Common Scimitarbill
Rhinopomastus cyanomelas
An elongated matte-black bird with black legs and a slender, strongly-decurved black bill. Females and juveniles are browner on the front. In flight it has white tail tips and a single band of white towards the end of the wing. Avoids forest; singles or pairs are found in arid and broadleaved woodland, where they are found clambering around on trunks, probing for invertebrates, and often joining mixed-species flocks. It is most easily detected by its plaintive, whistled, three-noted “wheeep, wheeep, wheeep” call. The very similar Black Scimitarbill differs from tby having a shorter, less decurved bill and a shorter tail. Abyssinian Scimitarbill has an orange bill. Woodhoopoes are larger, with chunkier reddish bill, more social habits, and glossy iridescent plumage.
Identification
Adults are dark blue. As adults, their beaks are black but as juveniles, their beaks are grey.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Rhinopomastus cyanomelas
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1819)
- Order
- Bucerotiformes
- Family
- Phoeniculidae
- Genus
- Rhinopomastus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-bridled Finch
Melanodera melanodera
Handsome “finch” (actually a tanager); scarce and local on grassy Patagonian steppe, but fairly common locally on heathland in Falklands; also ranges to coastal dunes, mainly in winter. Found in pairs or small groups, feeding on the ground. Male is distinctive with a black throat framed in white and yellow wing and tail edgings; bright sulfur-yellow wings of mainland birds flash in flight while Falkland birds are dull-winged. Female is streaky overall and is best identified by habitat, company of males, and yellow edgings to wing and tail feathers. Compare with female Plumbeous Sierra-Finch and female Yellow-bridled Finch.
Taiga Flycatcher
Ficedula albicilla
Small brown flycatcher with a sharply contrasting black-and-white tail. Breeding male has an orange throat patch surrounded by a faint gray wash. Non-breeding male has darker flanks and far less orange on the throat. Female is cold brown above and dirty-white below. Red-breasted Flycatcher can be very similar; in Taiga, note restricted orange patch and gray throat wash in breeding male and overall colder coloration and darker bill. Voice also differs: Taiga has a more complex song comprised of whistles and trills, and a dry trill, faster than that of Red-breasted. Breeds in forested areas, favoring coniferous and mixed deciduous tracts with clearings and waterways. Winters in various wooded or shrubby habitats.
Black-throated Wren
Pheugopedius atrogularis
This distinctive wren is noticeably dark: all brown with a black throat and just a few thin white markings on the face. Sexes alike. Stays hidden in tangles at forest edge or second growth, especially around heliconia thickets; difficult to get a clear look at. Listen for loud, ringing song, with each phrase often including a short trill.
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