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
Fulvous Wren
Cinnycerthia fulva
Reddish-brown wren with a faint pale eyebrow found in the understory of humid montane forest. Larger and longer-tailed than the tiny Mountain Wren, which also has a bolder eyebrow. Replaced at the northern end of its range by the very similar Peruvian Wren. Forages singly or in pairs low in bushes and near the ground. Listen for its loud song, a flowing series of whistles and trills.
Silver Gull
Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
Small gray gull with red legs. Adult has red bill (younger birds have a darker bill), white head and body, pale gray "silver" wings, which have prominent black and white tips. Abundant across much of New Zealand and coastal Australia, including inland areas around waterways and rivers.
Philippine Swiftlet
Aerodramus mearnsi
Uncommon dark swiftlet. Endemic to a smattering of the Philippines islands, from Luzon to Mindanao to Palawan. Habitat can be helpful in identifying this confusing species; generally favors ridges and slopes in montane and submontane areas above 700-800 meters. Readily confused with significantly larger Ameline Swiftlet, but present species has a more squared-off-looking tail (fork is shallow and often unnoticeable), tends to fly lower and more erratically, and more often forms flocks. Combination of dark rump, unglossed dark back, and medium size separates this species from Gray-rumped Swiftlet, Pygmy Swiftlet, and Ridgetop Swiftlet. Frequently calls while in flight, giving a squeaky chattering twitter.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.