Philippine Birds

Summary of avian diversity

A guide to identifying birds

Characteristics of Class Aves

1. Body usually spindle shaped, with 4 divisions: head, neck,

trunk, and tail

2. Limbs paired; forelimbs usually modified for flying, hind

limbs adapted for various locomotory functions such as

perching, walking, swimming, also for grasping prey; foot

usually with 4 toes

3. Epidermal covering of feathers and leg scales; thin

integument of epidermis and dermis; no sweat glands; oil

gland at root of tail; pinna of ear rudimentary

Characteristics of Class Aves 4. Fully ossified skeleton with air cavities; skull bones fused

with one occipital condyle; each jaw covered with horny

sheath, forming a beak; no teeth; ribs with strenghtening

processes; tail not elongate; sternum well developed with

keel or reduced with no keel; single bone in middle ear

5. Nervous system well-developed, with brain and 12 pairs of

cranial nerves

6. Circulatory system of 4-chambered heart, with the right aortic

arch persisting; reduced renal portal system; nucleated red

blood cells

Characteristics of Class Aves 7. Endothermic

8. Respiration by slightly expansible lungs, with thin air sacs

among the visceral organs and skeleton; syrinx (voice box)

near junction of trachea and bronchi

9. Excretory system of metanephric kidney; ureters open into

cloaca; no bladder; semisolid urine; uric acid main

nitrogenous waste

10.Sexes separate; testes paired, with the vas deferens

opening into cloaca; females with left ovary and oviduct only;

copulatory organs in some

Avian Topography External parts of a bird mapping regions of

avian body and notable features (crest)

Distinct characters indicative of its name - blue-naped, white-bellied, blue-rumped, black-

necked, red-breasted, red-crowned

Unique avian characters lore, auriculars, scapulars, primaries, secondaries, tertials, alula,

culmen, gonys (A ridge along the mid-ventral line of the lower

mandible of certain birds), rictus, supercilium

Topography

Avian body form

Size and shape

Long or short neck, long or short legs

Sparrow-like or Thrush-like or Crow-like

Pigeon-like or Chicken-like or Duck-like

Reference point for comparative size

Distinct avian groups - Swifts, Hawks, Kingfishers, Parrots, Rails, Terns,

Plovers

Plumage patterns

Stiff flight feathers (remiges & retrices)

Contour and Down (natal or definitive)

Filoplumes, Semiplumes and Bristles

Plumage patterns pied, streaked, hooded, barred, silvery, striated, spotted,

banded, masked, bibbed, ringed, browed,

winged

Juvenile and Adult, Winter and Summer

Plumage colors pigment or structural

Types of tail

Color of Soft parts

Natural colors buff, rufous, citrine, ashy, cinnamon, slaty, olive, scarlet, sooty

Structural colors glossy and metallic

Soft parts and other unique features

Wattles, comb, eye-ring (circumorbital), gular skin, cere, bare skin on head

Color of soft parts bill, tarsus and iris

Soft parts in birds

Types of bird Feet

PALMATE 3 front toes webbed, hind toe unwebbed

TOTIPALMATE all 4 toes webbed

SEMIPALMATE (half-webbed) - anterior toes joined by

narrow webbing

LOBATE toes with lobed webbing

Types of bird feet:

RAPTORIAL toes muscular and heavily clawed (talon)

ANISODACTYLOUS hind toe longer, nail elongated

HETERODACTYLOUS inner (3rd) toe reversed

ZYGODACTYLOUS outer toe (1st) toe reversed SYNDACTYLOUS front toes joined at base PAMPRODACTYLOUS all toes in front or pointing forward

Distinguishing features in tarsus

scuttellate (scaly) tarsus reticulate tarsus

leg spur booted tarsus

Distinguishing features

Metallic band of speculum on ducks

Casque on hornbills

Operculum on pigeons and doves

Tarsal spur on pheasants and junglefowl

Elongated toes on jacanas

Gular pouch on pelicans and frigatebirds

Facial disk on owls

Tube-nose on shearwaters and petrels

Wing shape and Flight

Broad and round OR narrow and pointed

Slotted for soaring OR long for gliding

Wings barred, spotted, blotched, banded

Soaring thermals, dynamic soaring waves,

Straight flapping flight or undulating pattern

Silent or noisy, short burst or sustained

Sweeping flight pattern, sallying/ fly-catching

Beak adapations: netting (fish)

Beak adaptations: netting (insect)

Beak adaptations: sifting

Beak adaptations: spearing

Beak adaptations: spearing

Beak adaptations: probing

Beak adaptations: probing

Beak adaptations: probing

Beak adaptations: probing, hammering

Beak adaptations: husking

Beak adaptations: nut cracking

Beak adaptations: seed cracking

Bill adaptations: meat tearing

Beak features: casque

fruit eaters

Head features: facial disc

Head features: frontal shield

Head features: gular pouch

Tail features: streamer

Tail features: forked

Tail features: loose webbing

Head features: bare skin around eyes, neck wattles, crest

Beak features: tubular nose

Tail features: Needle tail

tail features: racquet

Sexual dimorphism

Most monogamous birds are sexually monomorphic sexes look alike

Some birds are sexually dimorphic sexes look different, often are polygamous

Generally males more colorful and females have drab coloration sunbirds, pheasants

Some females are colorful painted-snipe

For raptors, females are large than males

Calls and Songs Unique vocalizations indicative of species

Familiarity be used for field identification

Call single notes, short and repetitive

Alarm or threat call, flight call, territorial

Song elaborate notes and melodious

For courtship and display, show fitness

Calls vary with island populations dialect

Trophic & Feeding guilds

Frugivore or Nectarivore or Graminivore

Piscivore or Insectivore or Vermivore

Bark-gleaning or Foliage-gleaning

Sweeper or Sallier, Probing or Stabbing

Arboreal or Terrestrial or Aquatic

Canopy or Understorey or Forest floor

Omnivore as mixed insectivore-frugivore

Arboreal insectivore-frugivore (AIF)

Nests and Nesting

Open cup-nest or Cavity-nester

Primary cavity-nester (woodpeckers)

Secondary cavity-nester (parrots, owls)

Elaborate penduline purse nest (sunbirds)

Simple pile of twigs (pigeons), heronry

Woven cup-shaped nest (flycatchers)

Folded leaves stitched together (tailorbird)

No nest, brood parasitism (cuckoos)

Residency Status

Resident (sedentary) or Migratory

Endemic to Philippines

Endemic to Faunal region or EBA

Island endemic or Mountain endemic

Near endemic - Philippines & some islands

Non-endemic resident with endemic race

Non-endemic resident, race occur beyond

Restricted-range species (

Migratory birds

Some birds breed on temperate regions Summer breeding grounds (165 species)

Migrate south to tropics to evade scarcity of food in winter Winter feeding grounds

Winter migrant regular visitor

Passage visitor (thru Asian flyway)

Accidental Vagrant (noted once or twice)

Most shorebirds, waders and waterfowl

Some raptors, passerines, owls, cuckoos

Montane & lowland forms

Tall mountain massifs and volcanic peaks offer distinct montane and lowland forests

Montane forests occur above 1,000 masl

Birds restricted to lowland rainforests hornbills, bleedinghearts, babblers

Birds restricted to montane forest bullfinch, lorikeet, shortwing, island thrush

Montane and lowland congeneric species scops-owls, white-eyes, whistlers

Phases and Races

Color phases black and white forms of same species reef egret, hawk-eagle

Geographic variation among island and mountain populations of a single species

Vary in size or color from nominate form

Monotypic Vs. Polytypic

Colasisi has 10 races or subspecies

Philippine Cockatoo uniform on all islands

Avian taxonomy

Non-passerines and Passerines (songbirds)

29 avian families in Order Passeriformes

50 families in 18 orders (Kennedy et al., 2000)

Peters et al., 1985 based on morphology

Sibley & Monroe 1991 on biochemical

Babblers, Warblers, Flycatchers and Creepers combined into Muscicapidae

Hornbills as separate Order Bucerotiformes

Water birds shorebirds and wading birds

1. Order Procellariformes

Tube-noses, Gulls, Terns, Petrels and Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Procellariidae)

2. Order Pelecaniformes

Brown Booby (Sulidae)

Spot-billed Pelican (Pelicanidae)

Waterbirds

3. Order Podicipediformes

Grebes (Podicipedidae)

Little Grebe

4. Order Anseriformes - Ducks (Anatidae)

Tufted Duck

Philippine Duck

5. Order Gruiformes

Slaty-breasted Rail (Rallidae)

Water birds

6. Order Ciconiiformes

Woolly-necked Storck (Ciconiidae)

Black-faced Spoonbill (Threskiornithidae)

Chinese Egret (Ardeidae)

7. Order Charadriiformes

Bridled Tern (Sternidae)

Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Jacanidae)

Water birds

Order Charadriiformes

Redshank (Scolopacidae)

Red-necked Phalarope

(Phalaropodidae)

Oriental Plover (Charadriidae)

Pied Avocet (Recurvirostridae)

Land Birds

8. Order Galliformes

Tabon Scrubfowl (Megapodidae)

Palawan Peacock-Pheasant (Phasianidae)

Red Junglefowl

Gamefowl

Raptors

9. Order Falconiformes

Philippine Falconet (Falconidae)

Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Accipitridae)

Philippine Eagle

Land Birds

Pigeons & Doves

10. Order Columbiformes

(Columbidae)

Pink-bellied Imperial-Pigeon

Nicobar Pigeon

Yellow-breasted Fruit-dove

Luzon Bleedingheart

Land Birds

Parrots

11. Order Psittaciformes

Colasisi or Hanging Parrot (Psittacidae)

Philippine Cockatoo (Cacatuidae)

Mindanao Lorikeet (Loriidae)

Land Birds

Cuckoos & Coucals

12. Order Cuculiformes

(Cuculidae)

Red-crested Malkoha

Scale-feathered Malkoha

Rufous Coucal

Land Birds

Nocturnal Birds

13. Order Caprimulgiformes

Long-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgidae)

Philippine Frogmouth (Podargidae)

14. Order Strigiformes

Philippine Scops-Owl (Strigidae)

Grass Owl (Tytonidae)

Land Birds

Kingfishers & Swifts

15. Order Apodiformes

Island Swiftlet (Apodidae)

16. Order Coraciiformes

Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Meropidae)

Hoopoe (Upupidae)

Spotted Wood Kingfisher (Alcedinidae)

Land Birds

Hornbills

*** some considered as

Order Bucerotiformes

Family Bucerotidae

Palawan Hornbill

Rufous Hornbill

Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill

Visayan Wrinkled Hornbill

Land Birds

Order Coraciiformes

Trogons & Woodpeckers

17. Order

Trogoniformes

Philippine Trogon (Trogonidae)

18. Order Piciformes

Coppersmith Barbet (Capitonidae)

Greater Flameback (Picidae)

Land Birds

Pittas & Broadbills

19. Order Passeriformes

1. Family Eurylaimidae

Visayan Wattled Broadbill

2. Family Pittidae

Whiskered Pitta

Blue-winged Pitta

Azure-breasted Pitta

Land Birds

Swallows & Wagtails

Order Passeriformes

3. Family Motacillidae

White Wagtail

Pechora Pipit

4. Family Artamidae

White-breasted Wood-swallow

5. Family Hirundinidae

Barn Swallow

Land Birds

Land Birds

6. Family Alaudiae

Larks

7. Family Corvidae

Crows

Larks and Crows

Graybirds & Orioles

Order Passeriformes

8. Family Campephagidae

Blackish Graybird

9. Family Oriolidae

Black-naped Oriole

Asian Fairy-Bluebird

10. Family Chloropseidae

Philippine Leafbird

Land Birds

Bulbuls & Babblers Order Passeriformes

11. Family Dicruridae

Balicassiao Drongo

12. Family Pycnonotidae

Mottle-breasted Bulbul

13. Family Timaliidae

Flame-templed Babbler

Chestnut-faced Babbler

Land Birds

Thrushes & Flycatchers

Order Passeriformes

14. Family Turdidae

Island Thrush

Cebu Black Shama

15. Family Muscicapidae

Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Land Birds

Monarchs & Whistlers

Order Passeriformes

16. Family Monarchidae

Black-naped Monarch

Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher

17. Family Pachycephalidae

Yellow-bellied Whistler

White-bellied Whistler

Land Birds

Warblers & Tailorbirds

Order Passeriformes

18. Family Sylviidae

Yellow-breasted Tailorbird

Grey-backed Tailorbird

Tawny Grassbird

Bright-capped Cisticola

Land Birds

Nuthatches & Creepers

Order Passeriformes

19. Family Paridae

Elegant Tit

White-fronted Tit

20. Family Rhabdornithidae

Striped-headed Philippine Creeper

21. Family Sittidae

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Land Birds

Shrikes & Starlings

Order Passeriformes

22. Family Laniidae

Brown Shrike

23. Family Sturnidae

Hill Myna

Coleto or Bald Starling

Crested Myna

Land Birds

Sunbirds & Flowerpeckers

Order Passeriformes

24. Family Nectariniidae

Crimson Sunbird

Plain-throated Sunbird

25. Family Dicaeidae

Olive-backed Flowerpecker

Red-keeled Flowerpecker

Pygmy Flowerpecker

Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker

Land Birds

White-eyes & Sparrows

Order Passeriformes

26. Family Estrildidae

Java Sparrow

27. Family Ploceidae

Tree Sparrow

28. Family Zosteropidae

Everetts White-eye

Cinnamon Ibon

Land Birds

Land Birds Crossbills, Finches and Buntings

29. Family Fringillidae

Crossbills, Finches

30. Family Emberizidae

Buntings

Problems with identification

Similar species search for distinguishing features, comparable size or unique behavior

Cryptic birds always hidden and hard to see

Congeners closely related, in same genus

Island and Mountain variations races may show striking differences in color and call (dialect)

Winter plumage migratory birds in between molts

Estimation of size difficulty in observing distance

Similarities of calls mimics or consistent in group

Birds as bio-indicators

Bird Species Diversity useful representation for overall biodiversity and basis for evaluation

Levels of endemism composition of endemics

Keystone species indicators of change

Threatened Island Endemics inherent rarity

Intolerant forest dependent present/absent

Restricted-range species limited distribution

BSD is inversely proportional to altitude