Bare-throated Whistler
Pachycephala nudigula
A chunky, thick-billed songbird. Unmistakable male is olive-green above with yellow-tinged underparts, a jet black hood, and a diagnostic patch of loose bare red skin on throat. Dull female has a gray head, an olive back, a yellow underside, and a white throat. Juvenile resembles female, but has a yellow throat. Found singly in hill and montane forest in the Lesser Sundas. Female can be separated from female Rusty-breasted Whistler by the olive upperparts, solid yellow underparts, lack of any pink on the breast, and indistinct pale eye-ring. Loud, powerful song consists of strident whistled notes and includes imitations of crows, orioles, and other bird species. Highly variable sounds also include a car alarm-like “WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO.”
Taxonomy
Alternate names for the bare-throated whistler include the Lesser Sunda whistler and Sunda whistler. The latter name is shared with the fawn-breasted whistler.<p>Two subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Pachycephala nudigula
- Authority
- Hartert, EJO, 1897
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pachycephalidae
- Genus
- Pachycephala
Range and habitat
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-eared Spiderhunter
Arachnothera chrysogenys
Large spiderhunter with yellow eyerings and a similarly-colored tuft on the cheek. Bill is bicolored: pinkish at the base and darker towards the tip. Faint streaking on the throat, slightly longer and more slender bill, larger yellow ear tuft, and slightly narrower eyerings help distinguish it from similar Spectacled Spiderhunter. Forages in upper levels of lowland, foothill, and montane forests. Gives rather dry papery chittering.
Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo
Large cormorant found nearly worldwide. Note large size, white patch on throat, and lack of crest. Breeding adults show circular white patch on flanks. Immatures typically have contrasting white belly; African "White-breasted" also has extensive white underparts in all plumages. Often spotted standing on rocks or pilings. Dives frequently, feeding on fish. Found in many types of water bodies, ranging from rivers to reservoirs to marine environments; in North America, restricted to coastal North Atlantic.
Cactus Canastero
Pseudasthenes cactorum
Drab brownish-gray bird found only on arid Andean slopes and coastal hills in western Peru. Lacks strong field marks, but note the orange chin, faint eyebrow, and small amount of chestnut in wings and tail. It is paler and browner than Canyon Canastero. Very similar to Cordilleran Canastero, but with a very different habitat preference and song. Found in sparsely vegetated areas with columnar cacti, in which it nests. Frequently cocks its tail up. Typical song is a very fast trill that turns into a slower rattle at the end.
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