Dark Chanting-Goshawk
Melierax metabates
A tall, long-tailed, slaty-gray hawk with pink-orange legs and bill base. The flight feathers and wing tips are dark on both the upper and under wings, creating a uniformly dark wing pattern in flight. Pairs inhabit broadleaved woodland and well-wooded savanna. Chanting-goshawks give a strong, gull-like “kleeeu” call, hence their name. Dark Chanting-Goshawk always has a gray-barred rump, while other chanting-goshawks are paler, prefer drier habitats, and have unbarred white rumps. Eastern Chanting-Goshawk has yellow skin at the base of the bill. Pale Chanting-Goshawk has pale inner flight feathers and dark wing tips, creating a very contrasting wing pattern.
Identification
The dark chanting goshawk is a medium-sized, bulky hawk with an upright stance. The head, breast and upperparts are essentially dark grey, while the underparts, other than the breast, are white, finely barred with black. The wing primaries are black, and the tail has broad black and white bars. The cere and the long legs are orange-red. The female is, on average, larger than the male, weighing up to 840g to the male's maximum weight of 700g. Juveniles tend to have browner plumage reminiscent in colour and pattern to a buzzard Buteo spp but with the broad winged, long tailed silhouette of an accipiter. <p>As its common name suggests, the dark chanting goshawk is a vocal bird, although less so than its two congeners. It often calls from a perch or in flight, making an accelerating series of piping notes and fluty whistles, which has been described as a song or chant and there are up to a dozen notes in a series peeu-peeu-pu-pu-pu. It also gives a high-pitched peee-u. During the breeding season it is more vocal than when non breeding.
Taxonomy
The chanting goshawks are sometimes considered to be a single species, the chanting goshawk Melierax metabates, or to be this species plus the other two lumped as the pale chanting goshawk Melierax canorus.
- Scientific name
- Melierax metabates
- Authority
- Heuglin, 1861
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Melierax
Range and habitat
The dark chanting goshawk occurs in savannahs and open woodlands, favouring mixed bushveld and broad-leafed woodlands and avoid dense forest and desert, where it overlaps with other Melierax species the dark chanting goshawk prefers moister richer woodland. In southern Africa it is found in tall, well-developed woodland, especially where miombo (Brachystegia spp), mopane (Colosphermum mopane), Zambezi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga), Knob thorn (Senegalia nigrescens) and Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) are among the canopy. The dark chanting goshawk breeds in sub-Saharan Africa, but avoids the rainforests of the Congo Basin and the far south, where it is replaced by the pale chanting goshawk and east Africa where the eastern chanting goshawk seems to replace it.<p>There are five currently recognised subspecies,<p>Although the status of M. neumanni is debatable as it is poorly differentiated.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
The dark-chanting goshawk is widespread and common and therefore not globally threatened. However, the two isolated subspecies occurring in Morocco and the Arabian Peninsula, are highly vulnerable to the clearance of woodland. In particular the subspecies Melierax metabates theresae, is confined to a small area of south western Morocco, where it is thought to be nearly extinct as a result of deforestation and hunting. Otherwise its wide range means that Birdlife International categorise the species as Least Concern.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Blyth's Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone affinis
Breeding male’s trail long streamers are almost double the length of his body. Male comes in rufous and white morphs; both morphs have dark head, weak triangular crest, and blue eyering. Females resemble a non-breeding rufous male, but with a duller blue eyering and slightly paler head. Readily confused with Amur and Indian Paradise-Flycatchers, as well as female Black Paradise-Flycatcher, in areas of overlap. In these regions, note present species’ short rounded crest (vs. longer pointed crest of Indian), and pale rufous undertail on rufous birds (vs. white undertail on Amur and black); rufous birds also gradual gradation of gray on underparts, lacking strong contrast and sharp cutoffs. Note dark wing and central tail feather shaft streaks on white birds. Inhabits evergreen broadleaf forest and forest edge, including secondary growth, gardens, and plantations, in lowlands and foothills. Some populations are migratory. Song is a ringing “wiwiwiwiwiwiwi;” call is a nasal “ji-jeh” or “ji-jeh-jeh.”
Sepik-Ramu Shrikethrush
Colluricincla tappenbecki
A chunky bird with a thick dark bill. Quite plain: gray-brown on the upperparts and buffy below, with indistinct breast streaking. The breast pattern varies geographically: gray in some areas, contrasting with the buffy belly, and buff in some areas, the same color as the belly. Found at low and middle elevations in humid forest, including secondary forest. Rich, melodious, variable song consists of several penetrating whistles, generally in an up-and-down pattern. Somewhat similar to Rusty Pitohui, but smaller, with a dark rather than pale eye. Similar in size and shape to Sooty Shrikethrush, but never as uniformly blackish. Also similar to Gray Shrikethrush, but smaller, shorter-tailed, and browner, usually with more distinct breast streaking.
White-necked Crow
Corvus leucognaphalus
A large omnivorous species that occupies a wide range of habitats including agricultural fields, but prefers wet upland woods. Appears all black; the namesake white neck feathers are only visible during courtship. Note its bright red eyes. The only other large black species sharing its range is the Palm Crow, which has dark eyes and is a bit smaller. Additionally, the White-necked Crow has a relatively long, pointed bill with limited feathering atop when compared with that of the Palm Crow. This species vocalizations are remarkably parrotlike and rather unlike those of other crows. Calls include an upward inflected, rolling, and drawn out “wreh,” usually given in series as well as a variety of shrill burbling or gobbling sounds.
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