Black-winged Cuckooshrike
Lalage melaschistos
An overall sooty-colored cuckooshrike with broad white tips to the tail feathers. Male is dark sooty-gray with a slaty sheen, slightly paler on rump. Underparts paler toward tail; wings black. Female is very similar to male, but paler in general, often weakly barred with dark and pale gray on underparts. Male has a black mask, while female has dark lores and a faint eyering. Juvenile is blackish-brown above and brownish-gray below, heavily scaled whitish all over, with broad white tips on wing feathers. Immature like female, but more strongly and extensively barred below. Song is a loud series of whistles “pe-pe-pe-peew-peew-pew”; sometimes the starting notes are skipped. Found in all types of woodlands, including broad-leaved forests, sometimes even near cultivation during non-breeding season.
Identification
A medium-sized, dark cuckoo-shrike with unbarred, grey underparts.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Lalage melaschistos
- Authority
- (Hodgson, 1836)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Campephagidae
- Genus
- Lalage
Range and habitat
They breed in summer in mountains from 300–2450 meters and migrate altitudinally or south in winter. It is distributed from Northeast Pakistan through the lower Himalayan region (Uttarakhand, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh and into the hills of NE Myanmar continuing to China and Southeast Asia. It winters in the foothills, occasionally longer distances south west to northern parts of peninsular India and east to Orissa, Bengal and Bangladesh, but may travel as far south as Kerala).<p>Habitat: Breeds in deciduous and broad-leaved evergreen forest but winters in open forest, groves, singly or in pairs. They are also known to join mixed feeding parties. Their diet consists mainly of caterpillars, beetles and other bugs.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Okinawa Robin
Larvivora namiyei
Endemic resident of shady subtropical broadleaf forest understorey on the main island of Okinawa. Forages on the ground and often seen at the forest edge. Rufous-orange upperparts with grayish-white belly. Male has a black face and chest. Similar to the migratory Ryukyu Robin but male lacks the blackish flank patches and black forehead of that species. Female lacks black spotting on the chest of female Ryukyu Robin. Song is an up-and-down whistled melody. Call is a dry rattle, accompanied by wing and tail flicks.
Hooded Siskin
Spinus magellanicus
Strikingly beautiful siskin found in woodland and grassland with scattered trees and usually highly gregarious; also sometimes associates with mixed-species flocks. Males have a black hood, wings, and tail, and are olive-yellow above and bright yellow below with large yellow wing patches. Females are duller and lack the black hood. The song is a long series of fast and squeaky notes; sometimes many males sing together.
Green-backed Honeyeater
Glycichaera fallax
Tiny honeyeater found in wetter forests in New Guinea and northern Cape York. Mostly plain olive-green above, yellow below; adult has pale eye and eyering (juvenile has dark eye) and pale blue-gray legs. Compare Fairy Gerygone (with dark eye, shorter black bill). Usually observed feeding in the leafy canopy alone or in small parties. Calls include a repeated "pee pee pee pee pee."
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