. Somewhat resembles the larger Bulwer’s Petrel, but Matsudaira’s tail is forked, not wedge-shaped. Bright white shafts of the primary feathers give it an almost skua-like appearance, even from a distance. Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel similar but smaller, with more graceful flight style. Tristram’s Storm-Petrel also similar but lacks the primary shafts and usually has a more contrasting carpal bar.
Black-winged Cuckooshrike
Lalage melaschistos
An overall sooty-colored cuckooshrike with broad white tips to the tail feathers. Male is dark sooty-gray with a slaty sheen, slightly paler on rump. Underparts paler toward tail; wings black. Female is very similar to male, but paler in general, often weakly barred with dark and pale gray on underparts. Male has a black mask, while female has dark lores and a faint eyering. Juvenile is blackish-brown above and brownish-gray below, heavily scaled whitish all over, with broad white tips on wing feathers. Immature like female, but more strongly and extensively barred below. Song is a loud series of whistles “pe-pe-pe-peew-peew-pew”; sometimes the starting notes are skipped. Found in all types of woodlands, including broad-leaved forests, sometimes even near cultivation during non-breeding season.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.