Rufous-sided Honeyeater

Ptiloprora erythropleura

A medium-sized honeyeater of montane forest in western New Guinea. Dark gray-brown back and wings with pale rufous edges to the flight feathers, gray face and chest with deep rufous flanks. Faint streaking overall, strongest on the head. Similar to Gray-streaked but Rufous-sided is smaller with less distinct streaking and red rather than gray eyes. Call, a mournful, whistled up-and-down “wiiiiuuuu” or down-up-down “piiuuweew”.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Ptiloprora erythropleura
Authority
(Salvadori, 1876)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Meliphagidae
Genus
Ptiloprora

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

Other Birds

Alagoas Antwren

Alagoas Antwren

Myrmotherula snowi

Very rare antwren, unmistakable in its tiny range, likely now restricted to one complex of humid forest fragments in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Males are gray with a blackish throat and females are cinnamon-colored. Forages in the understory and middle levels of the forest, usually accompanying remnant mixed-species flocks. The song is a high sharp series of whistles.

Spectacled Spiderhunter

Spectacled Spiderhunter

Arachnothera flavigaster

Large spiderhunter with thick yellow eyerings, a yellow ear tuft, and a long decurved bill. Yellow eyering and cheek splotch serve to distinguish it from most other spiderhunters. Yellow-eared Spiderhunter is very similar but noticeably smaller, with a narrower eyering, faint streaking on the breast (versus plain), and a slightly longer, more slender bill. Found in lowland and foothill forests, where it forages actively in the upper levels. Calls include harsh chip notes.

Red-billed Ground-Cuckoo

Red-billed Ground-Cuckoo

Neomorphus pucheranii

Impressive roadrunner-like cuckoo found in Amazonian rainforest. Large and long-tailed, with a red bill tipped with yellow and a red face. Upperparts are bronzy green with chestnut wings and a black cap, and underparts are mostly gray with a black breast band (indistinct on some birds) and faint barring on the throat. Distinguished from Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo by Red-billed’s mostly red bill, red face, completely black crown, and chestnut wings. Rarely encountered and poorly known, but like other ground-cuckoos it is terrestrial and most likely to be encountered when following swarms of army ants. Song is a very low, rising “who?” that is repeated every few seconds; also gives loud bill snaps.

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