Slender-billed Flufftail
Sarothrura watersi
Tiny, rare, skulking rail-like bird that is unlikely to be seen unless you’re expressly looking for it at a handful of known sites. Male has rich rufous and olive-green color, while female is a subdued dark brown. Found in a few wetlands at middle and high elevations in eastern Madagascar, usually adjacent to rainforest. Call is an odd and earthy series of “tduk” calls, sometimes given singly and sometimes in triplets. Longer-billed than the much more common Madagascar Flufftail, and both sexes of Slender-billed Flufftail have duller coloration.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Sarothrura watersi
- Authority
- (Bartlett, E, 1880)
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Sarothruridae
- Genus
- Sarothrura
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Sardinian Warbler
Curruca melanocephala
Compact, robust, and big-headed warbler. Males are striking with a black hood contrasting with whitish throat, gray back, and red eyering. Females duller with a gray hood, white throat, and buff body. Common in many typical Mediterranean habitats including tall bushes, open woodlands, gardens, coastal scrub, and plantations; also in oases, acacia woodlands, and scrubby desert in non-breeding range. Usually first detected by its song, a fast, angry-sounding rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret-tret" or "tetwtweer-tik-tik-tik" with whispering in between. The call is a dry "tseck."
Freckle-breasted Thornbird
Phacellodomus striaticollis
Medium-sized ovenbird with a long spiky tail. Cinnamon-brown above, paler below, with a darker cap and wings. Note the freckled breast and yellow eyes. Usually found near water, in marshes, gallery forests, and scrub, where it forages on the ground or in the understory. Builds large thorny nests that do not hang from trees, unlike other thornbirds.
Upcher's Warbler
Hippolais languida
A medium-sized, gray-brown warbler that looks very similar to other species. Note the rather stout bill and broad dark tail. Smaller and browner than Olive-tree Warbler and larger than Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Wing panel is not as prominent as that of Olive-tree Warbler. Breeds on scrubby hillsides and river valleys; occasionally in flatter lowlands. During non-breeding season, found in a variety of wooded or brushy habitats. Sings from prominent perches—a repetitive, rapid mix of musical and scratchy phrases. Call is a harsh "chak."
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