Red-breasted Meadowlark
Leistes militaris
This attractive meadowlark is found in open fields. It often perches conspicuously atop grasses or small bushes. Male is unmistakable, mostly black with bright red breast and throat. Female is less obvious. She is brown and streaky, but look for the sharply pointed bill (like a blackbird), overall buffy brown coloration, and brown-and-buff stripes on head. The streaking is mostly concentrated on the sides of the breast and flanks, not in the middle of the breast and belly. Listen for song: several metallic chips followed by a raspy buzz.
识别特征
The red-breasted meadowlark is a small icterid, 19 cm (7.5 in) long and weighing 40–48 g (1.4–1.7 oz). Males are larger than females. The male has mainly black plumage, apart from a bright red throat, belly and wing epaulets. This striking "redcoat" plumage gives rise to the specific name militaris and the Trinidadian name "soldier bird". The female has buff edged dark brown upperpart feathers, buff underparts with a reddish tinge, and pale streaks through the crown and eye. Juveniles resemble the female, but are paler and lack the reddish tint to the underparts.<p>This species is very closely related to the white-browed meadowlark, S. superciliaris which breeds further south, and was formerly considered to be subspecies of red-breasted meadowlark. The male white-browed is easily distinguished by his bright white supercilium, but females of the two species are almost identical. Female red-breasted meadowlarks are longer billed, smaller, and shorter winged than their relative, with more red and less streaking on the underparts.
分类信息
The red-breasted meadowlark was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the buntings in the genus Emberiza and coined the binomial name Emberiza militaris. Linnaeus cited his own catalogue of the cabinet of curiosities belonging to the king of Sweden, Adolf Frederick, as well as the description and illustration of the "Greater Bull-Finch" by the English naturalist George Edwards's that had been published in 1747. Neither Edwards nor Linnaeus knew the origin of their specimens but in 1902 the German ornithologists Hans von Berlepsch and Ernst Hartert designated type locality as Suriname. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- 学名
- Leistes militaris
- 命名信息
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Icteridae
- 属
- Leistes
分布与栖息地
The red-breasted meadowlark is resident from south-western Costa Rica, which it has recently colonised, and Trinidad, south to north-eastern Peru and central Brazil. In 2008, it was sighted for the first time in Nicaragua.<p>Like other meadowlarks, it is a bird associated with open country, including moist grasslands, pasture and cultivation, preferably with the odd bush or fence post for males to use as a songpost. It has benefited from the more open habitat created by forest clearance and ranching, and is extending its range. It is uncertain whether sightings on Tobago represent a small breeding population or wanderers from Trinidad or South America.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
In display the male flies up to 10 m (33 ft) in the air, then parachutes down on folded wings whilst singing a wheezing song, ti-ti-pee-pee-KWAAAAAA. The call is a short tsip. The red-breasted meadowlark builds a deep grass-lined open cup nest on the ground amongst tall grasses, with several nests often close together. The normal clutch is two to four reddish brown-blotched cream eggs.<p>This gregarious bird feeds mainly on insects and some seeds, including rice, and forages on the ground like a bobolink.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- rising
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
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Micrastur semitorquatus
Large and lanky, but heard much more often than seen. Widespread in tropical forest, ranging into semi-open areas with larger trees; in West Mexico it even occurs up into pine-oak forest high in the mountains. Hunts from canopy to forest floor, but usually calls from high in trees. Note the long yellow legs and long rounded tail with narrow white bars. Adults are usually white below, with dark ‘sideburns,’ but can be buffy below, and very rarely are black overall. Immatures have variable dark barring below.
Philippine Swiftlet
Aerodramus mearnsi
Uncommon dark swiftlet. Endemic to a smattering of the Philippines islands, from Luzon to Mindanao to Palawan. Habitat can be helpful in identifying this confusing species; generally favors ridges and slopes in montane and submontane areas above 700-800 meters. Readily confused with significantly larger Ameline Swiftlet, but present species has a more squared-off-looking tail (fork is shallow and often unnoticeable), tends to fly lower and more erratically, and more often forms flocks. Combination of dark rump, unglossed dark back, and medium size separates this species from Gray-rumped Swiftlet, Pygmy Swiftlet, and Ridgetop Swiftlet. Frequently calls while in flight, giving a squeaky chattering twitter.
Yellowhammer
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Male distinctive, with bright yellow head, yellowish underparts. Female is drab and streaky, usually with yellowish wash to face, and often found with bright males. Note bright rusty rump. White outer tail feathers flash in flight. A species of heathland, forest clearings, and farmland with hedges. Male sings from a prominent perch, giving a dry and uninspired “dzidzidzidzidzi.” Forms flocks in winter, feeding mainly on ground in search of seeds. A native of Eurasia, introduced to New Zealand and a few adjacent islands.
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