Fulvous Shrike-Tanager
Lanio fulvus
This tanager inhabits lowland and foothill rainforest and is almost always encountered with large mixed-species flocks. Male is burnt-orange with black hood and wings: somewhat reminiscent of an oriole. Female is drab, confusing, and rather variable, but she is usually darker tawny or ochraceous on the belly and rump compared to females of similar species; also note hooked bill. Quite vocal, often giving a repeated “cheer” and an abrupt rattle.
Taxonomy
The fulvous shrike-tanager was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1779 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Tangara fulva in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The fulvous shrike-tanager is now placed in the genus Lanio that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with the fulvous shrike-tanager as the type species. The genus name is derived from the shrike genus Lanius that had been introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The specific fulvus is Latin for "tawny", "brown" or "fulvous".<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Lanio fulvus
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Lanio
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mountain Owlet-nightjar
Aegotheles albertisi
A small owlet-nightjar of montane forests. Dark head, pale collar, barred back and tail. A rufous morph also occurs. Day-roosting birds are sometimes found in dense thickets. May overlap with Wallace’s Owlet-nightjar, which lacks the pale collar, and Vogelkop Owlet-nightjar, which has a barred chest. Call, a sharp falling “wek!” or “wek-wek!” sounding like a squeaky toy or given as a raspy note.
Capped Heron
Pilherodius pileatus
This gorgeous medium-sized heron is uncommon but widespread in lowlands of South America, barely extending into eastern Panama. Not likely to be mistaken: combination of silvery back, buffy neck and belly, black cap, and blue lores (sometimes radiant turquoise!) help distinguish this species from other herons. Also note the long white plumes on the back of the head. Occurs around swamps, forested ponds, and rivers, usually singly.
Southern Red Bishop
Euplectes orix
A small, dumpy sparrow-like weaver. The breeding male is a mix of velvety vermilion and black; the narrow black forecrown is diagnostic. The female and non-breeding male are nondescript, with a short tail and strong buff eyebrow, and are difficult to tell apart from other bishops. Pairs and small flocks are always close to water when breeding, and mixed-species colonies occur in reedbeds and swampy grassland, but they disperse into adjacent scrub in the non-breeding season, often in flocks. The song is an extended fizzling sizzle. Breeding males of other red bishop species either have no black forehead, or have a much more extensive black crown.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.