Palawan Blue Flycatcher
Cyornis lemprieri
A fairly small bird of lowland and foothill forest on Palawan and neighboring islands. Relatively large for a flycatcher, with a white belly and an orange throat and chest. Male has blue upperparts, a blackish face and edge of the wing, and a pale blue eyebrow and forecrown. Female has a gray head with a broken white eye-ring, brown wings, and a rufous tail. Similar to Mangrove Blue-Flycatcher, but male Palawan has paler blue upperparts and a paler orange chest. Song consists of pleasant, tinkling phrases of five or so metallic notes, each one slightly different.
Identification
The Palawan blue flycatcher (Cyornis lemprieri) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only on Palawan and its surrounding islands. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Taxonomy
Genus: Cyornis; Family: Muscicapidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Cyornis lemprieri
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1884)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Cyornis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Pygmy Nightjar
Nyctipolus hirundinaceus
Very small nightjar with an indistinct buffy throat. Ground color is variable between subspecies, with some paler and others darker. In flight, note the white wing stripes in both sexes. Males have two white patches on tail. Found in wooded rocky caatinga (dry scrubby forest), where it roosts on rock outcrops and boulders. The song is a short “wheeo.”
Rufous-tailed Stipplethroat
Epinecrophylla erythrura
Brown antwren with reddish tail and wings. Head is gray in both sexes, fading into a warmer brown lower body. Cream wingbars. Slightly longer tailed than similar antwrens and typically forages higher in the midstory. Often joins mixed-species flocks with other antwrens and antshrikes. Listen for its song: a steady series of high, rising “pseet” notes.
Tree Pipit
Anthus trivialis
Slender and streaked pipit. Feeds on the ground like other pipits, but perches readily in trees or bushes when singing, or alights in tree at end of parachuting song flight. As the name suggests, usually associated with trees (on breeding grounds), but also found in agricultural areas and grassy scrub in winter. All pipits look rather similar and are best identified to species by combination of habitat and voice: Tree Pipit call a high, shrill, buzzy "tzzz"; song more melodic and varied than Meadow Pipit song.
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