Buff-shouldered Widowbird
Euplectes psammacromius
Breeding males are mostly black with a long tail. There is a large yellow-and-buff patch on the shoulder. Females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown, though males retain their colorful shoulder. Found locally in montane marsh, heath, and grassland. Vocalizations include low rasps and twittering and sizzling calls. Male separated from Marsh Widowbird by its more extensive buff shoulder patch. Female can be confused with several other species, but is usually identified by association with buff-shouldered males.
Identification
Like all widowbirds, the male and female plumages differ prominently during breeding season. In the breeding season males moult into a black breeding plumage, which includes long tail feathers and yellow shoulder patches (these patches retain a discrete appearance during the non-breeding period). Outside the breeding season the sexes are similar in appearance, both having speckled brown and black plumage.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Euplectes psammacromius
- Authority
- (Reichenow, 1900)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ploceidae
- Genus
- Euplectes
Range and habitat
It is an endemic resident of the eastern Afromontane grasslands. It occurs in northeast Zambia, northern Malawi and the highlands of southwestern Tanzania.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
During this period males defend territories in the early morning after sunrise and in the evening before sunset.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Dark Newtonia
Newtonia amphichroa
Energetic and pugnacious little dark-brown vanga. The eye is brown, and the underparts are grayish. Madagascar endemic that is found in eastern rainforest, mainly at middle elevations. Constantly on the move through the mid-story, usually in pairs. Song is a complicated up-and-down warble. Darker eye and darker overall coloration separate it from Common Newtonia. Much duller coloration than the rare Red-tailed Newtonia.
Minahasa Masked-Owl
Tyto inexspectata
A forest barn-owl with rich rufous coloration over its entire body. Particularly note the rufous facial disk and forecrown to aid identification. Juvenile is browner-winged, with speckled gray underparts. Inhabits forest understory within lowlands and mountains, avoiding open country. Confined to Sulawesi. Smaller and more richly rufous-colored overall than Sulawesi Masked-Owl, with a rufous facial disk and forecrown and fewer dark markings on the wings and upperparts. Also note preference for closed-forest habitat. Call is a single long piercing screech: “SHEEEEEEEER.”
White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterus
Buoyant “river tern” with dramatically different breeding and non-breeding plumages. Breeding adult is wildly conspicuous in flight, with contrasting black-and-white plumage; at rest note white shoulders contrasting with black body. Non-breeding and younger birds are white with gray patches and black “earmuffs.” In areas of overlap, juvenile told from Black Tern by dark back contrasting with lighter upperwings and white rump and by black marking above the shoulder. Non-breeding Whiskered Tern can be similar, but has a faded, patchy dark crown instead of earmuffs. Commonly found in flocks around rivers, lakes, and wetlands, where it picks food from surface instead of splash-diving; generally not as closely associated with saltwater as many typical terns.
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