Blue-winged Minla
Actinodura cyanouroptera
A brightly colored bird of lowland and foothill forests. Usually travels in large groups, and is often a chief component of mixed-species feeding flocks. Adult is a powdery gray-blue overall with blue highlights on the wings and tail. The face and sides are tinged soft gray-brown. Varies considerably over range; birds in southern Southeast Asian portion of range are very gray, lacking bright colors. Sexes alike. Acrobatic, often hanging upside down on branches to probe for invertebrates and fruit hidden by foliage. Listen for its high-pitched paired whistles: “dwweeee-deeee.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Actinodura cyanouroptera
- Authority
- (Hodgson, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Actinodura
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Coppery-headed Emerald
Microchera cupreiceps
Small hummingbird with obviously decurved bill. Male mostly glittering green with coppery crown and bright white outer tail feathers; female similar but with white underparts. Bill shape and white outer tail feathers are enough for identification. Found in forests and edges, usually singly but males sometimes gather to display.
Transvolcanic Jay
Aphelocoma ultramarina
Rather large, blue-and-gray jay of highland pine and pine-oak forest endemic to highlands of central Mexico; occurs in transvolcanic belt from Volcánes de Colima in the west to Volcán Orizaba in the east. Typically travels in wide-ranging flocks of 5–25 birds, mainly at middle to upper levels in trees. Appreciably larger and broader-winged than Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, with plainer plumage (lacks dark mask, whitish eyebrow, and partial dark collar of Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay). Noisy calls carry well.
Buff-throated Woodcreeper
Xiphorhynchus guttatus
Large, widespread woodcreeper in lowland forest and forest edge. Buff throat is often difficult to see. More easily identified by its reddish brown coloration, buffy streaking on head and breast, and heavy, relatively long bill. Often found around human habitations with forest edge, but also common in more mature forest. Very vocal, heard more often than seen; listen for a long rising-falling series of rich “chew” notes. The most common woodcreeper over most of its range.
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