Crested Finchbill
Spizixos canifrons
Tea-green bulbul with a dark gray head and a spiffy erect crest. Black-crested Bulbul is structurally somewhat similar but is darker green with an all-black head and pale eyes. Crested Finchbill inhabits middle to upper-elevation forests and edges, where it often gathers in very large flocks. Bold and approachable; can often be found in field edges, parks, and gardens. Gives distinctively bubbly ascending trills, often in distinct phrases.
Taxonomy
The crested finchbill was formally described in 1845 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth under the binomial name Spizixos canifrons. He specified the type locality as Cherrapunji in the Indian state of Meghalaya of northeast India. The specific epithet combines the Latin canus meaning "grey" with frons meaning "forehead".<p>Two subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Spizixos canifrons
- Authority
- Blyth, 1845
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pycnonotidae
- Genus
- Spizixos
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Biak Coucal
Centropus chalybeus
A poorly known, mid-sized coucal endemic to Biak island. All black plumage, distinctive yellow iris, straightish bill and a fierce-looking face. Found in dense forest and secondary habitat at all levels and devilishly difficult to see. The only coucal species found on Biak. Vaguely similar to Torresian Crown, but Biak Coucal is more skulking with longer tail. Quite vocal and heard far more often than seen. Call, a series of deep, upDslurred “wup!” notes given at varying speeds.
Chestnut-throated Apalis
Apalis porphyrolaema
Gray apalis with a distinct rufous throat. Found in the canopy of montane forest and adjacent secondary growth. Usually in pairs, and readily joins mixed-species feeding flocks. The distinctive song is a vibrant trill that sounds like the ringing of a small telephone. This trill is often doubled. Similar to female Buff-throated Apalis, but has a more clearly defined rufous throat and gray rather than white underparts.
Sumba Brown Flycatcher
Muscicapa segregata
An unremarkable drab, brown flycatcher, gray-brown above and pale below. Note the pale base to the bill. Juveniles have spotted upperparts. Found singly or in pairs in understory of lowland forest and edge. Limited to Sumba Island. Differs from Asian Brown Flycatcher in being shorter-winged, with a less distinct eye-ring. Separated from the larger Flores Jungle-Flycatcher and from the more rufescent Sumba Flycatcher by its bicolored bill. Song is a soft complex of disorderly high whistled notes, ending in a weak trill. Call is a thin, high-pitched whistle, “tseeoo.”
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