African Snipe
Gallinago nigripennis
Chunky, cryptic, short-legged, long-billed shorebird. In flight, shows much white on the outer tail and underwing. Found in thickly vegetated wetlands. Restricted to middle and high elevations across the majority of its range. Most often seen when it flushes explosively, often giving a rough “shrik” call. Display vocalization is a long accelerating series of “kik” notes, followed by a hollow booming made by the outer tail in flight display. Similar to Common Snipe, but darker and with much white in the outer tail. Also easily confused with the uncommon Great Snipe, but African is paler, lacks strong bars on the wing, and has a white rather than dark underwing.
识别特征
This 30–32 cm (12–13 in) long snipe has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes and gold edges to the feathers forming lines down its back. The belly is white, with some brown barring on the flanks but never on the belly. The pinkish-brown bill is very long, straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes are similar, and immatures differ only in showing pale fringes on the wing coverts.<p>The African snipe makes a hleep call as it takes off, and has a far carrying kip call when breeding. It shows white trailing edges on the wings and white tail corners in flight.<p>The African snipe can only be confused with the three migrant snipes that occur in its range, common, pin-tailed and great snipe. Great snipe is obviously larger, darker, and relatively shorter billed. Pintail snipe lacks the white trailing edges on the wings and its tail corners have very little white.<p>The common snipe is very similar to African although African is darker above and longer-billed; identification on the ground is very difficult. In flight, African has a slower, more fluttering flight on its more rounded wings, and zig-zags less when flushed. The more extensive white in the tail is often obvious.
分类信息
- 学名
- Gallinago nigripennis
- 命名信息
- Bonaparte, 1839
- 目
- Charadriiformes
- 科
- Scolopacidae
- 属
- Gallinago
分布与栖息地
- 迁徙
- Vertical migration
行为
The African snipe builds a saucer-shaped nest of dry grass in the drier areas of its breeding marshes. The nest is concealed in a dense tuft of grass or rushes. Breeding is dependent on the rains in the tropics, but mainly April to October in South Africa, although nesting has occurred in all months.<p>This bird has a spectacular aerial display, which involves flying high in circles, followed by a powerful stoop during which the bird makes a drumming sound, caused by vibrations of modified outer tail feathers.<p>The African snipe is quite common in suitable marshy areas of wetlands and dams. It forages by pushing its long bill deep into the mud seeking insects and worms. If alarmed, it freezes, and its cryptic plumage provides effective camouflage when the bird stands motionless amongst marsh vegetation. When flushed, it flies off fast with a zigzagging action.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- unknown
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Asian Golden Weaver
Ploceus hypoxanthus
Bright yellow finch with a thick, powerful bill. Male is daffodil-yellow with a black mask, dark bill, and scaly speckling on the back. Female is duller yellow with light pink in the bill, weaker back patterning, and a much fainter head pattern. Baya Weaver is less extensively yellow, with the female having darker patterning on the back and wings than Asian Golden Weaver. Inhabits lowland wet farmland and natural wetlands where the male builds round grass nests in small colonies. Native to mainland Southeast Asia and Sumatra; introduced to Singapore.
Masked Antpitta
Hylopezus auricularis
Medium-sized antpitta of floodplain forest, particularly with palmetto understory, along the confluence of the Ríos Madre de Dios and Bení in the Riberalta area. The only antpitta in range with dark chevrons on underparts or a blue-gray cap. Forages on or near the ground, but generally perches 1-2 m up in the understory or midstory to sing at dawn. Visually distinctive in range, but song deceptively similar to, and perhaps indistinguishable from, local songs of Amazonian Antshrike. Call a more distinctive three to four-part descending whistle.
Horned Puffin
Fratercula corniculata
Chunky black-and-white seabird with very thick yellow and red bill. Orange feet. Named for the spikelike protrusion of black skin above the eye. Nonbreeding and immature birds have a darker gray face and duller bill. Nests in colonies on rocky islands or cliffs in Canada and Alaska; winters on open ocean. Only other seabird in range with such a thick bill is Tufted Puffin, which has an entirely black body.
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