White-throated Oxylabes
Oxylabes madagascariensis
Mid-sized tetraka with a bold white throat and eye-stripe. Brown on the back, rufous on the underparts, and bright rufous on the cap. Madagascar endemic that is found in low- and middle-elevation eastern and northern rainforest. Skulking but restless understory bird that prefers dense tangles. Sometimes joins mixed flocks. Common vocalizations are a quick, thrush-like up-and-down series, and a low, accelerating rattle.
Identification
The white-throated oxylabes is a large warbler 17–18 cm (6.7–7.1 in) in length. It has short wings, long legs and a long stout bill. The upperparts are dark olive-brown with a rufous top and side of head. It has a narrow white supercilium and a white chin and throat. The underparts are dark brown. The sexes are alike.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description and an illustration of the white-throated oxylabes in the third volume of his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected on the island of Madagascar. He used the French name Le rossignol de Madagascar and the Latin name Luscinia madagascariensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1789 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae he included the white-throated oxylabes based on Brisson's description. He placed it with the wagtails in the genus Motacilla and coined the binomial name Motacilla madagascariensis. The white-throated oxylabes is now the only species placed in the genus Oxylabes that was introduced in 1870 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The genus name is from Ancient Greek oxulabēs meaning "quick at seizing". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>In 2013, genetic studies determined that the Bluntschli's vanga (also known as short-toed nuthatch-vanga), a species described in 1996 from two specimens collected in 1931, was actually this species. The specimens were both juveniles in a poorly known brown plumage.
- Scientific name
- Oxylabes madagascariensis
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Bernieridae
- Genus
- Oxylabes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Hooded Tinamou
Nothocercus nigrocapillus
Fairly large, terrestrial bird of Andean cloud forest. It has a gray head, a white throat, white speckling on the wings, and faint barring on the belly. Similar to White-throated Tinamou, but Hooded has a grayer head, a less mottled neck, and a different voice, and is found at higher elevations. Very shy and solitary, heard far more often than seen; song is a nasal “ow” repeated every few seconds.
Reed Cormorant
Microcarbo africanus
A small, speckle-backed cormorant that is common and widespread in fresh water. The adult is blackish with a short black crest above the bill. Immatures are brownish with paler underparts. Although they share the same habitat with Great Cormorant, Long-tailed Cormorants can be separated by their much smaller size, red eyes, and proportionately longer tails. Generally, Long-tailed Cormorant avoids the marine habitats of the similar-looking Crowned Cormorant, which has a larger crest, an unspeckled back, and a shorter tail.
Burmese Prinia
Prinia cooki
A dull and poorly marked prinia with a strong bill and a long, graduated tail. Light brown above with faint dark streaking. Pale below, sometimes with some dark smudging along the sides of the breast. In some areas, breeding males become darker on the face and the bill becomes black. Found at low and moderate elevations in open dry forest, shrubby grasslands, and forest or agricultural edges. Can be retiring and difficult to see in dense vegetation. Sings two different song types: a dry rolling trill and a repeated two-syllabled “tulip.” Separated from most other prinias by its plainness and lack of contrasting head markings. Most similar to Himalayan Prinia, but there is little or no overlap in range, and Burmese Prinia is distinguished by having less streaking overall, especially along the sides of the breast.
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