Solomon Islands (1 Viewer)

[Jose605]

Photographed this morning in Guadalcanal island.

First bird no idea. The second seemed to be a warbler to me. Certainly not the rather common olive-backed sunbird. Horrible picture, but since there aren't many passerine birds in the island maybe someone can guess the species?

Many thanks for your input!

Jose

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

The first picture (140944) seems to show a Channel-billed Cuckoo.

 

[Jose605]

The first picture (140944) seems to show a Channel-billed Cuckoo.

Thanks, Andrew! I had never heard of this bird, but it does look like Channel-billed Cuckoo indeed. On eBird is not listed as a local bird, probably a rare vagrant from Australia.

 

[Joe H]

I saw that Channel-billed Cuckoo is listed on ebird as seen on Guadalcanal, but on that bird page, shows purple boxes in the Solomon Islands but not on Guadalcanal Island. It's a good sighting and a good picture.

As for the yellow bird, it's a tough call based on the picture alone. If you could provide some of your observations (size, description) it might help. For instance, I can't really make out if the head is in the picture of behind a leaf. Was the head all yellow or darker? In any case, the pictures below are of yellow birds with dark wings that have been reported on Guadalcanal. Maybe one of these will match. Good luck and do take as many pictures as you can. There are relatively few birders who get there. If you can manage a trip across to Savo Island for the Melanesian Megapode, do try. I missed the bird (heard it and saw moving plants, but not the bird) but on the way back saw some of the most amazing "flocks" of flying fish I've ever seen. What a great place to be!

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Could the yellow bird be a White-eye?

 

[sicklebill]

Certainly Channel-billed Cuckoo, a rare migrant in the Sols. The white-eyes on Guadalcanal are not vivid yellow, so this remains a puzzle apart from female sunbird.....

 

[Jose605]

I saw that Channel-billed Cuckoo is listed on ebird as seen on Guadalcanal, but on that bird page, shows purple boxes in the Solomon Islands but not on Guadalcanal Island. It's a good sighting and a good picture.

As for the yellow bird, it's a tough call based on the picture alone. If you could provide some of your observations (size, description) it might help. For instance, I can't really make out if the head is in the picture of behind a leaf. Was the head all yellow or darker? In any case, the pictures below are of yellow birds with dark wings that have been reported on Guadalcanal. Maybe one of these will match. Good luck and do take as many pictures as you can. There are relatively few birders who get there. If you can manage a trip across to Savo Island for the Melanesian Megapode, do try. I missed the bird (heard it and saw moving plants, but not the bird) but on the way back saw some of the most amazing "flocks" of flying fish I've ever seen. What a great place to be!

Hi Joe, thanks a lot for your detailed message. I got lucky indeed with the Channel-billed Cuckoo. And lucky to spot it too as he was well-camouflaged in the tree.

I saw the yellow bird clearly 2 meters away from me and would have taken a good picture of it if it wasn't for the humid condition of the place. Cameras take a much longer time to focus on tropical places due to the humidity, hence the blurry pic. At first I thought it was an Island Leaf Warbler, but now that you are sharing the pics I'm pretty sure it was an Oriole Whistler. The head wasn't greyish as the Island Leaf's, and definitely no curved bill so we can rule out the Myzomela. The Flowerpecker doesn't fit the description either.

I loved birding in the Solomon's. I saw some fantastic birds. I wish I had done other islands too, but didn't have the time. I thought of going to Savo to see the Megapodes but finally decided to go birding one more day in Guadalcanal instead.

A great country indeed. I'm hoping to come back again in the future.

Cheers!

 

[Jose605]

Could the yellow bird be a White-eye?

Thanks for the message. Certainly not a White-eye, as these are very distinctive. Oddly enough I didn't see a single White-eye in the Solomon's while I saw plenty of Silvereye birds in nearby Vanuatu and Fiji.

 

[Jose605]

Certainly Channel-billed Cuckoo, a rare migrant in the Sols. The white-eyes on Guadalcanal are not vivid yellow, so this remains a puzzle apart from female sunbird.....

Thank you, sicklebill. As I mentioned I'm leaning more towards Oriole Whistler.

 

[THE_FERN]

Fwiw my first thought was a Whistler. I was discouraged by the appearance of male oriole whistler as I thought the black would be apparent in this photo

 

[Jose605]

Fwiw my first thought was a Whistler. I was discouraged by the appearance of male oriole whistler as I thought the black would be apparent in this photo

Because of the lack of black I thought of a female, as Joe H. pointed out. Of all the possible options I believe the female OW is the strongest contender.

 

[sicklebill]

Oriole Whistler female sounds good, that explains the darker wings.