Moluccan Drongo-Cuckoo
Surniculus musschenbroeki
A blackish, drongo-like cuckoo with a shallow forked tail and broad outer tail tips. Note the slim bill and the barring on the base of the undertail, and on the underwings in flight. Juvenile shows extensive white spotting. Singles and pairs inhabit forest and forest edge within lowlands and foothills. Smaller and slimmer-billed than drongos, with a shallower tail fork and barring in the plumage. Song is a distinctive series of 5-9 whistled notes, each rising up the scale: “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Surniculus musschenbroeki
- Authority
- Meyer, AB, 1878
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Surniculus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Common Paradise-Kingfisher
Tanysiptera galatea
A long-tailed kingfisher of lowland forests. White underparts and rump, dark blue upperparts with pale blue shoulder and crown. Long white tail with 2 extended central tail feathers ending in spatula tips. Sits still for long periods whilst slowly pumping its tail. Very similar to Little Paradise-Kingfisher, but Common Paradise-Kingfisher is larger, with a paler crown, white rather than blue outer tail feathers and a heavier bill. The safest way to separate, however is by vocalization. Heard more often than seen. Song, a rapidly accelerating and slightly rising series of dry notes.
Black-and-white Bulbul
Microtarsus melanoleucos
While highly distinctive, this bulbul can be irruptive and moves in flocks over a wide range; it is thus infrequently encountered. Both sexes are dark with white shoulder patches; female is slightly browner. Moves through lowland and foothill evergreen forest and forest edge. Forages throughout all forest levels, but most common in upper levels, where it often gathers in the crowns of fruiting trees. Occasionally gives abrupt metallic ‘ching!’
Blue-headed Fantail
Rhipidura cyaniceps
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of primary and secondary forest from the lowlands to the mountains on Luzon and Catanduanes. Dull blue on the head, chest, back, and shoulder, with some paler blue streaking on the chest and crown. Has a buff belly and rufous lower back, rump, outer tail feathers, and wing, with dark central tail feathers and a dark edge to the wing. Tail often cocked and fanned while foraging. Similar to Black-naped Monarch, but has a rufous rump and tail. Voice consists of single sharp “pik!” notes given at intervals or sped up into a rapid series.
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