Indian Silverbill
Euodice malabarica
Small, long-tailed finch with a chunky body and short, stout bill. Gray-brown above and pale below with a whitish rump and black-pointed tail. Highly sociable throughout the year. Found in semidesert, scrub, and dry woodland but also proliferates in urban areas. Distribution is centered on the Indian subcontinent, but it is a popular cage bird and feral populations are widespread. Gives sharp “tsik” and “tseet” calls.
识别特征
The adult Indian silverbill is 11–11.5 cm long and has a conical silver-grey bill, buff-brown upperparts, white underparts, buffy flanks and dark wings. The tail is black and the wings are dark contrasting with a white rump. The sexes are similar, but immatures have buff underparts and a shorter tail. The tail appears pointed as the length of the feathers reduces from the centre outwards. It feeds mainly on seeds, but also takes insects and has been known to visit nectar bearing flowers, such as those of Erythrina trees.
分类信息
The Indian silverbill was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed the species with the crossbills in the genus Loxia and coined the binomial name Loxia malabarica. The specific epithet is from the Malbar region on the west coast of India. Linnaeus specified the locality as India but this was restricted to the Malabar region by E. C. Stuart Baker in 1926. The Indian silverbill is now placed with the African silverbill in the genus Euodice that was introduced by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1862. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>The Indian and Africa silverbills were formerly placed in the genus Lonchura. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020 found that these two silverbills formed a clade that was basal to the members of Lonchura.
- 学名
- Euodice malabarica
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Estrildidae
- 属
- Euodice
分布与栖息地
It frequents dry open scrub, fallow land and cultivation, sometimes near water. Although mainly found on the plains, they can be found up to about 1200 m in some sub-Himalayan regions. It occurs in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Iran and Israel. It has been accidentally introduced into many other parts of the world and has established itself in Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt since 2019, United States, Virgin Islands (possibly extinct) and Nice (southern France).<p>Although largely sedentary, some populations make seasonal movements.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
These birds are gregarious and are found in flocks of as many as 60 birds. They feed on the ground or on low shrubs and grass stalks. They constantly utter a low cheeping or chirping contact call as they forage. They visit water and drink with a rapid sip and swallow action. Their feed on a wide range of grass seeds and will also make use of crop species.The breeding season is spread out and varies with region. They nest in winter in southern India and after summer in northern India. The nest, an untidy ball of grasses with an opening on the side, is placed in low shrubs, often on thorny Acacia. They are also known to make use of the old nests of baya weaver sometimes even visiting those that are occupied by the weaver birds. They will sometimes build their nest below the platform nests of vultures or storks. Old nests are used as dormitories through the year for roosting. Females are known to lay their eggs in the nests of other pairs. The clutch varies from 4 to 8 white eggs and these are incubated by both parents for about 11 days. Helpers may be involved in breeding as more than a pair are sometimes seen at a nest.<p>Several parasitic protozoans and coccidia (Sivatoshella lonchurae) have been described from the species.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- stable
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Rufous Mourner
Rhytipterna holerythra
Overall rusty-colored, medium-sized flycatcher of humid tropical forest in the lowlands. Favors middle to upper levels inside forest, where sits still for long periods and sallies out for insects and other small critters. Call is a distinctive slow wolf-whistle—“whee-wheeu,” given at infrequent intervals and easily imitated. Note the overall rusty plumage, slender bill, and behavior. Can be confused with slightly larger Rufous Piha, which has a bushier face, paler throat, and a very different voice.
Galapagos Petrel
Pterodroma phaeopygia
Endangered seabird that nests only in Galápagos. Outside the breeding season, it disperses over the eastern Pacific and usually stays far from land. Note distinctive black-and-white pattern on underwing, mostly white underparts, and dark upperparts that extend down through its face to sides of neck; no other seabird found in and near Galápagos shares these features. When seen from above, it appears all dark except for some white around the base of the bill. Almost always encountered at sea, since it travels to and from its highland nesting sites only at night.
Sangihe Golden-Bulbul
Hypsipetes platenae
A dull thrush-sized songbird with a long stout bill. Uniform dark olive above with a prominent yellow patch between bill and eye, a yellow throat, a dark eye, and paler cheeks. Rest of underparts greenish. Juveniles duller and pale-eyed. Rare; small groups are confined to remnant patches of foothill forest on Sangihe. Prominent yellow parts of plumage separate it from the smaller, browner Sangihe Whistler. Calls include “bwit” and thrush-like “puk” notes. Loud, two-part song starts with four rising nasal notes, followed by whistles: “kwee-kwee-kwee-kwee-DEEP-pDEEP-pDEEP”.
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。