Rainbow bee-eater

Merops ornatus

Photo by Patrick Ingremeau (Oiseaux)

Common name:
rainbow bee-eater (en); abelharuco-australiano (pt); guêpier arc-en-ciel (fr); abejaruco australiano (es); ragenbogenspint (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Meropidae

Range:
This species is found throughout mainland Australia, in New Guinea and eastern Indonesia. They are also found in the Solomon Islands.

Size:
These birds are 19-28 cm long, including the elongated tail feathers, and have a wingspan of 31-34 cm. They weigh 25-30 g.

Habitat:
The rainbow bee-eater is mainly found in open forests and woodlands, scrublands, and in various cleared or semi-cleared habitats, including farmland and human settlements. They are also found in coastal and inland sand dunes and mangroves, as well as along fresh water lakes and rivers.

Diet:
They catch insects on the wing, mostly bees and wasps, as well as dragonflies, beetles, damselflies, butterflies and moths, flies, ants and bugs. They occasionally also take other animals such as earthworms, spiders and tadpoles.

Breeding:
The rainbow bee-eater breeds in socially monogamous pairs that are sometimes assisted a number of helpers that are usually male. They breed in August-January and the nest in a chamber at the end of a long burrow or tunnel excavated by both sexes in flat or sloping ground, in the banks of rivers, creeks or dams, in roadside cuttings, in the walls of gravel pits or quarries, in mounds of gravel, or in cliff-faces. The female lays 2-8 pearl-white eggs, which are incubated by 22-31 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and the helpers, fledging 23-28 days after hatching, but continue to receive food for another 2-4 weeks.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 1 million individuals. Although the introduced cane toad Bufo marinus is known to reduce their breeding success by feeding on eggs and especially nestlings, the overall population is suspected to be stable an is not considered threatened at present.

Cocoa woodcreeper

Xiphorhynchus susurrans

Photo by Paul Kusmin (Flickr)

Common name:
cocoa woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-do-cacao (pt); grimpar cacao (fr); trepatroncos cacao (es); kleiner fahlkehl-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found from Guatemala to northern Colombia and Venezuela, also being found in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

Size:
These birds are 23-28 cm long and weigh 35-65 g.

Habitat:
These birds are mostly found in rainforests, gallery forests along rivers, swamp forests and mature mangroves, but also in cerrado woodlands, dry scrublands, second growths and plantations. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 2.400 m.

Diet:
They forage by gleaning, pecking or probing into bark crevices, dead leafs, clumps of moss or knotholes, mostly tacking various arthropods, but sometimes also small vertebrates. They sometimes follow columns of army ants.

Breeding:
The cocoa woodcreeper builds a bark-lined nest in a tree hole or hollow stump, usually near the ground. There the female lays 1-3 eggs which are incubated for 18-19 days. The chicks fledge 19 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as fairly common to common throughout most of its range, although uncommon to rare at higher altitudes, in north-west Costa Rica and in northern Honduras. This population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Eurasian collared dove

Streptopelia decaocto

Photo by Jirí Bohdal (Naturephoto CZ)

Common name:
Eurasian collared dove (en); rola-turca (pt); tourterelle turque (fr); tórtola turca (es); Türkentaube (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Columbiformes
Family Columbidae

Range:
This species was originally found in temperate and sub-tropical Asia, from Turkey to southern China and south to India and Sri Lanka. Since the late 19th century it started to expand westwards and is now found throughout most of Europe, as far west as Portugal and Ireland and as far north as Norway and central Russia. At present, it is also found in northern Africa, from Egypt to Morocco.

Size:
These birds are 30-33 cm long and have a wingspan of 47-55 cm. They weigh 150-200 g.

Habitat:
The Eurasian collared dove is found in temperate and boreal forests, dry scrublands, degraded tropical forests and also in rural areas, arable land and within urban areas. They are typically found from sea level up to an altitude of 1.300 m.

Diet:
They mainly feed on seeds, but also green vegetable parts such as buds and shoots, fruits and sometimes garbage and invertebrates.

Breeding:
Eurasian collared doves breed in March-October. The nest is a loose platform made of sticks and twigs, sometimes lined with grasses. It is placed in a scrub or tree, 2-20 m above the ground. There the female lays 2 whitish eggs which are incubated by both parents for 14-18 days. The chicks are fed crop milk and regurgitated seeds by both parents and fledge 15-19 days after hatching, but still receive food from the parents for another weeks. Each pair may raise 3-6 broods per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 20-100 million individuals. The population is currently suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and unsustainable levels of exploitation.

Blue-and-white flycatcher

Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Photo by Robin Newlin (Birds Korea)

Common name:
blue-and-white flycatcher (en); papa-moscas-azul-e-branco (pt); gobemouche bleu (fr); papamoscas blanco y azul (es); Japanschnäpper (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Muscicapidae

Range:
This species breeds in north-eastern China, extreme south-eastern Russia, Korea and Japan, migrating south to winter in Vietnam, Cambodja, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Size:
These birds are 16-17 cm long and weigh 22-25 g.

Habitat:
The blue-and-white flycatcher breeds in various wooded habitats, namely taiga, moist forests and swamp forests, but also in moist scrublands, from sea level up to an altitude of 1.200 m. During migration and winter they are found in tropical forests, scrublands and also coastal woodlands, plantations, parks and gardens within rural and urban areas.

Diet:
They mainly feed on larval and adult insects, mostly moths and beetles, but will also take berries when in season.

Breeding:
The blue-and-white flycatcher breeds in May-August. The cup-shaped nest is made of moss, plant fibres and lichens, and placed near the ground, in a rock crevice, among the roots of a tree, or under the overhanging bank of a stream, often sheltered by vegetation or branches. There the female lays 4-6 pale brown eggs with darker markings, which she incubates alone for roughly 14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common to locally common in most of this range, but uncommon in China, Thailand and the Philippines. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Red-lored amazon

Amazona autumnalis

Photo by John C. Avise (Avise's Birds of the World)

Common name:
red-lored amazon (en); papagaio-diadema (pt); amazone à lores rouges (fr); loro cariamarillo (es); gelbwangenamazone (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Psittaciformes
Family Psittacidae

Range:
This species occurs in two disjunct populations. One is found from south-eastern Mexico down to western Colombia and Ecuador, while the other is found in central Brazil in the lower Rio Negro area.

Size:
These birds are 32-35 cm long and weigh 315-485 g.

Habitat:
Red-lored amazons are mainly found in rainforests, but also in mangroves, swamp forests, dry tropical forests, second growths, dry scrublands and plantations, from sea level up to an altitude of 1.100 m.

Diet:
They are strictly herbivorous, eating seeds, fruit, nuts, berries, greens, blossoms and buds.

Breeding:
The red-lored amazon breeds in January-June. They nest in tree cavities, where the female lays 2-5 white eggs. The female incubates the eggs alone for 25-28 and the chicks are fed by both parents until fledging, which takes place 8-10 weeks after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 500.000-5.000.000 individuals. the population is suspected to be declining owing to habitat destruction and unsustainable levels of exploitation due to its use as a food source, for its colourful feathers that are used in ceremonial dances and for the international pet trade.

African cuckoo

Cuculus gularis

Photo by Nancy Bell (Mango Verde)

Common name:
African cuckoo (en); cuco-africano (pt); coucou africain (fr); cuco barbiblanco (es); Afrikanerkuckuck (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Cuculiformes
Family Cuculidae

Range:
This species is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, only being absent from parts of D.R. Congo, Somalia, southern Namibia and south-western South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 30-33 cm long and weigh 100-110 g.

Habitat:
African cuckoos are mostly found in dry savannas, but also in dry scrublands and grasslands. they tend to avoid evergreen forests.

Diet:
They mainly feed on caterpillars, collected amongst the foliage of trees and shrubs, but will also take beetles, grasshoppers, termites, ant alates and even the eggs and nestlings of other birds.

Breeding:
African cuckoos breed in September-December. They are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds, namely the fork-tailed drongo Dicrurus adsimilis. Often the male distracts the host while the female flies into its nest, removes any existing eggs and lays 1 of her own. The egg is incubated by the host for 11-17 days. The chicks removes any existing eggs from the nest and is fed by the host until it fledges, about 23 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and is reported to be fairly common throughout its range, especially within protected areas. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Siberian jay

Perisoreus infaustus

Photo by Daniel Pettersson (Wikipedia)

Common name:
Siberian jay (en); gaio-siberiano (pt); mésangeai imitateur (fr); arrendajo funesto (es); unglückshäher (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Corvidae

Range:
These birds are found in northern Eurasia, from Scandinavia to eastern Russia and northern China.

Size:
The Siberian jay is 26-29 cm long and have a wingspan of 40-46 cm. They weigh 75-95 g.

Habitat:
They are mostly found in boreal forests, especially old pine forests with plenty of lichens, but can also be found in mixed temperate forests along the southern parts of their range.

Diet:

The Siberian jay is omnivorous. They hunt small mammals and birds, raid the nests of other birds for eggs, take various arthropods and will also eat carrion. They also eat various plant materials, especially blueberries.

Breeding:

They breed in March-June. Both sexes build the nest, a platform made of sticks, twigs, lichen and bark, lined with pieces of bark and feathers and placed near the ground, close to the trunk of a tree. There the female lays 3-5 greenish eggs with grey and brown spots. The female incubates the eggs alone for 19-20 days, while the male brings her food. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 20-24 days, ys, but stay together in a brood with their mother for some weeks. Each pair raises a single clutch per year.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has an extremely large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 2-8,5 million individuals. The population is estimated to be in decline following decreases in the southern edge of its range.