White-bellied Whistler
Pachycephala leucogastra
A chunky, thick-billed sparrow-sized songbird. Male is uniform gray above with a black head and a conspicuous white throat patch bordered below by a thick black chest band. Underparts are dull whitish. Female lacks black on head. Juvenile resembles a browner female, but is boldly streaked below. Singles and pairs can be found in upper levels of savanna woodlands, mangroves, and plantations. Differs from Black-headed Whistler in having a clear-cut white throat. Song is a slurred “soooweet” or “weet-weet-weet…” ending with either a whipping note, or a short jumble of strident notes.
Taxonomy
The name 'white-bellied whistler' is also used as an alternate name for the mangrove whistler, white-vented whistler, rufous whistler and the white-breasted whistler.<p>Two subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Pachycephala leucogastra
- Authority
- Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pachycephalidae
- Genus
- Pachycephala
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Macrosphenus concolor
A small, unusual warbler of forests that joins mixed-species flocks as it searches along vines and vegetation for food. Uniformly gray-green all over. Tail is short but extends past the wingtips, unlike a crombec’s; bill is long and straight. Song is a distinctive, rapid, repetitive “toWHEtoWHURtoWHEtoWHUR...” given in bouts of varying length.
Spot-flanked Gallinule
Porphyriops melanops
Small marsh bird with a disjunct range in South America, from central Colombia to eastern Brazil to central Chile. Note gray head and breast, warm brown upperparts, and brown flanks with white spots. Its greenish bill is distinctive. Singles or pairs can be seen swimming or walking in marshy habitat at the edge of lakes or ponds, sometimes remaining quite hidden. Unlikely to be confused, but compare with juvenile Common Gallinule, which has a dingy bill and a bold white stripe on the flanks.
Purple Grenadier
Granatina ianthinogaster
A distinctive and attractive waxbill with a deep-blue tail and a red bill. Males are more colorful, with a purple belly, a rufous hood, and purple and red around the eye. Females are mostly rufous with pale blue patches above and below the eye. Found in a variety of savanna and woodland habitats, often in small flocks, sometimes mixed with other species. Gives high-pitched squeaking and rattling calls and a lisping, whistled song.
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