Ala Shan Redstart
Phoenicurus alaschanicus
Male is very brightly colored, even for a redstart, with extensively orange underparts, white wing patches, and a gray cap. The female is plain and easily confused with other female redstarts; watch for its noticeably paler underparts and lack of white wing patch. Breeds in open upland areas with scrubby cover, including rocky scree scopes. Song long and rambling, consisting of grating, scratchy notes and fluty whistles.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Phoenicurus alaschanicus
- Authority
- (Przevalski, 1876)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Phoenicurus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds

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Beautiful grayish-white pigeon with black wing- and tail-tips. Rare, little-known, and extremely localized; now found only on islands off western Sumatra (though may occasionally wander onto the main island), where it forages in lowland and hill forest. Vocalizations poorly understood and seldom heard; documented giving deep, sonorous, rising coos.

Eurasian Griffon
Gyps fulvus
Massive tricolored vulture with whitish head and neck, pale brown body, and contrasting dark flight feathers. Juveniles similar but with a pale brown rather than white neck ruff. Nests in colonies on cliff ledges; often seen in loose flocks soaring over valleys and mountainsides but always in search of updrafts and thermals. Still the commonest vulture over much of its breeding range. Some populations are resident while others are highly migratory.

White-browed Piculet
Sasia ochracea
Minute woodpecker of lowland and foothill forests, where it forages in areas with dense low vegetation at the lower and middle levels. Predominantly rusty orange, with an olive-green crown and wings and a small but bright white eyebrow; the very similar Rufous Piculet lacks a pale brow. Male White-broweds have a bright yellow patch on the forehead which females lack. Often solitary, but can be found in small flocks and mixed-species foraging groups. Gives an explosive, squeaky, often descending chatter and sharp “chip” notes.
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