Cuban Solitaire
Myadestes elisabeth
A medium-sized inhabitant of wet forests in mountains and foothills. Though subtle, its appearance is unique within its range. Note the subdued brown upperparts and soft gray underparts combined with a bold eyering, distinct dark whisker, and white outer tail feathers. Can be mistaken for a flycatcher, as it habitually sits motionless, except for sallies after insects or fruit, but no flycatcher in its range has a similar facial pattern or white outer tail feathers. Famed for its remarkable song, by which it is often first detected; a variable combination of loud shrills and flutelike notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Myadestes elisabeth
- Authority
- (Lembeye, 1850)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Turdidae
- Genus
- Myadestes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Elegant Honeyeater
Meliphaga cinereifrons
A fairly small honeyeater of lowland and foothill wooded habitats. Note the long, slender bill and large yellow ear spot curving around the back of the eye and edged with black. Co-occurs with Mimic, but Elegant is smaller with black around the eye and face spot. Call, a “chup” note like other closely related species but also a thin trill.
Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
Surniculus dicruroides
Glossy small black cuckoo with a forked tail. Juvenile has a galaxy-like smattering of white spots all over the body. Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo has a less prominently-forked tail; note less difference in length of outermost tail feathers. Adults may be confused with drongos, but are lighter-billed and smaller, with distinctly white-barred undertail. Widespread, found in forests and scrubby plains from lowlands up into foothills and mountainous areas, but much more often heard than seen, typically sitting still in the middle and upper levels of forest; song is an extremely loud ascending series of whistles. Lays its eggs in the nests of babblers, bulbuls, and shrikes.
Ochre-bellied Boobook
Ninox ochracea
A medium-sized brown owl with a rounded head. Note the rufous underparts, clear white eyebrows, and striking yellow eyes. Upperparts chocolate-brown with bold white spots on the wings. Found in understory in lowland and foothill forest, roosting in the day in pairs or small groups within tangled thickets. Occurs at lower elevations than Cinnabar Boobook, and differs in its white eyebrows and brown upperparts. Gives a strident growling song, “woo-wooOW,” with a longer, louder second note. Also gives a single frog-like “grrrrow.”
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