ALTAugust 19, 2023 - Simple Greenbul or Simple Leaflove (Chlorocichla simplex)
Found in parts of western and central Africa, these greenbuls live in dense shrubs and thickets around forest edges, sometimes near water. Usually remaining in thick vegetation, they feed on fruits and seeds, as well as arthropods, foraging in pairs or family groups and sometimes joining mixed-species flocks. They build shallow cup-shaped nests from twigs, rootlets, stems, dry grasses, vines, spiderwebs, and other materials in bushes or saplings. Females incubate clutches of one or, usually, two eggs alone.
ALTAugust 18, 2023 - Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher or Cinnamon Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone cinnamomea)
Found in the Philippines and parts of northern Indonesia, these monarchs live in lowland and foothill forests. Foraging alone, in pairs, or in mixed-species flocks, they feed on insects, capturing their prey in short flights. They build neat cup-shaped nests in forked branches from materials including plant fibers, moss, and probably spiderwebs and lichen.
ALTAugust 17, 2023 - Shear-tailed Gray Tyrant (Muscipipra vetula)
These tyrant flycatchers are found around the borders of mountain forests, woodlands, and sometimes grasslands in parts of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Foraging in pairs or groups of up to six birds, they eat insects, hunting in short flights from exposed perches. They build open cup-shaped nests from grass, twigs, and dry moss in shrubby vegetation where females lay clutches of three eggs.
ALTAugust 16, 2023 - Pale Rosefinch (Carpodacus stoliczkae)
Found in parts of Afghanistan and northern China, these finches live in dry, often scrubby, areas on hills and mountains, usually near streams or springs. Foraging alone or in pairs on the ground or sometimes in bushes, they feed on seeds, though the specifics of their diet are unknown. Little is known about their nesting behavior, but they probably breed in the summer in Afghanistan and use hair in their nests, which may be cup-shaped and built in rock crevices like those of the closely related Sinai Rosefinch.
ALTAugust 15, 2023 - Cinereous-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis hypospodia)
Found in parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru, these birds in the ovenbird family live in grasslands and shrubby open habitats, often around water. Usually foraging in pairs, they likely feed on arthropods, picking them from leaves and small branches near the ground. Their breeding habits are unknown.
ALTAugust 14, 2023 - Costa Rican Warbler (Basileuterus melanotis)
Found in parts of Costa Rica and western Panama, these warblers live in and around mountain forests. They feed on insects, foraging in the understory in pairs and small groups and often joining mixed-species flocks. Only one of their nests has been described, it was domed with a side entrance and constructed from dry leaves, twigs, live fern leaves, grass, roots, and moss. Females build the nests and incubate the eggs and males help care for the chicks.
ALTAugust 13, 2023 - Golden-crowned Tanager (Iridosornis rufivertex)
Found in parts of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, these tanagers live in mountain woodlands near the tree line. They feed on seeds and insects, foraging in pairs or small groups, often in mixed-species flocks. Little is known about their nesting habits, though they probably breed between February and October depending on the area of their range.
ALTAugust 12, 2023 - Black Grasswren (Amytornis housei)
Found in northwestern Australia, these birds in the fairywren family live in grassy areas with cliffs and gorges. They eat insects and seeds, foraging on the ground around grass clumps and crevices in rocks. Nesting from December to March, they probably breed cooperatively in groups of as many as six birds. They build large, globe-shaped or domed nests with side entrances from grass stems, leaves, rootlets, and fine grass in grass clumps. Females incubate clutches of one or two eggs and both parents feed the chicks, assisted by other helper birds.
ALTAugust 11, 2023 - Green Oriole or Australasian Yellow Oriole (Oriolus flavocinctus)
Found in northern Australia and parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, these orioles live in rainforests and brushy and wooded habitats near water. They eat mostly fruits, along with some seeds, nectar, insects, and rarely nestlings, foraging alone, in pairs, or in small groups, sometimes with other species. Usually breeding between August and January, they build deep cup-shaped nests from bark fibers, grasses, leaves, twigs, vine tendrils, wool, hair, fine plant materials, and spiderwebs in trees, often over water. Females lay clutches of two or three eggs and do most of the incubation and brooding, though both parents feed the chicks.
ALTAugust 10, 2023 - Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)
Found in much of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and possibly western Myanmar, these sunbirds inhabit a variety of forest habitats and some cultivated areas. They eat nectar, as well as caterpillars and other insects, spiders, and some fruits, foraging alone and in pairs. Females build pear or oval-shaped nests, usually with porches, from grass, fibers, lichen, bark, moss, and other materials suspended from the ends of branches, trellises, wires, or other structures, though males may assist them. They lay clutches of two or three eggs. Both parents feed the chicks.
ALTAugust 9, 2023 - White-browed Tapaculo (Scytalopus superciliaris)
Found in the Andes in northwestern Argentina, these tapaculos live in mountain forests, often in ravines. Their diet in not known but may include seeds and some insects like the closely related Zimmer’s Tapaculo, which was previously considered the same species. Laying their eggs from September or October to December, they build open cup-shaped nests in tunnels in banks or under shrubs. Females lay clutches of two eggs.
ALTAugust 8, 2023 - Bar-breasted Firefinch (Lagonosticta rufopicta)
These firefinches are found in grasslands, savannas, and marshes, often near villages and roads, across much of central Africa. Foraging on the ground in pairs and small flocks, frequently with other finch species, they feed on small grass seeds. Breeding in the later half of the rainy season and into the dry season, they build covered nests with side entrances from coarse grass, lined with soft grass and feathers in bushes, grass, vines on walls, or sometimes in old weaver or mannikin nests. Females lay clutches of three to six eggs.