Sao Tome Ibis
Bostrychia bocagei
Very small, dark forest-dwelling ibis. Note the dark blue bare skin on the face, the ragged crest, and the glossy green shoulders. Found in the rainforest understory, though it will perch up in trees when roosting or when disturbed. Usually quiet, but sometimes gives a honking call. Easily identified, as it is the only ibis on the island of Sao Tome.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Bostrychia bocagei
- Authority
- (Chapin, 1923)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Threskiornithidae
- Genus
- Bostrychia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Nicobar Pigeon
Caloenas nicobarica
Spectacular ground-dwelling pigeon with long, extravagant plumes trailing down from the neck. Dark green intermixed with gray, blue, and bronzy orange, depending on the light. Tail is snow-white, but only readily visible when the bird is flushed. Generally shy, quiet, and difficult to see. Inhabits small, densely forested offshore islands from the Indian Andamans to the Solomons and New Guinea.
Speckle-breasted Antpitta
Cryptopezus nattereri
Small plump bird with a short tail, long legs, and large eyes. Very secretive and hard to spot; walks quietly on the ground of lowland humid and montane forests with a dense understory. Olive-brown above and spotted below with a pale throat. The song is a series of whistled notes increasing in volume towards the end.
Sulawesi Scops-Owl
Otus manadensis
A small brown owl with yellow eyes and feathered ear tufts. Note square head shape when tufts not raised. Body all brown with extensive scattered darker and paler markings. Juvenile heavily barred on back and crown. Inhabits understory of forest and forest edge from lowlands to lower mountains. Endemic to Sulawesi. Distinctive: the only scops-owl in range. Song a persistent single note “woooo” repeated often, sometimes with an upward inflection at the end: “wooooek.”
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