Black Scrub-Robin
Cercotrichas podobe
A unique and unmistakable passerine. Large and dark with a magnificent white-patterned tail that it often holds up. Spends much time on the ground or on low branches. In flight shows a rusty wing pattern. Favors dense scrub in arid zones. Variable song is sweet and melodious, often including trills and rattles. Calls include a pleasant, descending “jweeee” and chattering notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cercotrichas podobe
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Cercotrichas
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- AF : w Africa to Arabian Pen.
- Non-breeding range
- Arabia
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner
Syndactyla ruficollis
Relatively brightly-colored foliage-gleaner restricted to mountains and hills of southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It has an orange nape and sides of neck, a cinnamon tail, buffy eyebrow and throat, and buffy streaks on the underparts. Sexes look alike. Found in both dry and humid forest, including areas with abundant bamboo, and typically seen at lower to middle levels. Song is a harsh, scratchy “bouncing ball” series. Threatened by habitat loss.
Sooty Barbet
Caloramphus hayii
Earth-toned bird with a large, powerful bill. Dark brown above and white below with a rusty-orange head and chest; the only predominantly brown barbet in its range. Inhabits both primary and secondary forests, occasionally venturing into edge habitats. Unlike other barbets, does not have a loud rollicking song; instead, listen for its high thin “tseep” notes, often given in series.
Blue-black Grassquit
Volatinia jacarina
Fairly common little bird of weedy and brushy fields, farmland, and other open grassy areas in tropical lowlands and foothills. Note the very small size, brown plumage, and streaky breast, plus the pointed conical bill. Male’s blue-black breeding plumage is worn only in the summer wet season; molting birds and immatures are patchy blue-black and brown. In song display, male leaps into the air from grass stalk or fence, uttering a short buzzy phrase, repeated over and over.
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