Yellow-billed Nunbird
Monasa flavirostris
Distinctive nunbird with a yellow bill and white shoulder patch. Occupies terra firme forest and forest edge, foraging in the canopy in viny areas and around tree fall gaps. In areas with bamboo, often found in dense bamboo thickets and emergent trees above bamboo. Usually forages in small groups, which give variable warbling songs, usually choppier than those of other nunbirds.
Identification
The yellow-billed nunbird is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long and weighs about 39 g (1.4 oz). The adult is mostly sooty black, with the belly tending to very dark gray and the tail being greenish black. The lesser wing coverts are mostly white and show as white spots on the closed wing. The bill is yellow and noticeably shorter than those of the other members of its genus. Its eye is dark and the feet blackish. Immatures are a slightly duller black than adults and the white areas are not as prominent.
Taxonomy
The yellow-billed nunbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Monasa flavirostris
- Authority
- Strickland, 1850
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Bucconidae
- Genus
- Monasa
Range and habitat
The yellow-billed nunbird is found in two areas of the upper Amazon Basin. One extends from southeastern Colombia through eastern Ecuador into northern Peru. The other includes eastern Peru, northern Bolivia, and western Brazil as far east as the upper Purus River. The species inhabits somewhat open landscapes such as transitional forest, secondary forest, the edges of terra firme forest, and regenerating clearings with scattered trees. It occurs from the understory to the subcanopy. In Colombia it is typically found in the Andean foothills at up to 1,400 m (4,600 ft) of elevation. In Ecuador is extends locally as high as 750 m (2,500 ft) but is usually below 400 m (1,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The yellow-billed nunbird's feeding behavior and diet have not been extensively studied. It appears to hunt by sallies from a high exposed perch, catching its prey in the air. Its diet is assumed to be mostly insects like those of other nunbirds.<p>Nothing has been documented of the yellow-billed nunbird's breeding phenology.<p>The yellow-billed nunbird's song "consists of full melodious lengthy phrases in choruses, typically including a frequently repeated 'wheekit-wheeyk, wheekit-wheeyk...'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Puerto Rican Euphonia
Chlorophonia sclateri
Endemic to Puerto Rico. A brilliantly colored, tiny, and active species of dense woodlands where it feeds at middle to upper levels, primarily on mistletoe berries. Sometimes joins mixed flocks. Easy to miss despite bright colors and flitting movements. Note small size, short tail, and small (though rather thick) bill. Male has a blue helmet, yellow underparts (including the throat), and a dark mask. Female is olive-green overall; note distinctive blue helmet and small yellowish forehead patch. Calls include a lively “beep” given singly or in series, a rapid “whip-ip,” a rough “djip,” and a plaintive “wheee.” Song is a rapid jumble of tinkling, squeaky, and whistled notes.
Papuan Whipbird
Androphobus viridis
A rare and little known, medium-sized bird of montane forests. Overall olive-green plumage with a longish tail which is often held cocked. Male has a black throat and chest with a white moustache stripe. Usually in pairs and very skulking. Similar to female Fan-tailed Berrypecker, but Papuan Whipbird lacks the paler belly, white in the tail, side streak and pale around the base of the bill. Voice, a rising whistle similar to a jewel-babbler, and a quiet scolding note.
Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet
Phylloscartes parkeri
Small yellowish tyrannulet with a narrow reddish facial patch. Usually perches horizontally in the mid-story and canopy of humid montane forest. Olive green above and olive yellow below, with a gray crown; also has thin yellow-green wingbars. Usually travels in pairs, which may be found in mixed-species flocks. Listen for its song, a hyperactive series of high, squeaky chip notes that rises and falls quickly, and its call, a high squeaky “pseet!” that is often doubled.
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