Comoro Black Parrot
Coracopsis sibilans
Fairly large, black parrot that is found in humid forest, and sometimes in adjacent plantations. Often seen in flight, sometimes in small, loose flocks. Incredibly loud calls consist mainly of musical whistles, often given in long up-and-down series. Can be very hard to separate from Greater Vasa Parrot, but smaller and smaller-billed, with a curving edge to the skin at the back of the bill. Vocalizations are higher-pitched and more musical than those of Greater Vasa Parrot. Can easily be mistaken for a raptor in flight, but has all-black plumage unlike any raptor in range.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Coracopsis sibilans
- Authority
- Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1885
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Coracopsis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Tahiti Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus caffer
A large, slender warbler with a disproportionately long bill, short wings, and a long tail. Face and eyebrow yellowish-buff with a dark eye-stripe and a pale throat. Upper body and wings mostly dark with pale edges to feathers, giving a messy mottled appearance. Some birds are much paler, often almost entirely white with some mottling. An entirely dark sooty morph occurs. Found in riverine and hillside forest with stands of bamboo up to 600 meters of elevation. Song is a long, slow sequence of warbled phrases and “churr” notes. Calls include harsh churring and “tchak” notes.
South American Painted-Snipe
Nycticryphes semicollaris
Distinctive and attractive, but a rarely seen denizen of fresh and brackish wetlands, especially with shallow water and low to knee-high grasses; also found on lakeshores with taller reeds and rushes. Occasionally seen feeding quietly at edge of vegetation, but mostly seen when flushed from close range. Flies up silently with stiff flicking wingbeats and brief glides, long legs trailing, and drops back to cover usually not far away. Note bold white spots on wings and droop-tipped bill. Related to jacanas, not closely related to the typical snipe.
Ochre-rumped Antbird
Drymophila ochropyga
Medium-sized antbird with a long tail. Found in the understory of montane forests with bamboo. Note the white-tipped black tail with a rufous-orange rump and vent. Males have a black crown and a well-marked face with a black line running through the eyes, a long white eyebrow, and a heavily streaked breast. Females are duller with a buff streaked crown and a gray-brown back.
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