Red-cowled Widowbird
Euplectes laticauda
A small widowbird. The breeding male is jet black, with a crimson collar and crown, and a 20-centimeter floppy graduated tail. The female and non-breeding male have dark streaked upperparts, pale unstreaked or faintly streaked underparts, with a buffy band across the breast, and a yellowish eyebrow and face, and lack the long tail. Pairs breed at middle and high elevations, in open grassland, savanna, scrub, and cultivated areas. The species may flock, often with other seedeaters, and move locally when breeding is over. Breeding males are distinctive, but non-breeding males and females can be confused with many other species. Can be tentatively identified by the lack of red or yellow in the wing, along with a buffy breast that is unstreaked or only lightly streaked.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Euplectes laticauda
- Authority
- (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ploceidae
- Genus
- Euplectes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Bob-tailed Weaver
Brachycope anomala
A small odd finch-like weaver with a short stubby tail. Breeding male has a yellowish crown and breast and a black face mask. Non-breeding male, female, and juvenile are buffy with blackish edging to the upperparts. A locally common resident in clearings near large rivers within the forested Congo Basin, where populations are scattered. Found in pairs and small groups. Vocalizations are quite simple: repeatedly gives a harsh “djet,” and the song has some liquid notes. Non-breeding male and female could be confused with many other small dull birds, but the short tail is unique.
Rusty-winged Starling
Aplonis zelandica
A rather small, pale grayish-brown starling, paler on Vanikoro, with a smudgy black patch in front of the eye and distinctive rusty wings. Found in forest and secondary growth, especially montane forest. Similar to Polynesian Starling, but paler above, with a dark eye and more uniform wings. Common call is a melodious “zee-twee.”
Hoary Puffleg
Haplophaedia lugens
Dull hummingbird restricted to mid-elevation Andean cloud forest in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Mostly green, but underparts are grayer with white scaling; also note coppery tinge to crown and rump. White leg puffs are usually conspicuous on male, but they are much smaller on female and immature and can be concealed behind belly feathers. Scarce; usually encountered feeding low inside forest, often near streams.
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