Parasitic Weaver
Anomalospiza imberbis
Odd little short-tailed and chunky-billed member of the indigobird family. The male is yellow, with dark wings and tail, while the female is brown and streaky on the back and buff on the face and underparts. Found in moist grassland and open savanna. Uncommon across its range. Indistinct song consists of short, rasping phrases. Male could be confused with canaries but has an all-black bill. Female resembles female bishops but has a shorter and thicker all-black bill.
识别特征
The cuckoo-finch is a small finch-like bird, about 11–13 cm long. It has a short tail, large legs and feet, and a large, deep, conical bill. The adult male has a black bill and a yellow head and underparts. The upperparts are olive-green with black streaks. The yellow areas become increasingly bright prior to the breeding season as the feathers become worn. The adult female is buff with heavy black streaking above and light streaks on the flanks; its face is largely plain buff and the throat is buff-white.It has various chattering calls. Displaying males have a nasal song.
分类信息
The species was described in 1868 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis based on a specimen from East Africa, probably from the coast opposite Zanzibar. It was initially placed in the genus Crithagra but later moved to a genus of its own, Anomalospiza. The name of the genus means "anomalous finch" with spiza being a Greek word for finch. The specific name imberbis comes from Latin and means "beardless".<p>Its closest relatives are thought to be the indigobirds and whydahs of the genus Vidua. These birds are now usually considered to form a family, Viduidae. Previously they were treated as a subfamily, Viduinae, within either the estrildid finch family, Estrildidae, or the weaver family, Ploceidae.
- 学名
- Anomalospiza imberbis
- 命名信息
- (Cabanis, 1868)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Viduidae
- 属
- Anomalospiza
分布与栖息地
The cuckoo-finch has a scattered distribution across sub-Saharan Africa where it occurs in open or lightly wooded grassland, especially near damp areas.<p>In West Africa, it occurs in Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, eastern Nigeria, and north-west Cameroon with vagrant records from Gambia and Mali. Further east it is found in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, southern and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and locally in the Republic of the Congo. In southern Africa, it occurs in Malawi, Zambia, southern and eastern Angola, north-east Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern South Africa, and Eswatini.<p>It has a large range and an apparently stable population and so is classified as least concern by BirdLife International.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
The cuckoo-finch typically occurs in pairs or small flocks during the breeding season and larger flocks outside the breeding season. It forages on the ground or perched on the flower heads of grasses or herbs. It feeds mainly on grass seeds.<p>The species is an obligate brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of cisticolas and prinias. The eggs are white, pale blue or pink with brown, reddish or violet markings. They are 17–17.3 mm long and 12.5–13 mm wide. The eggs are incubated for 14 days. The young bird fledges after 18 days and remains dependent on its hosts for another 10–40 days. The young of the host bird usually disappear although there have been records of the host's nestlings surviving alongside the young cuckoo-finch. Sometimes two cuckoo-finch chicks have been found in the same nest.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Marquesan Monarch
Pomarea mendozae
Smallish flycatcher-like bird endemic to Mohotani (also referred to as Motane). Male is glossy black overall, while female is white-bodied with a black hood, black-and-white-striped wings, and a faint tan wash on the belly. Juveniles are gingery tan-brown overall with darker patches. Note long tail and pale gray bill. Inhabits dry forest throughout the island, ranging from the lowlands up into the hills. Vocalizations include a sweet whistle and a sharp, chattery “jirjirjirjirjir.”
Lizard Buzzard
Kaupifalco monogrammicus
A small, chunky, grayish hawk with a distinctive pale throat spliced by a vertical black throat stripe; has one or two (rarely) broad white bars across the black tail. Occurs in singles or pairs in savanna and is often seen perched in the open, watching for insects, lizards, snakes, and other small vertebrates. Calls a loud shrill “peeee-eeeuuu” or repeated “whuuua-whuuua-whuuaa”. It is shorter-legged and has a more powerful build than most sparrowhawks. Most similar to Gabar Goshawk, both having a broad white rump band in flight, but Lizard Buzzard is distinguished by its distinctive throat pattern, pale tail bands, and pale tail tips.
Ala Shan Redstart
Phoenicurus alaschanicus
Male is very brightly colored, even for a redstart, with extensively orange underparts, white wing patches, and a gray cap. The female is plain and easily confused with other female redstarts; watch for its noticeably paler underparts and lack of white wing patch. Breeds in open upland areas with scrubby cover, including rocky scree scopes. Song long and rambling, consisting of grating, scratchy notes and fluty whistles.
开始您的观鸟之旅
在户外识别鸟类，并在下一次观察时随手查阅鸟类图鉴。