Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Merops nubicus
Large and gorgeous bee-eater with a mostly carmine body, and blue-green head and belly. The central tail feathers are elongated. In flight, reveals a blue-green rump, and rosy underwings with black trailing edge. Found in a variety of savanna habitats. Usually in flocks, and breeds colonially in riverbanks. Often perches on the backs of mammals and large birds, catching the insects that they disturb. The call is low-pitched and raspy, less musical than most bee-eaters. Similar to Southern Carmine Bee-eater, but there is virtually no overlap in range, and easily separated by the blue-green rather than carmine throat.
识别特征
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly colored, slender bird, predominantly carmine in color, except for a greenish blue head and throat and distinctive black mask. This species has red eyes, a black, pointed, decurved beak, and elongated central tail feathers.<p>The sexes are similar in appearance, and the juveniles can be distinguished from adults by their lack of elongated central tail feathers and the pinkish brown coloration of their mantle, chest to belly, and flanks.The call is a deep, throaty tunk in flight; a series of rik notes when perched.
分类信息
The northern carmine bee-eater was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other bee-eaters in the genus Merops and coined the binomial name Merops nubicus. Gmelin based his description on "Le guépier rouge à tête bleu" or "Guépier de Nubie" that had been described and illustrated in 1779 by French polymath Comte de Buffon in his multi-volume book Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Buffon had been provided with a picture drawn by the Scottish traveller and writer James Bruce who had visited Nubia in 1770–1771. It is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The northern carmine bee-eater was formerly treated as conspecific with the southern carmine bee-eater (Merops nubicoides).
- 学名
- Merops nubicus
- 命名信息
- Gmelin, JF, 1788
- 目
- Coraciiformes
- 科
- Meropidae
- 属
- Merops
分布与栖息地
It is native to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. It occurs as a vagrant in Burundi.<p>Sue McLaren and colleagues have suggested that the distribution of the northern carmine bee-eater is tightly linked to the presence of secondary loess deposits throughout Africa.
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
They nest in large colonies in cliffs, usually near river banks, where they use their bills to dig long horizontal nesting tunnels, often eight feet or more in length. Some colonies may consist of just a few nests while others accommodate hundreds of breeding birds. The same site may be used for several years and then the colony may all move to another location. Occupied nests accumulate a black litter of insect remains and smell strongly of ammonia. Three to five eggs are laid per clutch.<p>Their diet is made up primarily of bees and other flying insects, such as flying ants, grasshoppers and locusts. The main hunting strategy of bee-eaters is to keep watch for flying insects from a perch, and then snatch them out of the air using their beaks, before returning to the perch.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Yellow-browed Bulbul
Acritillas indica
Yellow-green bulbul with a clean face and dark eyes. Inhabits foothill and lower montane forests; often in moist areas. Commonly encountered in pairs or small flocks, but will also join mixed-species flocks. Typically sticks to cover. Song is comprised of cheery whistles mixed with slurred warbles. Calls include warbles, clear “weeeep” notes, and short nasal notes.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Platysteira cyanea
Small black-and-white bird with a bright red patch of bare skin above the eye. Males have a black breast band, and females a brown throat. Found in thick woodland, gallery forest, and mangroves. The song is usually given as a duet: a descending series of melancholy whistles from the male, and lower rasping notes from the female. Similar to Black-throated Wattle-eye, but shows a white slash on the wing, and the female has a brown rather than white throat. Separated from batises by the red wattle and, in females, by the brown throat.
Cryptic Warbler
Cryptosylvicola randrianasoloi
Plain, warbler-like tetraka. Uncommon Madagascar endemic that is found very locally in middle- and high-elevation rainforest. Canopy species that sometimes joins mixed flocks. Often sings from an exposed perch. Song is a series of high, thin notes that fades away. Similar to Rand’s Warbler, but eye-stripe is not as bold, and the color of the upperparts is more olive-green than gray. Larger than jeries, with pale legs, a pale lower half of the bill, and no streaks on the throat. Somewhat like Wedge-tailed Tetraka, but inhabits the canopy, is much paler, and lacks a gray ear patch.
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