Giant Coot
Fulica gigantea
Distinctive huge coot of lakes and bogs in high Andes. Often seen standing along shorelines or on big weed-matted nest mounds. Note the colorful bill, long red legs, and huge feet. Prolonged nesting season means that all stages of nesting and young can be seen together, from small fuzzy black chicks to full-sized juveniles, which are pale grayish with a frosty whitish head and neck. Often rather aggressive. Loud clucking and purring songs carry well and are given frequently.
识别特征
The giant coot is the second largest extant member of family Rallidae, after the takahē of New Zealand. Adults are 48 to 59 cm (19 to 23 in) long. They weigh about 2,000 to 2,500 g (4.4 to 5.5 lb) and are too heavy to fly, though immature birds are smaller and readily fly. The sexes are alike. Adults have a bulky body and a disproportionately small head. Their plumage is deep slaty gray that is blacker on the head and neck. Their undertail coverts have some white streaking. Their bill is deep red with some yellow at the base of the maxilla, their frontal shield is yellow, and unique among coots their legs and feet are deep red. Immature birds have dark gray underparts and a paler bill and legs than adults. Juveniles are dark dull gray with some white on the face and dusky legs.
分类信息
The giant coot is monotypic.
- 学名
- Fulica gigantea
- 命名信息
- Eydoux & Souleyet, 1841
- 目
- Gruiformes
- 科
- Rallidae
- 属
- Fulica
分布与栖息地
The giant coot is found from southern Peru through western Bolivia into northern Chile and northwestern Argentina. It is a bird of the Altiplano, a generally barren high elevation landscape. There it inhabits ponds and lakes, especially those with weedy shallows. It mainly occurs between 3,600 and 5,000 m (11,800 and 16,400 ft) but is regular as high as 6,540 m (21,500 ft) and occasionally wanders as far as the Pacific coast.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Giant coot adults are generally sedentary though they may walk to open water if a small pond freezes. Immature birds disperse by flying at night.<p>The giant coot feeds mostly on aquatic vegetation, especially plants of genera Myriophyllum, Potamogeton, Zannichellia, and Ruppia. It also eats algae but shuns Chara. It feeds mostly at the water surface but occasionally dabbles like a duck or dives; it also grazes on shore.<p>The giant coot breeds at any season, but its peak egg-laying period is the local winter of June and July. The species is monogamous and very territorial. It makes a huge nest of plant material dredged and piled up in water about 1 m (3 ft) deep. Newish nests float but as nesting progresses and both members of the pair add material it usually ends up resting on the bottom. The clutch size is three to seven eggs and both parents incubate them. Young feed on fresh vegetation added to the nest and also on plants and small animal prey such as amphipods and tadpoles brought by the parents.<p>Male giant coots make "alternating gobbling or laughing 'houehouhouhouhoou' and low, growling 'hrr' or 'horr' sounds". Females make "low, crackling 'chee-jrrrh' [and] low squeaking or cracking sounds"; when with a male they also make a "soft 'hi-hirr hirrr hirrr...'".
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Orange-crowned Manakin
Heterocercus aurantiivertex
Dull manakin of seasonally flooded swamp forest in Amazonian lowlands. Male is less colorful than most manakins, with brown upperparts, cinnamon underparts, and a white throat; his orange crown is usually hidden and not often seen in the field. Female is duller; she is mostly olive-brown with a pale throat and face, and lacks a crown patch. Usually seen at lower to middle levels of forest along streams and lakes. Typical song is a rapid trill with undulating pitch.
Sickle-winged Nightjar
Eleothreptus anomalus
While perched, appears to be an unassuming nightjar: rather small, short-tailed, and largely gray with dark brown spots. In flight, males are spectacular, with unique flight feathers forming the “sickle” wing shape. Females lack these modified wing feathers. Usually found close to water, around gallery forest; in some areas also in grassland and marshes. The call is a repetition of very subtle “chip” notes.
Pirre Hummingbird
Goldmania bella
Rare and poorly-known hummingbird with extremely limited range near the border of Panama and Colombia. The most distinctive feature on this medium-sized hummingbird is the pale rufous outer tail feathers, present on both males and females. Also note small cinnamon patch on wings. Male has glittering blue-green throat. Female is paler below with a cinnamon wash on throat. Occurs in the foothills and highlands, usually in the lower to middle levels of forest.
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