Brown-rumped Seedeater
Crithagra tristriata
A plain seedeater of the Abyssinian highlands. Note the gray-brown back, the paler underparts, the white eyebrow, and the small white throat. Generally common in a variety of montane habitats including forest edge, woodland, scrub, and gardens. Similar in overall coloration to Reichard’s and Streaky Seedeaters, but easily separated by the plain unstreaked underparts. The simple song consists of repeated scratchy whistles.
Identification
Length 13 cm. This is a drab uniform grey-brown canary with a small white supercilium. It has a plain (not streaked or spotted) breast with white under the chin. The uniformity of its drabness means its eponymous 'brown rump' is often not apparent.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Crithagra tristriata
- Authority
- (Rüppell, 1840)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Crithagra
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Tristan Thrush
Turdus eremita
A robust, variably plumaged dark thrush with orange and buff markings and blotchy brown streaks. Juvenile has buff fringes to its feathers. The only medium-sized songbird within its range. Singles and pairs are fairly common endemic residents on islands within the Tristan group in the south Atlantic, but rare on Tristan da Cunha itself due to introduced rats. A generalist predator and scavenger occupying heath, tussock grassland, and shorelines. Gives a short high-pitched chipping “ttslit” and a simple wheezy song.
Spectacled Prickletail
Siptornis striaticollis
Small, brown bird of Andean cloud forest. Quite rare and apparently absent from many areas of seemingly appropriate forest. It has faint, pale streaking on the breast, a partial eye-ring, and a short white stripe behind the eye. Similar to Streaked Xenops, but bill is not upturned and lacks “whisker” stripes. Creeps along branches in middle levels of the forest, and often follows mixed-species flocks. Song is a quick series of high-pitched “tick” notes.
Blackish-gray Antshrike
Thamnophilus nigrocinereus
A fairly large antshrike of riparian zones with lots of regional variation in plumage. Males are dark gray above, paler below, with white wing bars (not spots); the northwest subspecies is gray with a black cap. Females are rusty with a dark-gray hood. Found in seasonally flooded forests, river island forests, and mangroves. Forages close to the ground and sometimes accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is an accelerating series of whistled descending notes.
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