Gray Silky-flycatcher
Ptiliogonys cinereus
Not a flycatcher, but related to Phainopepla, this elegant, long-tailed bird is fairly common but local in foothills and highlands. Typically perches upright, often on prominent perches. Usually seen in flocks at fruiting trees and shrubs or in flight high overhead, calling. Note the tufted crest, broken white eyering, and blue-gray (male) to dusky gray (female) plumage with variable yellow on the belly and under the tail, which, as seen from below, has a broad white band across the base.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ptiliogonys cinereus
- Authority
- Swainson, 1827
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ptilogonatidae
- Genus
- Ptiliogonys
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Riverbank Warbler
Myiothlypis rivularis
Brownish warbler with a strong vireo-like head pattern. Note the strong white eyebrow offset by a gray crown that is bordered with black. Largely olive-green above and buff below. The northern subspecies lacks the black border to the crown and has cinnamon-buff underparts and eyebrow. Usually seen foraging on the forest floor next to streams and rivers. The song is an ascending series of very loud whistles.
Serendib Scops-Owl
Otus thilohoffmanni
Very small rufescent owl, with yellow-orange eyes, and sparse, light speckles on the underparts. Although does not possess true ear tufts it can show “false” ones when alert. Occurs within extensive humid rainforests in the lowlands of Wet Zone of Sri Lanka. Roosts singly or in pairs in the understory, but also found in upper levels of trees at night. Combination of small size, all rufous color, lack of prominent facial border, and only limited markings below separates it from all other owls on Sri Lanka. Song is a short “woOLoo”, rising in the middle.
Plain Antvireo
Dysithamnus mentalis
Antvireos, as the name, suggests, resemble vireos, with rather heavy bills and shortish tails. This species inhabits open understory in humid forest of tropical lowlands and foothills. Usually found as sluggish singles or pairs, at times moving with mixed-species feeding flocks. Male has gray face and breast with a broad dark mask. Female has rusty cap and plain face and breast with a whitish eyering.
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