Common Green-Magpie
Cissa chinensis
A neon-colored, noisy, highly social bird of lowland and mid-altitude subtropical forests. Surprisingly difficult to spot as it glides from tree to tree in the middle and upper levels of the forest. Memorable if seen well: bright green with chestnut-tipped wings, a black mask, and a coral-red bill. Similar Indochinese Green-Magpie is yellower-toned and paler-eyed, and lacks the black-and-white “lattice” of feathers on the rear tip of the wings. Gives a series of piercing shrieks followed by a hollow and decisive-sounding “chup” note.
Taxonomy
The common green magpie was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1775 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Coracias chinensis in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. Buffon believed that his specimen had come from China but the species only occurs in the extreme south of the country. The type locality was redesignated in 1952 by the German ornithologist Erwin Stresemann as Mergui, Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar.<p>The common green magpie is now one of four species that are placed in the genus Cissa that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the common green magpie as the type species. The generic name is from the Ancient Greek kissa meaning a "jay" or "magpie". The specific epithet chinensis was chosen by Boddaert in the mistaken belief that the specimen illustrated by Martinet had come from China.<p>Five subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cissa chinensis
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Cissa
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Negros Scops-Owl
Otus nigrorum
A fairly small owl of lowland and foothill forest on the islands of Negros and Panay, where it is the only scops-owl. Dark brown above and pale gray below, with a rufous face bordered with a black line and a pale gray V-shape between the eyes. Occurs together with Luzon Boobook, but Negros Scops-Owl has orange rather than yellow eyes and lacks the brown-streaked chest. Song is a descending series of upslurred yelps.
Barking Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula latrans
A large, long-necked, long-tailed pigeon. Body and tail brown, head and neck gray, throat and chest peachy pink. Usually solitary on large and medium islands in extensive mature forest. Similar in shape to Pacific Imperial-Pigeon, but has a gray body and green wings and is generally found on smaller islands. Most common call is an owl-like “whu!..whu!..whu!..whu!”
White-eyed Gull
Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus
A unique medium-sized, lightly-built gull, confined to the Red Sea. Upperparts dark brown or gray. The bill is long, slender, and slightly downcurved. Adults have black hood with a prominent white eyering. Young birds are browner with a paler head. Compared to the similar-looking Sooty Gull it is smaller and more delicate with a thinner all-dark bill, and lacks the two-toned bill pattern. Breeds on remote islands and coral reefs; mainly coastal.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.