Buru Flowerpecker
Dicaeum erythrothorax
A tiny, stub-tailed gray songbird. Has an entirely gray upperside, a bright white throat, and whitish underparts with extensively gray-washed flanks and a white tuft of feathers on the shoulder. Male shows a diagnostic red breast patch. Juvenile resembles a drab female with a pale-based bill. Pairs and singles inhabit canopy of forest and edge in lowland and foothills. Confined to Buru, where it is unmistakable, being the only flowerpecker. Call is a very high-pitched “sit-sit-sit…”. Song is a series of six “see-see-see-see-see-see” notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Dicaeum erythrothorax
- Authority
- Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1828
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicaeidae
- Genus
- Dicaeum
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Bamboo Warbler
Locustella alfredi
Mid-sized warbler with a long tail. Dark brown overall, with a white throat and pale eye-line. Found very locally in middle-elevation habitats with a dense ground cover, including bamboo, forest, marsh, and lush grassy areas. Rare species that is not often seen. Most likely to be detected and identified by its distinctive song: a ratcheting up-and-down “dee-ka dee-ka dee-ka…” series which can last for several seconds. Very similar to Evergreen-forest Warbler, and best distinguished by its different song.
Lesser Flamingo
Phoeniconaias minor
The smallest flamingo in the world, with a dark bill and red legs. Note glowing red eyes in adults. Juveniles are gray-brown and darker than young Greater Flamingos. Found in alkaline lakes and coastal lagoons, where gathers in huge flocks to eat microscopic blue-green algae. Breeds on remote flats sheltered from predators. Migrates and breeds in response to changing environmental conditions.
Gray-crowned Yellowthroat
Geothlypis poliocephala
Retiring, olive and yellow warbler of savannas and grassy fields with scattered bushes or low palmetto shrubs. Not in wet marshes, unlike Common Yellowthroat. Perches on bushes and fences to sing and call, when often cocks and twitches tail, and sometimes raises a bushy crest. Sexes look alike, with a grayish crown and small black mask between the eyes and bill; populations south to Honduras have white eye-arcs, lacking in populations of southern Central America.
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