Malaysian Blue Flycatcher
Cyornis turcosus
Small flycatcher with brilliant blue upperparts, a pale orange throat and chest, and a white belly. Slightly paler female has a whitish throat, while male’s is blue; sexes are otherwise quite similar. Head is fairly uniformly blue, without boldly lighter or darker patches, unlike in many other “blue flycatchers”. Pale and restricted orange also serves as a helpful identifying feature. A lowland species, restricted to secluded riverine forests in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, but found in a variety of dry and wet forests on Borneo. Song is a short smooth series of drawn-out piping whistles.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cyornis turcosus
- Authority
- Brüggemann, 1877
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Cyornis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Geoffroy's Daggerbill
Schistes geoffroyi
Fairly small hummingbird found on the east slope of the Andes from Venezuela to Peru. Both sexes mostly green with short, straight bill. Males have green throat, blue patches on neck sides, and a broken white collar. Females has duller greenish throat and whitish eyeline. Inconspicuous; look for singles at flower patches in understory of foothill and subtropical forest and edge, from around 800-2,000 m.
Yucatan Jay
Cyanocorax yucatanicus
Common and conspicuous in woodland and forest edge of Yucatan Peninsula, where there are no similar species. Usually found in groups of 5-25 birds, often chattering noisily. Black and bright blue plumage is distinctive. The bill is black on adult birds, yellow on juveniles and 1st-year birds. The striking white bodied juvenile plumage is held for only a few weeks in late summer before being replaced by adult-like black feathering.
Lowland Akalat
Sheppardia cyornithopsis
A small shy akalat found in the lower levels of tall forests, often in dark shady areas near water. Note the reddish-brown back and wings, the gray face, and the bright red-orange chest contrasting with a white belly. Almost always found in lowland forest, but a few local populations are found higher up in the foothills. Within its range, most likely to be confused with Forest Robin, but note Lowland Akalat’s plain gray face and distinctive vocalizations. Song is a series of clear, melancholy whistles given with slight pauses in between, “wheeer, gowheer,” as well as faster, more resonant and metallic series of whistles.
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