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Information about Finsch's Flycatcher Thrush

Rufous Flycatcher-thrush
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Turdidae
Genus:Neocossyphus
Species:N. finschi
Binomial name
Neocossyphus finschi
(Sharpe, 1870)


Finsch's Flycatcher-thrush,[1] Neocossyphus (or Stizorhina) finschi, is a little-known flycatcher-like thrush of West African forests. It is often considered a subspecies of the Rufous Flycatcher-thrush.

Range and habitat

This species lives at low levels in the thickest parts of forests, often near stream or damp areas or in wooded swamps, from sea level to 1500 meters (about 5,000 feet), in the southern parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria. (A record from southern Togo may represent a small population there.) It is sedentary.[2]

It is rare in many areas, but locally common.[2]

Description

Finsch's Flycatcher-thrushes are 18 to 20 cm (7¼ to 8 inches) long. Adults are brown above and orangish below, more gray or olive on the nape and breast and more rufous at the rear of the body. The tail is dark brown with white corners. The cheeks and throat are pale with gray and orange tints.[2][3] Immatures are undescribed.[2]

The voice is similar to that of the Rufous Flycatcher-thrush. In Liberia it sings from May to October.[2] The song is four melodious whistles, "hooee, hooee hooee-huEE, slower and lower-pitched than song of Rufous Flycatcher Thrush".[3] One call is four rapidly repeated notes, "tswe-tswe-tswe-tswe" with the variant "tsw-tsee… tsweeeee"; another is "a long, plaintive whistle wee… weeeee-eee." In alarm caused by predators it gives a "buzzing word-word-word." Unlike the Rufous Flycatcher-thrush, this species responds to recordings of its call.[2]

Behavior

Finsch's Flycatcher-thrush usually occurs alone or in pairs. During the breeding season it is highly territorial, but at other times it may join mixed-species flocks at ant swarms. However, it relies much less on ant swarms than two of its fellow members of the genus Neocossyphus, the White-tailed and Red-tailed Ant-thrushes. Instead it catches insects in its beak like a flycatcher, hawking from perches or taking them from under leaves while it hovers. Favored insects include termites, grasshoppers, ants, beetles, flies, and various small species. It may sit for a long time without moving on a horizontal perch.[2] It often flicks its outer rectrices to the side "in scissor-like fashion".[3]

In Nigeria, a bird was seen in March collecting nesting material at the base of an epiphyte. In Liberia, birds have been observed in breeding condition from June to December and independent young in September. Little else is known about this species' reproduction.[2]

Taxonomy

Some authorities lump this species with the Rufous Flycatcher-thrush,[4] partly because of observations of birds in southern Nigeria with plumage and songs between those of the two species.[5] Here it is treated as a separate species following the Handbook of the Birds of the World[6] and other authorities.[2][7][8]

The specific epithet honors the explorer Otto Finsch. It is often spelled finschii, but the spelling with one i is correct.[9]

References

1. ^ Also Finsch's Rusty Flycatcher, Finsch's Ant Thrush, Finsch's Rufous Ant Thrush, Finsch's Rufous Thrush
2. ^ Clement, Peter (2000), Thrushes, Princeton University Press, pp. 180–181, Plate 1, ISBN 978-0-691-08852-5
3. ^ Demey, Ron (2002), A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa, Princeton University Press, pp. 605, Plate 92, ISBN 0-691-09520-5
4. ^ BirdLife International 2004. Stizorhina fraseri. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved on 18 October 2007. Citing Dowsett, R. J. & A. D. Forbes-Watson (1993), Checklist of Birds of the Afrotropical and Malagasy Regions. Volume 1: Species limits and distribution, Tauraco Press
5. ^ Dowsett, R. J. & F. Dowsett-Lemaire (1993), A Contribution to the Distribution and Taxonomy of Afrotropical and Malagasy Birds, Tauraco Press, cited by Demey (2002)
6. ^ del Hoyo, J.; A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (2005), Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6
7. ^ Clements, James F. (2007), The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World (Sixth ed.), Cornell University Press, ISBN 978-0-8014-4501-9, according to Lepage, Denis (2003–2007), Avibase - the world bird database, <[1] (retrieved on Oct. 18, 2007)
8. ^ Lack, Peter (2006), ABC African Checklist (nonpasserines), African Bird Club, <[2] (retrieved on Oct. 18, 2007)
9. ^ del Hoyo et al. (2005), according to Lack (2006)
Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Passeriformes
Linnaeus, 1758

Suborders
  • Acanthisitti
  • Tyranni
  • Passeri


A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. More than half of all species of bird are passerines.
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Turdidae

Genera

Some 20, see text

The Thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World.
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Neocossyphus
Fischer & Reichenow, 1884

species

N. fraseri
N. finschii
N. rufus
N. poensis
The flycatcher-thrushes are medium-sized insectivorous birds in the genus Neocossyphus
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 - 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist.

Sharpe was born in London and studied at Brighton, Peterborough and Loughborough. At the age of sixteen he went to work for Smith & Sons in London.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1840s  1850s  1860s  - 1870s -  1880s  1890s  1900s
1867 1868 1869 - 1870 - 1871 1872 1873

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Muscicapidae
Vigors, 1825

Genera

See text.

The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World.
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Thrush may refer to:
  • Thrush (bird), common name of the bird family Turdidae
  • Candidiasis, fungal infection commonly known as thrush or yeast infection, affecting the mouth or vagina
  • Thrush Aircraft, US aircraft manufacturer

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West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa (which coincides with common reckonings of the region) includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of around 5 million
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N. fraseri

Binomial name
Neocossyphus fraseri
(Strickland, 1844, Fernando Po)

The Rufous Flycatcher-thrush (Neocossyphus fraseri or Stizorhina fraseri
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Motto
"Unity - Freedom - Justice"
Anthem
High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free


Capital Freetown

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Motto
"The love of liberty brought us here"
Anthem
All Hail, Liberia, Hail!


Capital Monrovia

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Motto
"Fraternité, Justice, Travail"   (French)
"Fellowship, Justice, Labour"
Anthem
L'Aube Nouvelle   (French)

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Motto
"Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress"
Anthem
"Arise O Compatriots, Nigeria's Call Obey"


Capital Abuja

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TOGO was a Japanese roller coaster design company, famous for inventing the stand-up roller coaster. TOGO went bankrupt in the early 2000s due to a lawsuit by Knott's Berry Farm for problems with their Windjammer roller coaster.
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A mixed-species feeding flock or mixed hunting party is a flock of birds of different species that join each other to search for food.

A proverb says, "Birds of a feather flock together," but birds of different kinds often occur together.
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The name army ant (or legionary ant) is applied to over 200 known species, in different lineages, together characterized primarily by their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", in which huge numbers of ants all forage simultaneously over a certain area,
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Neocossyphus
Fischer & Reichenow, 1884

species

N. fraseri
N. finschii
N. rufus
N. poensis
The flycatcher-thrushes are medium-sized insectivorous birds in the genus Neocossyphus
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N. poensis

Binomial name
Neocossyphus poensis
(Strickland, 1844, Clarence, Fernando Po)

The White-tailed Ant-thrush (Neocossyphus poensis
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N. rufus

Binomial name
Neocossyphus rufus
(Fischer & Reichenow, 1884, Pangani)

The Red-tailed Ant-thrush (Neocossyphus rufus) is a species of bird in the Turdidae family.
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flight feather refers to any of the long stiff feathers on the wing or tail of a bird; those on the wing are called remiges (singular remex) while those on the tail are called rectrices (singular rectrix).
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epiphyte is an organism that grows upon or attached to a living plant. The term most commonly refers to higher plants, but epiphytic bacteria, fungi (epiphytic fungi), algae, lichens, mosses, and ferns exist as well.
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Lumping and splitting refers to a well known problem in any discipline which has to place individual examples into rigorously defined categories. The lumper/splitter problem occurs when there is the need to create classifications and assign examples to them, for example
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N. fraseri

Binomial name
Neocossyphus fraseri
(Strickland, 1844, Fernando Po)

The Rufous Flycatcher-thrush (Neocossyphus fraseri or Stizorhina fraseri
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Handbook of the Birds of the World is a multi-volume series produced by Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions. It is the first handbook to cover every living species of bird. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and Jordi Sargatal.
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