Crossley's Vanga
Mystacornis crossleyi
Brown-backed, babbler-like vanga of the forest understory. Male has a black hood, and female a white throat. Endemic to Madagascar, in eastern rainforest at low and middle elevations. Shy and elusive bird that walks along the forest floor and through thick tangles. Song is a long, penetrating whistle given from a low perch. Coloration and habits make it distinctive.
Identification
Crossley's vanga is a small babbler-like bird, 15 cm long and weighing around 25 g. Its most distinctive feature is the olive-grey bill, which is disproportionately long and slightly hooked at the end. The plumage of the male is olive green on the crown, back, wings, tail and flanks, a grey belly, black throat and face, with a white submoustachial stripe and grey stripe above the eye. The legs are grey and the iris black. The female is similar but with a white throat and belly.
Taxonomy
The bird is in the monotypic genus Mystacornis. The species is an example of convergent evolution: its bill and body shape adapted to its habit of looking for insect prey in the leaf litter, eventually becoming so similar to that of ground-babblers that early naturalists initially classified the Crossley's vanga into what was then known as the babbler family, Timaliidae.
- Scientific name
- Mystacornis crossleyi
- Authority
- (Grandidier, A, 1870)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Vangidae
- Genus
- Mystacornis
Range and habitat
Crossley's vanga is endemic to Madagascar. It is distributed in the east of Madagascar in broadleaf forest, from sea level up to 1800 m.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
Hemipus picatus
A small passerine bird with black-and-white plumage. The head, upperparts, and tail are black. The sides of the neck and underparts are white. The wing shows a prominent white slash, and the outer tail feathers are white. The bill is black and the upper mandible is hooked at the tip. Usually found in mixed-species foraging flocks, feeding on insects in the mid-canopy by hawking prey in mid-air like flycatchers, hence the name. Inhabits a wide range of forested habitats. Song is a sweet-sounding series of bouncing notes: “tsilikee-tsilikee-tsilikee!”
Common Woodshrike
Tephrodornis pondicerianus
A medium-sized woodshrike with grayish-brown upperparts, black facial mask, white rump, and gray tail with white outer tail feathers. Bill strongly hooked, dark grayish-brown in color. Underparts white. Similar to Malabar Woodshrike and Large Woodshrike, but generally found in drier forests; also note prominent white supercilium. Usually found in dry forested areas and shrublands. Bright, fast-paced song starts out with two strident “wheeet” notes, followed by a descending series of shorter notes. Calls vary, but usually sound like isolated fragments of song.
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