Black-billed Hanging-Parrot
Loriculus bonapartei
A very small forest parrot endemic to the Sulu Archipelago. Overall green in color with a red forehead and rump, a dark bill, orange legs, and a small orange patch on the back of the head. Male has variable amounts of orange or red on the crown and a large orange chest patch, whereas the female has a bluish face. Note the long, pointed upper bill. Similar in length to Guaiabero, but longer-tailed and smaller-bodied. Voice includes a pulsing series of three or more notes: “tsik-tsik-tsik!”
Identification
It is 14 cm long. The front of the crown of the black-billed hanging parrot is red, turning to orange and yellow on the back of the crown. The tail is green above and blue below. Most of its feathers are bright green, its bill is black and its irises are brown.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Loriculus bonapartei
- Authority
- Souancé, 1856
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Loriculus
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Grace's Warbler
Setophaga graciae
A small gray warbler with a bright yellow throat and eyebrow. All plumages are very similar; immatures are slightly duller and browner. Occurs in pine forests from the southwest U.S. to Nicaragua. Usually stays high in the canopy. Listen for a choppy musical trill, often broken into two parts. Compare with “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler, which has yellow on the sides and rump no yellow eyebrow, and yellow restricted to the throat (not breast).
Belted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon
Stocky and large-headed with a shaggy crest. Bill is long, straight, thick, and pointed. Powder blue above with white underparts and blue breast band. Females have additional rusty band across belly. Almost always solitary, perched along edges of streams, lakes, and estuaries. Flies along rivers and shorelines giving loud rattling calls. Hunts for fish by plunging headfirst into the water, either directly from a perch or hovering.
Dovekie
Alle alle
Tiny waterbird, the size of an elongated grapefruit. In nonbreeding plumage, they are black above and white below with a black stripe on the side of the neck and a white comma behind eye. Short, stout bill. Horizontal posture like a football floating on the water. Dives frequently when feeding. In winter, only likely to be seen from land following the passage of a storm, otherwise stays well offshore. Found singly or in flocks. Much smaller than guillemots or puffins, with fast wingbeats and low, twisting flight that recalls a flock of sandpipers. Breeds in large numbers in Greenland and Europe; rare at alcid breeding colonies in Alaska. Birds in breeding plumage have an all-black head and chest.
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