Red-collared Mountain-Babbler
Turdoides rufocinctus
Unusual babbler with a black cap and a rufous collar and rump. Also note the pale bill and eye. Found very locally in the canopy and mid-story of montane forest along the Albertine Rift. Usually in small and vocal groups, which sometimes join mixed-species feeding flocks. The call is a raspy chattering. Very similar to Chapin’s Babbler, but not known to overlap in range, and easily separated by its black cap.
Identification
Unusual babbler with a black cap and a rufous collar and rump. Also note the pale bill and eye. Found very locally in the canopy and mid-story of montane forest along the Albertine Rift. Usually in small and vocal groups, which sometimes join mixed-species feeding flocks. The call is a raspy chattering. Very similar to Chapin’s Babbler, but not known to overlap in range, and easily separated by its black cap.
Taxonomy
Genus: Turdoides; Family: Leiothrichidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Turdoides rufocinctus
- Authority
- (Rothschild, 1908)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Turdoides
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Athene cunicularia
Small, long-legged owl of open grassy habitats. Appears brown at a distance with irregular white spotting. Yellow eyes. Typically found on the ground or perched on low fence posts or rocks. Active during day and night when it hunts mainly for insects and small mammals. When agitated, it stands erect and abruptly bows down. Nests in a burrow, often dug by a prairie dog or tortoise.
Brown-banded Puffbird
Notharchus ordii
Large, black-and-white puffbird with a brown breast patch. In addition to its brown band, note the lack of a white eyebrow, present in other black-and-white puffbirds. Found mainly in forests with sandy or rocky soil, often with stunted vegetation. In some parts of its range, it is also found in mature upland rainforest. Its song is a long, rising series of whistles, followed by a slowly descending series of stuttered whistles “wi wi woo, wi wi woo, …”.
Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch
Sicalis uropygialis
Locally fairly common in the high Andes. Often in flocks, sometimes by the hundreds, and associates readily with other seed-eating birds. Feeds mainly on the ground, often on roadside gravel or in animal corrals. Distinctive in most of range, and distinguished readily from other yellow-finches by combination of silvery-gray cheeks and grayish back and flanks. The namesake bright rump is usually hidden and is a poor field mark. In Chile, Greenish Yellow-Finch occurs mainly at lower elevations.
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