Dalat Bush Warbler
Locustella idonea
Skulky and secretive speciality of the Kontum and Dalat Plateaus, in Vietnam’s central highlands. Like other Locustella warblers, much more easily heard than seen: listen for its buzzy, repetitive “bizee, bizee, bizee, bizee”, typically given from within a dense clump of grasses or shrubbery. A patient birder, with some luck, may be rewarded with a brief glimpse of this elusive and range-restricted songster in its tangled haunts--a drab brown bird with a white throat and weak eye-ring. Formerly regarded as a subspecies of Russet Bush Warbler (and under which it may be listed under older field guides).
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Locustella idonea
- Authority
- (Riley, 1940)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Locustellidae
- Genus
- Locustella
Photos
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Morotai White-eye
Zosterops dehaani
A tiny warbler-like songbird with a pale eye-ring, endemic to Morotai. Note black head, a broad white eye-ring, a pale forehead line, a pale patch between bill and eye, a gray back, and no yellow below. Singles, pairs, or groups inhabit forest, edge, and cultivated areas in lowlands and hills. Gives a high-pitched twittering song, characteristic of white-eyes.
Red-shouldered Blackbird
Agelaius assimilis
A mostly black inhabitant of swamps and marshes. The male has a telltale orange-red shoulder patch with pale yellow trim, which the female lacks. Both sexes of Tawny-shouldered Blackbird have a yellow-orange shoulder, though the shoulder color is sometimes only visible in flight. The Shiny Cowbird lacks a shoulder patch, is quite glossy, and has a shorter and stouter bill than Red-shouldered Blackbird. The call is a “chut” or “chut-chut” and song is a shrill “Shuh-reee-eee.”
Gray-breasted Spiderhunter
Arachnothera modesta
Olive-yellow above with a streaked gray breast and belly. Fainter streaking that does not reach all the way to the vent, a paler belly, and a longer, more decurved bill distinguish it from slightly larger Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter. Forages actively at low and middle levels of lowland and hill forest. Produces a squeaky “tshe-yee tshe-yee!”, like wet shoes squeaking on a smooth surface.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.