Red-chested Flufftail

Sarothrura rufa

Small marsh-dwelling rail. Shy and elusive bird that is unlikely to be seen unless expressly looking for it. Male has a rufous hood and black body with white streaks. Female plain and brown. Found in a variety of thickly-vegetated wetlands. Calls are given in series, and include a repeated, rising “huuua”, a deep “chwa-ho”, and a whining “chee-ya”. Similar to Streaky-breasted Flufftail, but male has a darker belly, and female has pale spots rather than scallops on the back.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Sarothrura rufa
Authority
(Vieillot, 1819)
Order
Gruiformes
Family
Sarothruridae
Genus
Sarothrura

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner

Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner

Automolus infuscatus

Dark brown foliage-gleaner of mature rainforest understory. Warm dark brown body, with a clean whitish throat patch and reddish brown tail. Does not have prominent reddish brown in the wings like many other foliage-gleaners do; the clean whitish throat, plain face (without a strong eyebrow) and habit of foraging low are other good distinguishing features to tell it apart from other foliage-gleaners. Primarily found in the understory of mature rainforest. Listen for its song, a musical trill with stuttered introductory note, “ch-trrrrrrrr”, similar to that of Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner from denser secondary growth habitats, but slightly lower and with a more distinct introductory note.

Striped Prinia

Striped Prinia

Prinia striata

A rather dull-plumaged songbird of fields, grasslands, forest edges, and farmland, mostly at moderate and high elevations. Often sparsely distributed and difficult to find. Gray-brown above with a pale belly, pale eyebrow, and blackish streaking on head and wings. Typically found singly or in pairs, clambering about in grasses and shrubbery. Often sings from an exposed perch, giving a loud but dry, rolling series of notes, faster than the song of Himalayan Prinia. Visually very similar to Himalayan Prinia, but usually separated by range. In the area of overlap, female and non-breeding male Striped Prinias show stronger streaking on the back and a brighter rufous panel in the wings. Breeding males are distinguished by their paler faces with an obvious eye-stripe.

Three-striped Hemispingus

Three-striped Hemispingus

Microspingus trifasciatus

Small tanager with a boldly striped head. Olive gray above, tawny orange below, with a black face and crown and a white eyebrow. Found in high-elevation elfin forest around the treeline, where pairs and small groups may be found in mixed-species flocks with other tanagers.

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