Whiskered Treeswift
Hemiprocne comata
Elongated white “whiskers” and brows give this elegant species the appearance of a wise old man. Long-tailed and long-winged, like a cross between a swift and a swallow. Glossy brownish-olive with glossy blue-black wings and head. Male has chestnut ear patches, while the female has bluish ones. Sallies from exposed perches in the canopy and along clearings in lowland and foothill wet forests. Gives squeaky, excited-sounding calls and high-pitched chattering.
Identification
medium, unique white elongated 'whiskers' above and below eye, shaggy crest, deeply forked tail, sexes similar. male lores black; 2 elongated white 'whiskers,' 1 above eye from forehead extending past nape; ear chestnut; rest of head and throat, tail, upper and underwing coverts, and primaries dark metallic blue; each secondary has a large white spot on inner web; back to uppertail coverts, breast and upper belly bronze olive; lower belly and undertail coverts white. female lacks chestnut ear. imm plumage not known. bill black; eye dark brown; legs purplish brown.<p>
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Hemiprocne comata
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1824)
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Hemiprocnidae
- Genus
- Hemiprocne
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Lemon-rumped Warbler
Phylloscopus chloronotus
Small leaf warbler with many extremely similar relatives. Like other “Pallas’s-type” leaf warblers, has olive-yellow upperparts, pale underparts, prominent brow and crown stripes, double wingbars, and a pale rump. Unlike Ashy-throated and Buff-barred Warblers, lacks any white on outer tail edges. Pallas’s averages yellower-headed and brighter overall. Gansu and Chinese Leaf Warblers can be incredibly similar, but Lemon-rumped averages whiter-browed and yellower-bellied than the former, more contrastingly-marked on the head than the latter, and darker-billed than both. As with many other physically similar leaf warblers, best distinguished by voice and habitat. Breeds in coniferous and mixed forests at mid- to high-elevation forests, though may descend into foothills in the winter. Two song types are both highly distinctive; one is a buzzy, descending rattling trill and the other is a series of high-pitched clicking twitters. Call is a loud, strident pair of notes: “pse-tew!”
White-fronted Plover
Anarhynchus marginatus
Plain, pale plover that is sandy on the back and white below. Preferred habitat is sandy beach, a habitat not favored by most other shorebirds, though also uses mudflats, riverbanks, and other wetlands. Generally common along the coast, and only occurs very locally inland. Smaller than sand-plovers in non-breeding plumage, with a white collar. Much smaller than Caspian Plover. Plainer face than Kittlitz’s Plover. Short, straight, thick plover bill separates White-fronted Plover from all sandpipers.
White-bellied Minivet
Pericrocotus erythropygius
A beautiful minivet inhabiting open, dry scrub and savanna with scattered acacia (Prosopis) growth. The male has a glossy black upper body, face, and neck. The breast region has a round orange patch, with the rest of the underparts white. The tail is black, with an orange rump and white markings on the wings. The plumage of the male of this bird is reminiscent of breeding male stonechats. The female is duller in appearance, with dark gray upperparts, black wings, a black tail, and dark black lores. The wings have white markings similar to the males’, and the rump is orange. The species usually moves in small groups, feeding mainly on insects.
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