Australian logrunner

Orthonyx temminckii

Common name:
Australian logrunner (en); corre-troncos-australiano (pt); orthonyx de Temminck (fr); colaespina de Temminck (es); Australien-stachelschwanzflöter (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Orthonychidae


Range:
This species is endemic to eastern Australia, being found from New South Wales to Queensland.


Size:
These birds are 18-21 cm long. Males tend to be larger than females, weighing 58-70 g, while the females weigh 46-58 g.


Habitat:
They are mostly found in dense rainforests and in moist scrublands along forest edges, but can also be found in temperate forests and scrublands.


Diet:
Australian logrunners forage on the ground, taking adult and larval insects and other small soil invertebrates.


Breeding:
They breed in the austral Autumn and Winter, in April-September. The female build the nest, a globular dome made of twigs, sticks, dry leaves and green moss, placed on the ground or sometimes in low vines or on a fallen log or a stump. The she lays 2 white eggs which are incubated for 21-25 days. The chicks are mostly fed by the female, but the male is the one who collects and brings the food to the nest. The chicks fledge 16-18 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a relatively large breeding range and is described as common in the north of its range, becoming rarer towards the south. This population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat loss and degradation.

Winter wren

Troglodytes troglodytes

Photo by Fabio Giarrizzo (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
winter wren (en); carriça (pt); troglodyte mignon (fr); chochín (es); zaunkönig (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Troglodytidae


Range:
These birds are widely distributed in Europe, North Africa, Asia and North America, being found across Europe, including Iceland and the British Isles, into Russia, the Middle East and southern Asia, and through the Aleutian islands into Alaska, Canada and south along the eastern and western coasts of the United States down to Mexico.


Size:
The winter wren is 8-12 cm long and has a wingspan of 12-16 cm. They weigh 8-12 g.


Habitat:
They are found in a wide range of habitats, including coniferous and deciduous forests, riparian vegetation, scrubland, farmland, moorland, heaths, and urban parks and gardens. These birds have beed recorded from sea level up to an altitude of 4.600 m.


Diet:
Winter wrens are insectivorous, taking various insects and their larvae, but also spiders, millipedes and sometimes snails.


Breeding:
These birds breed in March-June. They build a dome-shaped nest in a hole or crevice, using grasses, moss, lichens and roots, and line it with feathers. The female lays 1-9 white eggs with reddish-brown eggs, which she incubates alone for 16 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 14-19 days after hatching, but will continue to receive food from the parents for another 2-3 weeks.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC
The winter wren has an extremely large breeding range and a global population estimated at 200-1.000 million individuals. The population trend is difficult to determine because of uncertainty over the impacts of habitat modification on population sizes, but in Europe and North america populations seem to have undergone a moderate increase.

Olivaceous piculet

Picumnus olivaceus

Photo by Jose García (Birding Panama)

Common name:
olivaceous piculet (en); pica-pau-anão-azeitona (pt); picumne olivâtre (fr); carpinterito oliváceo (es); olivrücken-zwergspecht (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae


Range:
These birds are found from Guatemala and Honduras, through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, and into Colombia, western Venezuela, western Ecuador and north-western Peru.


Size:
This tinny woodpecker is 8-10 cm long and weighs 12-13 g.


Habitat:
Olivaceous piculets are found in dry forests, moist forests, along forests edges, and in shady pastures, plantations and second-growth vegetation. These birds are found from sea level up to an altitude of 2.500 m.


Diet:
They mostly feed in very slender dead branches and twigs, taking adult and larval ants and termites but also other insects and larvae.


Breeding:
The olivaceous piculet breeds in January-June. Both sexes help carve a neatly rounded cavity in dead trunks or in decaying fence-posts, 1-4 m above the ground. There the female lays 2-3 white eggs which are incubated by both parents for 14 days. The chicks are fed by both sexes and fledge 24-25 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as fairly common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Greater double-collared sunbird

Cinnyris afer

Photo by Elaine van Dyk (Red Bubble)

Common name:
greater double-collared sunbird (en); beija-flor-de-banda-larga (pt); souïmanga à plastron rouge (fr); suimanga bicollar mayor (es); großer doppelband-nektarvogel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Nectariniidae


Range:
These birds are endemic to South Africa and Swaziland, occurring in a band from the Limpopo Province, through Mpumalanga and Swaziland, and into KwaZulu-Natal and down the coast to the Western and Eastern Cape.


Size:
These birds are 14 cm long and weigh 9-11 g.


Habitat:
They are generally found along the edges of mountain, coastal and dune forests, but also in fynbos, coastal scrubland, Acacia savanna, gardens and parks.


Diet:
These birds mainly feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Aloe, Cotyledon, Erica, Protea, Tecoma capensis, Gasteria, Hibiscus, Salvia, Plumbago, Canna, Pyrostegia venusta and cultivated pineapples. They also eat fruits and fruit juices, and some small arthropods.


Breeding:
Greater double-collared sunbirds can breed all year round, but with a peak in July-November. They are monogamous and the female builds the nest alone, an oval-shaped structure built of a variety of materials, such as dry grass, bark shreds, wool, cottony material, feathers, fur, leaves, lichen, rootlets, twiglets and string bound together with spider web. It is typically placed 2-6 metres above ground in a tree with dense foliage. The female lays 1-2 eggs, which she incubates alone for 14-16 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 13-16 days, but only become fully independent 10 days later.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species as a large breeding range and is described as locally common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Black chinned yuhina

Yuhina nigrimenta

Common name:
black-chinned yuhina (en); iuína-de-garganta-preta (pt); yuhina à menton noir (fr); yuhina barbinegra (es); meisenyuhina (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae


Range:
This Asian species is found from northern India, Nepal and Bhutan, through Bangladesh, and into southern China, Myanmar, Cambodja and Vietnam.


Size:
These birds are 10 cm long and weigh 9-10 g.


Habitat:
Black-chinned yuhinas are found in tropical and sub-tropical moist forests, at altitudes of 200-2.800 m.


Diet:
They mostly eat seeds, fruits and small insects.


Breeding:
Black-chinned yuhinas build a cup-shaped nest in a scrub or climbing plant, where the female lays 1-3 eggs. The eggs are incubated for 16 days and the chicks fledge 14-17 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common to rare. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Snowy sheathbill

Chionis albus

Photo by Liam Quinn (Wikipedia)

Common name:
snowy sheathbill (en); pomba-antárctica (pt); chionis blanc (fr); paloma antártica (es); weißgesicht-scheidenschnabel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Chionidae


Range:
This species breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, and in sub-Antarctic islands along the Scotia Arc on the South Shetland islands, Elephant island, South Orkney islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich islands. Some birds migrate south to winter in the Falkland islands, Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia.

Size:

These birds are 34-41 cm long and have a wingspan of 75-80 cm. They weigh 460-780 g.

Habitat:

They are found on rocky or ice-covered islands, often amongst rotting piles of kelp on sandy and rocky beaches along shorelines, on tussock grass, meadows and lowland bogs. They also occur on icebergs. During the breeding season they are found amongst penguin colonies, and to a lesser extent, cormorant, albatross and seal colonies.

Diet:

Snowy sheathbills are omnivorous and opportunistic. During the summer they mostly eat regurgitated krill obtained by direct interference with penguins feeding chicks, but they will also eat penguin and cormorant eggs, excrement, and, to a lesser extent, young chicks. They also eat blubber and flesh off the skin and skeletons of carcasses, and forage on intertidal areas taking limpets and algae.

Breeding:

They breed in December-February. The nest cup is placed on the ground, generally within a penguin colony, and lined with a combination of bones, guano, moss, algae, dead chicks and even rubbish. The female lays 2-3 creamy-white eggs which are incubated by both sexes for 26-32 days. The chicks leave the nest after 30 days, but are only able to feed on their own after 1-2 months and may continue to follow their parents for food for up to 6 months.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

The snowy sheathbill has a relatively small breeding range and the global population is estimated at 20.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be stable, however, there is some evidence of a population decline in the vicinity of the Argentine islands.

Olive warbler

Peucedramus taeniatus

Photo by Robert Royse (Robert Royse's Bird Photography)

Common name:
olive warbler (en); mariquita-de-mascarilha (pt); fauvine des pins (fr); chipe oliváceo (es); trugwaldsänger (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Peucedramidae


Range:
These birds are found from southern Arizona and New mexico, in the United States, through Mexico and down to Honduras and northern Nicaragua.


Size:
They are 12-14 cm long and have a wingspan of 20-24 cm. They weigh 9,5-12 g.


Habitat:
Olive warblers are mostly breed in high mountain pine and fir forests, generally over 2.600 m above sea level. During winter they move to lower altitudes, using pine forests but also in adjacent oak forests and sometimes even in palm stands.


Diet:
These birds are insectivorous, taking various insects picked from the branches and bark of trees.


Breeding:
Olive warblers breed in May-July. The nest is a compact cup made of moss, lichens and roots, placed on a branch in a tree, 10-25 m above the ground. The female lays 3-5 bluish-white eggs with olive spots, which she incubates alone for 12-13 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 9-10 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 2 million individuals. The population in the northern part of its range have undergone a small decline over the last 4 decades, but these represent less than half of the global population. Overall this species is not considered threatened at present.