Archbold's Newtonia - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Ben Rackstraw
Reniala Botanical Gardens near Ifaty, south-western Madagascar, November 2006

Alternative name: Tabiky Newtonia

Newtonia archboldi

Identification

12cm. A small, short-winged, warbler-like Vanga:

• Variable dark rufous-brown band on forehead and around eye
• Greyish-brown top of head and upperparts
• Dark grey lores to malar area, pale buff mottled
• Greyish-brown cheek and ear-coverts, sometimes with rufous tinge
• Grey-brown tail and upperwing
• Buffy white centre of chin and throat
• Cinnamon-buff breast and flanks becoming buffy white on belly and undertail-coverts
• Pale whitish-yellow eye
• Black bill

Sexes similar. Juveniles have less rufous on head and conspicuously cinnamon-buff edged secondaries.

Distribution

Endemic to southwestern and southern Madagascar. Found south of Morondava in a narrow band (ca. 100km) along the coast to west of Fort Dauphin.
Locally fairly common.

Taxonomy

Monotypic.^[1]

Habitat

Dry spiny forests and shrubland. Occurs from sea-level up to 100m.

Behaviour

Feeds on small arthropods (like spiders, beetles, bugs and termites).
Searches actively in branches of shrubs and low trees.
Few data about breeding. Juveniles have been recorded from November to December. The nest is a deep cup hidden in dense vegetation.
A sedentary species.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2006. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553064

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Archbold's Newtonia. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Archbold%27s_Newtonia

External Links

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