Fawn-breasted Whistler
Pachycephala orpheus
A nondescript thick-billed, sparrow-sized songbird. Uniform grayish-brown above and paler below, with a white throat and dull pale underparts. Juveniles have pale bills and a faintly streaked breast. Singles, pairs, or family groups can be found in forest, scrub, or mangroves in the lowlands and hills. Confined to the eastern Lesser Sundas. Smaller and notably smaller-billed than female Yellow-throated Whisler, and lacks throat streaking of female Wallacean Whistler. Song consists of loud whistles increasing in volume, such as “pi-pi-pi-pi-CHWEE” or “doo-doo-doo…DEE.” Also gives “swee” notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Pachycephala orpheus
- Authority
- Jardine, 1849
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pachycephalidae
- Genus
- Pachycephala
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Red-backed Fairywren
Malurus melanocephalus
A small bird with a long tail that is held cocked. Breeding males are mostly black with red back and rump. Nonbreeding males and females are extremely similar—both are pale brownish birds with brown tails. Their plumage has a warmer, browner tone than female Superb Fairywren. Red-backed Fairywrens are found in grasslands, swamps, and areas with long grass around tropical northern Australia and around the east coast into northern New South Wales.
Nicobar Hooded Pitta
Pitta abbotti
Endemic to Great and Little Nicobar Islands, where it inhabits lush forests. A jewel of a bird, with an emerald-green body, black head, scarlet lower belly, and chestnut crown. Like other pittas, forages on the forest floor, where it can be difficult to see. Listen for its song, a series of three to four barking notes. Formerly grouped together with several other closely related species as “Hooded Pitta.”
Galapagos Shearwater
Puffinus subalaris
Very small black-and-white shearwater of warm tropical waters. Can be seen from shore off the coast of Oaxaca. Often in flocks, sometimes of thousands, resting on the water and in feeding flocks with Brown Boobies, Black Terns, and other shearwaters. Flight quick and low, with hurried wingbeats and only short glides. Smaller and shorter-winged than Black-vented Shearwater and rare Townsend’s Shearwater. Black-vented has messier brown colors on the side of its head, without distinct dark cap of Galapagos. Townsend’s is blacker above with white patches (saddlebags) at sides of rump.
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