Common Tody-Flycatcher
Todirostrum cinereum
Tiny, somewhat warbler-like flycatcher of tropical lowlands. Has a long and rather broad bill for such a small bird. Favors open and semi-open areas with scattered trees, bushes, hedgerows, and scrub. Often found in pairs, flitting actively and holding its tail cocked. Note the black mask, setting off the whitish eyes, and the white-tipped tail.
Identification
The common tody-flycatcher is a tiny, big-headed bird, 9.5–10.2 cm (3.7–4.0 in) long, weighing 6.5–6.8 g (0.23–0.24 oz), and with a long, flattened, straight black bill. The upper head is black, shading to dark grey on the nape and dark olive-green on the rest of the upperparts. The usually cocked tail is black with white tips, and the wings are blackish with two yellow wing bars and yellow edging to the feathers. The underparts are entirely yellow. Sexes are similar, but young birds have a greyer upper head, buff wing markings, and paler underparts.<p>Males of this species have a rapid grasshopper-like ticking te’e’e’e’e’e’t call something like a tropical kingbird, and a dawn song consisting of a very fast high tic repeated up to 110 times a minute for minutes on end.
Taxonomy
The common tody-flycatcher was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Todus cinereus. Linnaeus based his description on the "Grey and Yellow Fly-catcher" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by George Edwards from a specimen collected in Suriname. The specific epithet cinereum is from Latin cinereus meaning "ash-grey". The common tody-flycatcher is now the type species of the genus Todirostrum that was introduced by René Lesson in 1831.<p>Eight subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Todirostrum cinereum
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Todirostrum
Range and habitat
It is a very common inhabitant in gardens, shady plantations, second growth and the edges and clearings of forest, although it avoids the dense interior of mature woodland and also arid areas. The common tody-flycatcher is usually seen in pairs, making rapid dashing sallies or hovering to pick small arthropods off the vegetation. It often wags its tail as it moves sideways along branches.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It breeds from sea level to 1,150 m (3,770 ft) altitude, locally to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). Both male and female birds build a pouch nest with a visored side entrance, which is usually suspended from a thin branch or vine 1–5 m (3.3–16.4 ft) high in a tree, though occasionally it can go up to 30 m (98 ft). The female incubates the two usually unspotted white eggs for the 15–16 days prior to hatching.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-naped Oriole
Oriolus chinensis
Typical yellow and black Old World oriole. Male entirely golden-yellow apart from black wings and tail and a broad black band through the eyes. The tail and wings have yellow tips. The bill is deep pinkish. Female similar to the male but with more yellowish-green upperparts. Juveniles show streaked underparts. Found in a variety of forest habitats, including plantations and gardens; forages in forest canopy.
Rinjani Scops-Owl
Otus jolandae
A small brown owl with feathered ear tufts and yellow eyes, restricted to Lombok. Mostly brown with scattered white and pale markings on wings, sparsely streaked underparts, and a clear “double” facial disk with both blackish and white borders. Found in various forests and plantations in the lowlands and foothills. Distinctive: the only small owl on Lombok, and the only owl there with ear tufts. Gives a single note song, “woot,” ascending slightly at the end.
Audouin's Gull
Ichthyaetus audouinii
Elegant slim gull with long legs, and narrow wings. Adults have a light grey body with a paler white head. The wings are light gray with black tips, lacking conspicuous white spots. Legs are dark gray and the bill is dark red. Eyes are dark. Juveniles are similar to Lesser Black-backed Gull, with strongly barred underwings and a U-shaped white rump patch and dark tail. In their 1st winter they develop a gray-brown mantle and in their second winter the head is already white; the tail and secondaries have a black band.
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