Yellow-breasted Bowerbird
Chlamydera lauterbachi
A rather drab bowerbird of forest edge and cultivation from the lowlands to the mid-mountains. Olive-brown back and wings with pale-edged feathers giving a scaled effect. Yellow belly, streaky throat and face. Makes a unique 4-walled bower. Similar to Fawn-breasted Bowbird, but Yellow-breasted Bowerbird has a yellow rather than buffy belly and an unstreaked crown. Call, a loud, downward “kyew!”.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Chlamydera lauterbachi
- Authority
- Reichenow, 1897
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ptilonorhynchidae
- Genus
- Chlamydera
Range and habitat
The yellow-breasted bowerbird is distributed on mainland New Guinea, where it inhabits grasslands, lowlands, and subtropical mountain forests. Its diet mainly consists of fruits, caterpillars, beetles, and other insects. The nest is a shallow cup made of small sticks located in a tree. The bower itself is of the "avenue" type, with four walls made of sticks and an outward-angled main avenue wall.<p>The scientific name commemorates its discoverer, the German botanist Carl Lauterbach. He discovered this bowerbird in 1896.<p>Widespread and a common species throughout its habitat range, the yellow-breasted bowerbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Flat-billed Vireo
Vireo nanus
A small, slow-moving species that prefers dry brush and scrublands where it typically feeds low and sometimes even on the ground; sometimes found at higher elevations where it can be found feeding in or near the canopy in vine tangles. The Flat-billed Vireo is a relatively plain species, with bold white wingbars, and whitish eyes. The Greater Antillean Elaenia has a smaller more pointed bill, darker eyes, and is usually found perched upright or flycatching. Flat-billed Vireos sing a “we-we-we-we-we…,” typically in a series of six to ten notes given at a rate of about seven per second, but sometimes given more rapidly at about twelve notes per second. Calls include a staccato ratcheting given by agitated birds.
Mindanao Lorikeet
Trichoglossus johnstoniae
An uncommon, medium-sized, rather long-tailed parrot of montane forest on Mindanao. Makes daily altitudinal movements. Deep green above and yellowish-green below with green scaling, a red face, a reddish-orange bill, and a black line through the eye and around the back of the head. Overlaps with Mindanao and Blue-crowned Racquet-tails but is smaller, with a reddish face and bill. Voice consists of shrill, high-pitched shrieks.
Purple Indigobird
Vidua purpurascens
Nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Jameson’s Firefinch. Breeding males are glossy purplish-black, with a pale brownish panel in the wings, while females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown on the back and pale below, with a bold facial pattern. The bill is whitish and the legs very pale pink. Found in forest edge, cultivation, thick woodland, and scrub. Mimics the vocalizations of its host firefinches: a fast trill. Extremely similar to Variable Indigobird. In South Africa, separated by its pale pinkish legs. Elsewhere, breeding males probably slightly more glossy but only separated with certainty by hearing mimicked vocalizations of host species.
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