Month: January 2014

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Crested Coua (Coua cristata)

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The Crested Coua (Coua cristata) is a medium-sized, approximately 44 cm long, greenish-grey coua with grey crest, blue bare orbital skin, rufous breast, brown iris, black bill and legs, white belly and long white-tipped purplish-blue tail feathers. They are very attractive birds. The Crested Coua is distributed and endemic to forests, savanna and brushland of Madagascar. It is found from sea-level to altitude of 900 metres. The diet consists mainly of various insects, fruits, berries, seeds, snails and chameleons. The female usually lays two white eggs in nest made from twigs. Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the Crested Coua is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_Coua

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Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

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The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is a large icterid which is found in large numbers through much of North America. Adult Common Grackles measure from 28 to 34 cm (11 to 13 in) in length, span 36–46 cm (14–18 in) across the wings and weigh 74–142 g (2.6–5.0 oz).[2] Common Grackles are less sexually dimorphic than larger grackle species but the differences between the sexes can still be noticeable. The male, which averages 122 g (4.3 oz), is larger than the female, at an average of 94 g (3.3 oz).[3] Adults have a long, dark bill, pale yellowish eyes and a long tail; its feathers appear black with purple, green or blue iridescence on the head, and primarily bronze sheen in the body plumage. The adult female, beyond being smaller, is usually less iridescent; her tail in particular is shorter, and unlike the males, does not keel in flight and is brown with no purple or blue gloss. The juvenile is brown with dark brown eyes. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_grackle

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Variable Sunbird (or Yellow-bellied Sunbird), Cinnyris venustus (formerly Nectarinia venusta)

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The Variable Sunbird (or Yellow-bellied Sunbird), Cinnyris venustus (formerly Nectarinia venusta), is a sunbird. The sunbirds are a group of small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. The Variable Sunbird is a fairly common resident breeder in equatorial Africa. Two eggs are laid in a suspended nest in a tree. This species is found in open woodland and cultivation. Variable Sunbirds are small, only 10 cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. The adult male has a glossy green head, throat and nape with maroon breast band and a yellowish belly. The female has grey-brown upperparts and yellowish underparts, and an obvious pale supercilium. The eclipse male is like the female, but shows some green, especially on the throat. The call is a clear tew-tew-tew-tew-tew . Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Sunbird

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Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis)

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The Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis), also known as the Yellow-bellied Sunbird, is a species of sunbird found from Southern Asia to Australia. The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Their flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering, but usually perch to feed most of the time. The Olive-backed Sunbird is common across southern China to the Philippines and Malaysia down to northeast Australia. They are small songbirds, at most 12 cm long. In most subspecies, the underparts of both male and female are bright yellow, the backs are a dull brown color. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive-backed_Sunbird

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Banded Broadbill (Eurylaimus javanicus)

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The Banded Broadbill (Eurylaimus javanicus) is a species of bird in the Eurylaimidae family. It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Reference - http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=4031

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Common / Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer)

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The Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer), is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. The species is known as the Common Loon in North America and the Great Northern Diver in Eurasia; its current name is a compromise proposed by the International Ornithological Committee. The Great Northern Loon is one of the five loon species that make up the genus Gavia, the only genus of the family Gavidae and order Gaviiformes. Its closest relative is the other large black-headed species, the Yellow-billed Loon or White-billed Diver,Gavia adamsii. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_loon

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White-tailed Jays (Cyanocorax mystacalis)

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The White-tailed Jays (Cyanocorax mystacalis) occur naturally in northwestern South America – specifically the countries of Ecuador and Peru. Within their limited range, they are the only naturally occurring jay species. White-tailed Jays are Ecuadorian and Peruvian natives with a range that stretches in Ecuador from Guayas – a coastal province in central western Ecuador, the adjacent El Oro (the southernmost of Ecuador’s coastal provinces) and south – away from the coast – into the province of Loja. In Peru, Ecuador’s neighbor to the south, their range extends down to western La Libertad located in northwestern Ecuador. In Ecuador, they are most common in Guayaquil (the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador), in the Chongon Colonche Range (a mountain range on the central pacific coast), and along the first part of the highway west towards the coastal city of Salinas (located in the Province of Santa Elena, which previously was part of the Guayas Province). They are generally absent from humid areas, favoring dry woodlands, desert-like scrub and cactus-dominated desert vegetation. These birds are found up to elevations of 4,000 feet (~ 1200 meters), but are most common below 1,640 feet (500 meters) Reference – http://www.avianweb.com/whitetailedjays.html

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White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa)

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The White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) is a large Central American jay species. It ranges in Pacific-slope thornforest from Jalisco, Mexico to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers. White-throated Magpie-Jay hybridizes in Jalisco with Black-throated Magpie-Jay (C. colliei), with which it forms a superspecies. There are three recognised subspecies, the nominate race, which is only found in southern Mexico; C. f. azurea, which is found in south eastern Mexico and western Guatemala, and C. f. pompata, which runs from south eastern Mexico to Costa Rica. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_Magpie-jay

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Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa)

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The Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) also called Torogoz by the inhabitants of El Salvador and Guardabarranco in Nicaragua; is a colourful, medium-sized bird of the motmot family, Momotidae. It inhabits Central America from south-east Mexico (mostly the Yucatán Peninsula), to Costa Rica, where it is common and not considered threatened. It lives in fairly open habitats such as forest edge, gallery forest and scrubland. It is more conspicuous than other motmots, often perching in the open on wires and fences. From these perches it scans for prey, such as insects and small reptiles. White eggs (3-6) are laid in a long tunnel nest in an earth bank or sometimes in a quarry or fresh-water well. Its name originates from the color of its brow, turquoise. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise-browed_Motmot

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Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

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The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow bird named for its wax-like wing tips. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, and insects.[2] The Cedar Waxwing is not endangered. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Waxwing

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