Black-banded Fruit-Dove
Ptilinopus alligator
Very large black-and-white forest pigeon, found as singles or small groups in large fruiting trees beside sandstone escarpments in the Kakadu National Park region of the Northern Territory. Generally hard to find. Yellowish-white head and chest, black breast band, gray belly, dark gray back and wings, and pale tip to blackish tail. Compare Torresian Imperial-Pigeon, an almost entirely white bird, with the exception of black outer wing and black tail tip. Loud, slow, repeated booming call.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ptilinopus alligator
- Authority
- Collett, 1898
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Ptilinopus
Range and habitat
The species is endemic to Australia, where it is restricted to the western edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment. Patches of monsoonal rainforest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Caracas Tapaculo
Scytalopus caracae
A typical tapaculo, in bad light a plain and dark small bird with short tail. In good view, mostly plain dark gray with brown and slightly barred belly. Female more barred than male, and juvenile mostly brown and markedly barred. Acts like a mouse, staying near the ground in dense understory of bamboo thickets in cloud forest. Song nasal and noisy, one of the signature sounds in the mountains near Caracas; one version a series of four notes “wu-E-e-wu” and the another a faster series of 6 notes “wu-wU-e-e-wu-wu”; varied calls, the most common a descending mechanical rattle. The only tapaculo in its limited range in the Coastal Cordillera of Venezuela.
Sri Lanka Bay-Owl
Phodilus assimilis
Small owl with immense dark eyes. Uncommon, strictly nocturnal, and very rarely seen. Listen for its odd squeaky whistles, “weeYEWWaweew,” delivered in series. Unmistakable if seen well: note heart-shaped face, richly-colored warm brown upperparts, and relatively clean underparts. A species of dense wet forests with thick undergrowth from lowlands up into hilly and montane areas.
Golden-shouldered Parrot
Psephotellus chrysopterygius
Slender, long-tailed parrot restricted to a tiny range in tropical savanna woodland in far northern Queensland. Male a striking turquoise color, with red lower belly, tiny black cap, and yellow forecrown. Wings pale grayish brown with yellow band. Female primarily green with turquoise wash on face and underparts. This species digs tunnels in termite mounds in order to breed.
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