Square-tailed Sawwing
Psalidoprocne nitens
A locally common dark swallow, frequently seen above forest or along the forest edge, occasionally in more open habitats. Fairly uniform brownish-black with a unique, faintly green gloss to its plumage. Tail is short and mostly square with a slight notch. In Central Africa, overlaps with the very similar Forest Swallow, and not all individuals can be identified with certainty in the field, but in general Square-tailed Sawwing has a more flowing, swallow-like flight, a greenish gloss to the plumage, a relatively uniform appearance, and a different voice. Calls are a series of short, high-pitched squeaks and whistles.
Identification
It is dark green, almost black.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Psalidoprocne nitens
- Authority
- (Cassin, 1857)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hirundinidae
- Genus
- Psalidoprocne
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Black-headed Shrike-Babbler
Pteruthius rufiventer
Large-headed songbird with confusingly dissimilar male and female plumages. Male has an orange back, white throat, orangish belly, and a black head and wings. Female is green-winged and gray-headed, with a darker crown and triangular patch behind the ear. She shares the male’s warm-colored belly, but hers is more salmon-pink than orange-yellow. The species inhabits mature foothill forests, where it may often be seen with mixed-species foraging flocks.
Sooty Shrikethrush
Colluricincla tenebrosa
A little-known, medium-sized bird of mid-montane forest thickets. Overall deep, sooty-brown color. Perches for long periods, scanning for insects. Skulking and difficult to see. Similar to Black Pitohui, and somewhere between the color of the black male and brown female, but Sooty Shrikethrush is smaller. Similar size various species of the Little Shrike-Thrush complex, but darker and found at higher elevation. Voice is little known, but apparently gives a loud, metallic alarm call.
Chirruping Nightjar
Caprimulgus griseatus
Well-camouflaged nightbird, endemic to the Philippines. Inhabits open areas in grasslands, as well as scrubby forest edge and rocky river margins. Intricately patterned gray-brown, but without the white throat and tail-tips of Philippine Nightjar, and has a less contrasting wing pattern at rest. Listen for its song, a bright, rising “j’wee!”, averaging clearer and less buzzy than the song of the closely related Savanna Nightjar (under which Chirruping was once treated as a subspecies). Little-known Mindanao population may be a distinct taxa.
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