Fuerteventura Stonechat
Saxicola dacotiae
Only found on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, where generally seen perched on tops of bushes and fences in open country; favors dry river beds. Similar in size and shape to European Stonechat, but males are paler with a white eyebrow and throat and a dark tail and rump. Females are very pale with a dark rump and tail. Song is a short but very melodic jumble of up-and-down whistles and short trills; call is a dry “trk trk.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Saxicola dacotiae
- Authority
- (Meade-Waldo, 1889)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Saxicola
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Saltator nigriceps
Handsome gray-and-black cloud forest bird with a stout orange bill. It has a very restricted range in the Andes of northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador. The all-black hood without any white markings separates it from Golden-billed Saltator. Usually seen high in the forest canopy, where it frequently gives loud, ringing calls that can be heard over large distances.
Sunda Scops-Owl
Otus lempiji
Small brown owl with large dark eyes and small, soft-looking ear tufts. Dark brown, almost black, eyes separate it from otherwise similar species such as Mountain and Rajah scops-owls. Reddish Scops-Owl is also dark-eyed, but it is darker-faced and tinged with rufous overall. Like most other small scops-owls, Sunda is more readily heard than seen: it gives yelping hoots at widely-spaced intervals. Relatively tolerant of human habitation; often encountered in gardens, plantations, and parks, as well as forests.
Goliath Heron
Ardea goliath
This enormous heron stands 1.5 meters tall and has a robust, dagger-like bill. The immature has rustier upperwings than the adult. Its flight is ponderous and labored. Goliath Heron inhabits large rivers, marshes, estuaries, and mangroves, hunting for large fish and other animals, stabbing them with an open bill. It has a distinct, barking “kowoork” call that can be heard from up to 2 km away. Purple Heron has similar plumage, but Goliath Heron is twice the size, has a much larger bill, and has a rufous (not blackish) top of the head.
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