Utcubamba Tapaculo

A very slender gray-brown swift with a long, deeply forked tail that is often held closed, making it look needle-like and pointed. The erratic flight pattern, with frequent direction changes and rapid wingbeats on long, scythe-shaped wings, is distinctive. Less gregarious than other swifts; usually found in pairs or small flocks, and association with other swallows and swifts is usually only fleeting. Forages over a wide variety of habitats with palms, including savanna, coastal scrub, towns, villages, cultivated areas, forest edge, and clearings, from sea level up to 1100 meters of elevation, preferring lowlands. Nests and roosts in palms, especially Hyphaene, Bismarckia, and coconut palms. Gives a high-pitched, metallic “tre-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit” call, solitarily or in unison with others. Separated from other swifts by its longer and thinner tail. Further separated from the larger Madagascar Swift by its much weaker and more fluttering flight.

A large, dark sunbird that is usually found near the coast, although inland populations exist locally, perhaps most notably in Angola. Occurs in a variety of disturbed and edge habitats as well as in swamps and coastal woods. Males are overall chocolate-brown with iridescent purple-pink throats and foreheads, while females are a much paler olive-brown with noticeably darker throats. Bill is relatively straight. Distinguished from the smaller and more compact Green-throated Sunbird by its larger size, its small purple throat and crown, and the female’s dark throat. Calls include liquid “pip” notes and buzzy trills, with songs comprising variable combinations of these notes.

A medium-sized, stocky lark with a small bill, a streaky head and back, and scalloped edges to the wing feathers that give it a scaly-backed appearance. The plumage varies geographically, with rusty to dark brown upperparts, buffy underparts, and a reddish wing panel visible in flight and when perched. Pairs prefer grassy savanna and open woodland, where they forage for insects by running furtively between clumps of grass and shrubs. The male gives a distinctive aerial display that involves the mechanical “clapping” of the wings beneath the body. He rises to 50-100 meters in the air and slowly circles his territory, giving a series of short (one-second) bursts of wing-clapping, typically rendered “prrrrrt, prrrrrt, prrrrt….” The may be accompanied by a simple canary-like song “cheeroo-weee.” The similar Rufous-naped Lark is larger, with a completely different display.