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
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Orange-breasted Bunting
Passerina leclancherii
Beautiful small bunting of lowlands and foothills; endemic to west Mexico. Occurs in brushy woodland and edge, adjacent weedy fields, and open grassy areas. Often in small groups, feeding on roadside grasses and flushing up with brilliant blue flashes. Also feeds at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. Male unmistakable: electric turquoise blue and green above; rich yellow below with a burnished orange breast. Female duller overall: greenish above and yellow below, with a bluish tail. Female brighter yellowish below than slightly larger female Painted Bunting.
Viridian Metaltail
Metallura williami
Short-billed hummingbird found near tree line in the high Andes. Male is deep green with a dark and sometimes glittering throat patch; female is similar but lacks throat patch and is scaled buff or rufous below. Tail color varies geographically; it can be green or blue, and it can even show a bit of rufous on top, though never as much as the tail of Tyrian Metaltail. Feeds on small flowers in páramo and at the edge of elfin forest.
Green Aracari
Pteroglossus viridis
Common small toucan of rainforest canopy. The key field mark is the clear yellow belly that contrasts sharply with a dark breast. Usually seen in small groups at fruiting trees in clearings and at river edges. Like other toucans, sometimes rests on bare branches above the canopy; groups cross gaps in single file. Chuckling calls are woodpecker-like in quality. Similar to Black-necked Aracari in size, shape, and behavior, but lacks bands on belly, has a more colorful bill, and is more restricted to tall rainforest.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.