White-fronted Bee-eater
Merops bullockoides
A bright and colorful bee-eater; the red throat and white line under the black face mask render it unmistakable. Pairs and groups inhabit woodland adjacent to watercourses, hillsides, and scrub, especially near earthen banks, where nesting colonies are formed by up to 450 individuals burrowing into the dirt. They have one of the most complex of all avian societies, featuring families, clans, and pirates! A nasal rolling “ngyaaau” is the main vocalization.
识别特征
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird, but with a distinctive black mask, white forehead, square tail and a bright red throat. The size is 23 cm (9 in.). The upperparts are green, with cinnamon underparts. The call is a deep squeak.
分类信息
- 学名
- Merops bullockoides
- 命名信息
- Smith, A, 1834
- 目
- Coraciiformes
- 科
- Meropidae
- 属
- Merops
分布与栖息地
White-fronted bee-eaters are found in the vast savannah regions of sub-equatorial Africa. The habitat commonly consists of open country, often near gullies, where bees, their prey, live.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
White-fronted bee-eaters nest in colonies averaging 200 individuals, digging, roosting, and nesting holes in cliffs or banks of earth. A population of bee-eaters may range across many square kilometres of savannah, but will come to the same colony to roost, socialize, and to breed. White-fronted bee-eaters have one of the most complex family-based social systems found in birds.<p>Colonies comprise socially monogamous, extended family groups with overlapping generations, known as "clans", which exhibit cooperative breeding. Non-breeding individuals become helpers to relatives and assist to raise their brood. In white-fronted bee-eaters, this helping behavior is particularly well developed, with helpers assisting in half of all nesting attempts. These helpers may contribute to all aspects of the reproductive attempt, from digging the roosting or nesting chamber, to allofeeding the female, incubating and feeding the young; and have a large effect on increasing the number of young produced.<p>Only 50% of non-breeders in a colony typically become helpers, and whether or not an individual becomes a helper and to whom it provides aid is heavily dependent on the degree of kinship involved. Non-breeders are most likely to become helpers when breeding pairs are genetically close relatives. When faced with a choice of potential recipient nests, helpers preferentially help the breeding pair to whom they are most closely related, suggesting that this behaviour may serve to increase the helper's inclusive fitness.<p>Female white-fronted bee-eaters leaving their nesting burrows must avoid pursuit by unmated males who may force them to the ground and rape them. Furthermore, their unwelcome attentions are preferentially against females who are laying eggs and who thus might lay the eggs of their rapist rather than their mate.<p>Their diet is made up primarily of bees, but they also take other flying insects depending on the season and availability of prey. Two hunting methods have been observed. They either make quick hawking flights from lower branches of shrubs and trees, or glide slowly down from their perch and hover briefly to catch insects.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- rising
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Blackish-gray Antshrike
Thamnophilus nigrocinereus
A fairly large antshrike of riparian zones with lots of regional variation in plumage. Males are dark gray above, paler below, with white wing bars (not spots); the northwest subspecies is gray with a black cap. Females are rusty with a dark-gray hood. Found in seasonally flooded forests, river island forests, and mangroves. Forages close to the ground and sometimes accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is an accelerating series of whistled descending notes.
Least Bittern
Botaurus exilis
This diminutive heron is fairly common in its preferred wetland habitat, but secretive and easily overlooked. Tiny size and attractive pattern of orange, black, and white is distinctive among herons within its range. Males are blacker above; females are browner. Occurs throughout much of North and South America, where it can be found in marshes with a mix of open water and vegetation, often with cattails, phragmites, or lily pads. Usually seen perched motionlessly, straddling reeds at the edge of water. Occasionally makes short flights just above the reeds. Listen for the soft cooing song, given during the day and at night.
Bay-chested Warbling Finch
Castanozoster thoracicus
Small finch with a conspicuous chestnut breast and flanks. Gray above with a white throat and belly and a white arc below the eye. Found at the edge of montane forests, in open woodlands, and clearings; often accompanies mixed-species flocks. Listen for its calm “tsip-cheep” song.
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