Broad-tailed Grassbird
Schoenicola platyurus
A rare resident endemic to grassy moist highlands of the Western Ghats. A large warbler-like bird with rufous brown upperparts, long brown tail, buffy underparts, white throat and supercilum, and thick beak. Male performs song flights during breeding season; the song is a lark-like repeated trill that is accompanied by fanned tail and fluttering flight. The gape color is black in males, and obvious during song, but is brown in females.The nest is a ball of coarse grass blades with an entrance on the side, placed low in a tussock of long grass.
识别特征
The uniform brown upperparts with a broad, round-tipped and long graduated tail are distinctive features of this bird. The species has a buff supercilium and the brown tail has thin dark bars. The underside of the tail is very dark and the feathers are tipped with white. Males and females are indistinguishable in plumage. The call of the male during breeding is a lark-like and repeated trill that is accompanied by fanned tail and a fluttering flight. Other calls include a chack and a zink note. The gape colour is black and visible in singing males but is brown in females. In the non-breeding season, it is a skulker moving rapidly between grass and reeds but sometimes perching in the open.
分类信息
The species has in former times included the African Schoenicola brevirostris, which was originally called Catriscus apicalis and later Schoenicola platyura brevirostris. The Indian species was first described by Jerdon who found the bird at the base of the Gudalur ghat in the foothills of the Nilgiris. The bill is short and strong with the culmen slightly curved, and there are two rictal bristles. The tarsus is somewhat long for the proportions. The populations north and south of the Palghat gap are said to differ in plumage shade: the northern form being larger, paler and greyer above with the flanks sandy-brown; the southern form is dark rufous brown above and more whitish below with bright buff on the breast and flanks. This plumage variation was earlier believed to be seasonal. Molecular phylogeny studies place the genus in the warbler subfamily Megalurinae (along with Megalurus, Chaetornis and Graminicola). A study of the group shows that the African S. brevirostris and S. platyurus are not closely related and that S. platyurus is a sister of Chaetornis striata.
- 学名
- Schoenicola platyurus
- 命名信息
- (Jerdon, 1841)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Locustellidae
- 属
- Schoenicola
分布与栖息地
The broad-tailed grassbird is restricted to grassy moist highlands, principally in the Western Ghats of southern India mainly south of Karnataka but with some records from Pune, Lonavala and Nasik. A specimen was collected by S. A. Hussain at Point Calimere that suggests that the bird may be involved in local movements or migrations, possibly into Sri Lanka. Suggestions that it may occur in Sri Lanka are as yet not well supported; there is an old specimen (collected by H. Cumming, who has been considered unreliable, and doubtfully identified by Colonel Legge) and two unconfirmed sight records from Gammaduwa, Matale Hills, and Waitalawa, Rangala Hills. The species has not been reported from the Biligirirangan Hills.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
The breeding season appears to be from March to May, but nests have been seen in July and September, so the raising of two broods is suspected. The nest is a ball of coarse grass blades with an entrance on the side and placed low in a tussock of long grass. The eggs are white with spots and blotches of brownish red. The usual clutch is 2 or 3 eggs. It feeds on insects.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
Males are black with red shoulder patch that is sometimes concealed. Males have rusty feather edges in the winter. Females are streaked brown and often confused with sparrows. Look for long, sharply pointed bill. Often in flocks, especially in winter. Visits feeders. Breeds in marshes and scrubby, wet fields. Distinctive song, especially as migrants arrive in early spring.
Gray Thornbill
Acanthiza cinerea
A tiny bird of montane forest canopy. Medium gray above and clean white below with a black bill and dark eye. Forages very actively in small single or mixed species flocks and often hovers to catch insects. Similar to Papuan Thornbill and Brown-breasted Gerygone, but Gray Thornbill is distinctly gray rather than brown above. Voice very similar to Brown-breasted Gerygone and birds even respond those calls. Song, a descending series of high-pitch, slurred notes. Call, high-pitch chips.
African Harrier-Hawk
Polyboroides typus
A large, grayish, naked-faced hawk with broad wings. The small, bare, yellow (sometimes flushed red) face, white-banded black tail, and underwing pattern distinguish it. The immature is blotchy brown with yellow-green facial skin and barred flight feathers. Harrier-hawks are specialists, foraging on eggs and nestlings, and they have double-jointed knees which allow them to access nest holes and other confined spaces. They are often seen clumsily clambering around on cliffs and trees when foraging. Although similar to chanting-goshawks, African Harrier-Hawk’s long but small angular head, broad wings, and tail pattern are diagnostic.
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