Malagasy Bulbul
Hypsipetes madagascariensis
Medium-sized gray bird with a black cap and carrot-colored bill. Found in virtually all habitats with a woody component, including forest, scrub, villages, and plantations. Often in groups, and occasionally joins mixed feeding flocks with other bird species. Vocal bird that frequently gives a whining call and a long rattling song. Similar in size to Madagascar Cuckooshrike, but has an orange bill and a black cap rather than a dark hood. Gray underparts separate Malagasy Bulbul from all vangas.
Identification
The Malagasy bulbul (Hypsipetes madagascariensis) is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on Madagascar and other regional islands in the south-western Indian Ocean.
Taxonomy
The Malagasy bulbul was originally described in the genus Turdus. Alternative names for the Malagasy bulbul include the black bulbul, Madagascar black bulbul, and Madagascar bulbul. The alternate name 'black bulbul' should not be confused with the species of the same name, Hypsipetes leucocephalus, with which it was formerly considered as conspecific.<p>Three subspecies are currently recognized:
- Scientific name
- Hypsipetes madagascariensis
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pycnonotidae
- Genus
- Hypsipetes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Northern Pied-Babbler
Turdoides hypoleuca
A boldly marked babbler with gray-brown upperparts and mostly white underparts. Also note the pale eye and variable gray-brown blotching on the sides and on the breast. Found in woodland, thickets, and lush scrub, almost always in small groups which forage by hopping across the ground. Similar in shape and size to other babblers, but easily separated by the strikingly light-and-dark plumage. Nasal babbling call is frequently given, usually by a whole group in chorus.
Bicolored Hawk
Astur bicolor
Widespread but uncommon forest hawk of tropical America. Adults are mostly gray, darker on crown and upperparts, with two pale tail bands and rufous thighs that are often hidden from view. Belly is tinged rufous and faintly barred in the southern part of its range. Immature looks remarkably like a forest-falcon, but note its yellow eye and lack of dark crescent on face. Overlaps with the similar Rufous-thighed Kite in parts of South America. Bicolored Hawk is larger, lacks a vertical stripe on the throat, usually stays inside forest, and almost never soars. Feeds mainly on birds and is generally quiet and elusive. Birds from central and southern Chile as well as adjacent parts of Argentina are now considered a separate species, Chilean Hawk.
Yellow Bittern
Botaurus sinensis
Very small heron of marshy, well-vegetated water bodies. Adult pale orangish brown or yellow, depending on the light, with a narrow dark cap. Juvenile darker above with pale feather edges. Can be inconspicuous in dense vegetation, but frequently makes short flights; on flying birds, note dark flight feathers contrasting with pale yellowish wing coverts. Typically quiet, but occasionally gives harsh grating calls when flushed.
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