Malagasy Harrier
Circus macrosceles
A typical harrier, with long slender wings and tail and graceful swooping flight. Male has pale gray panels in the wings, while female is browner and more uniform. Found mainly in open habitats, including marsh and montane grassland. Occasionally seen flying over forest. Spends long periods on the wing and is rarely seen perched. Most often confused with Black Kite, but has longer wings, a longer, narrower, and un-forked tail, a white rump, and pale underparts. Coloration overall similar to other raptors like Madagascar Buzzard, but lanky harrier shape is distinctive.
识别特征
It is about 42–55 cm long; the female is up to 13% larger than the male. The male has a blackish back and a greyer head with dark streaks. The underparts and rump are whitish and the tail is grey with dark bars. The forewings and wingtips are blackish while the secondaries are grey with dark bars. Females are browner than the males.<p>The Réunion harrier is smaller and darker with shorter legs and shorter, more rounded wings. Males have a blacker head and plainer secondaries and tail.
分类信息
- 学名
- Circus macrosceles
- 命名信息
- Newton, A, 1863
- 目
- Accipitriformes
- 科
- Accipitridae
- 属
- Circus
分布与栖息地
In Madagascar it is found in marshland and grassland across the island except for the south. It is generally scarce with the largest numbers in the north-west. It occurs from sea-level up to 1800 m. On the Comoros it is more often found in drier habitats and in forested areas. It has occurred on all four main islands but there are no recent records from Mayotte.<p>Its population size is uncertain but is estimated to be between 250 and 999 individuals. It is thought to be declining as a result of hunting and habitat destruction and is classed as endangered by BirdLife International.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
It feeds mainly on birds such as the Madagascar partridge and also takes reptiles, amphibians, rodents and insects. It typically feeds by flying low over the ground and dropping down rapidly when it spots its prey. It will also hunt over the canopy of forests.<p>It breeds in marshland, building a nest of grass and stems on the ground or low in a bush. The white eggs are incubated for about 32–34 days and the young birds fledge after 42–45 days.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
其他鸟类
Cuban Grassquit
Phonipara canora
A small flocking bird of scrub and grasslands. Note the dark face (black in males and gray in females) that is surrounded by a swirl of yellow from behind each eye, down the sides of the neck, and across the chest. The male Yellow-faced Grassquit has a passing resemblance, but the throat is yellow and the chest is black. Female Yellow-faced and Black-faced Grassquits are of similar size and color but lack the yellow neck and chest seen on Cuban Grassquits. The call is a sharp musical chip and the song is a rather high-pitched twitter.
Red-chested Cuckoo
Cuculus solitarius
A mostly grayish cuckoo with banding below, including a broad rusty band across the upper breast. The immature has barred underparts and a charcoal back, throat, and breast. It can be very secretive, and when it flies fast on pointed wings, it strongly resembles a small goshawk. Its brood-parasite hosts include wagtails, robin-chats, and thrushes. Resident and (in the southern parts of its range) migrant. Its presence is most often evidenced by its incessant and loud three-note “Pete-my-wife” song.
Green Iora
Aegithina viridissima
A medium-sized canopy-dweller of lowland and foothill forests, often seen with mixed flocks. Male is dark olive-green with boldly black-and-white-striped wings; female is paler, with an olive back and a less contrasting wing pattern. Look for bright yellow “goggles” around dark eyes in both sexes; Common Iora lacks these goggles and has pale eyes, but these can be hard to discern. Song is high, simple, and repetitive: “wit-dee, wit-dee, wit-dee” or “chew-a-wee-chew, chew-a-wee.” Calls vary, but the most common ones are downslurred and rather nasal-sounding.
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