Golden Bowerbird
Prionodura newtoniana
Small bowerbird restricted to higher-elevation rainforest in Northern Queensland. Male has stunning bright yellow underparts, yellowish-brown face, and dull yellowish back. Female olive brown above, gray below. Breeding male builds a large tower of sticks and decorates it with flowers and lichen, often reusing the same bower for many nesting seasons. Male’s song includes a wide repertoire of notes and sounds, many of which sound as though they were made by a machine.
Identification
The male golden bowerbird has a brown head and brown wings which are bright yellow-gold underneath, as are the tail, crest and nape. The female is olive brown with ash-gray underparts. Immatures look similar to the female except their eyes are brown. This is the smallest species of bowerbird.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Prionodura newtoniana
- Authority
- De Vis, 1883
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ptilonorhynchidae
- Genus
- Prionodura
Range and habitat
The golden bowerbird has a patchy distribution in northeastern Queensland. It has a limited range and its population is thought to have declined as much as 60% over three generations of the species. It is a near-threatened species on the IUCN Red List, with the primary threat being climate change. This bird lives in rainforests above 350 metres (1,100 ft) in elevation, including some habitat that has been disturbed by human activities such as logging. The habitat of the golden bowerbird is upland rainforests from 350 and 1530 metres. Traditional bowerbird habitats include mild slopes, ridges immediately surrounding hill crests, and below steeper slopes where terrain levels off; canopy coverage is often greater than 70%; none on hilltops or in disturbed forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
Saucerottia cyanocephala
Medium-sized hummingbird of oak and pine-oak woodlands and adjacent shrubby clearings; also local in lowland pine savannas. Sexes look alike and often look rather dull overall, despite the name. Note the whitish throat and breast offset by a dusky vest, and the dusky brownish rump and tail. Crown and sides of head are blue (rarely catching the light), with a white spot behind the eye and some red at base of bill.
Choco Elaenia
Myiopagis parambae
Small rainforest flycatcher that ranges from central Panama through western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Male is mostly gray, but female is clad mainly in shades of olive and yellow. Male’s dark wings with contrasting white wingbars help to identify him. Female is very similar to Forest Elaenia, but tends to have darker wings, brighter back, and cleaner breast; all of these are hard to see in the field and some birds cannot be identified with certainty. Note that Choco Elaenia is found only west of the Andes and does not overlap with Amazonian Elaenia or Gray-headed Elaenia. Typical song is a descending, accelerating trill. Pairs typically stay high in the forest, and often follow mixed species flocks.
Ross's Gull
Rhodostethia rosea
Long-winged, wedge-tailed, delicate seabird of far northern climates, nesting in open wet tundra and wintering around sea ice, occasionally moving into coastal areas. Breeding adult astonishingly beautiful: pearly gray above, rose-pink below, with coral-red legs, thin black collar, and tiny black bill. Nonbreeding adult has a tiny black dot near the ear and loses the black collar and much or all of the pink coloration. First-winter birds have blackish “M” pattern in upperwing and black tip on wedge-shaped tail. Flight graceful and buoyant.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.