Black-winged Cuckooshrike (Coracina Melaschistos) At Jayanti, Duars W Picture 406 on:
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The black-winged cuckooshrike (''Lalage melaschistos''), also known as lesser grey cuckooshrike or dark grey cuckooshrike, is a species of cuckooshrike found in
A medium-sized, dark cuckoo-shrike with unbarred, grey underparts.
:Male: dark grey above; contrasting black wings and tail. Wide white feather tips on underside of tail.
:Female: Palers with faint barring on underside
:Call: Loud ''twit twit to we'', descending in scale.
:Diet: mainly invertebrates.
:Nests in tree.
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Despite the name, they ( cuckooshrikes) are unrelated to shrikes
Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera.
The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...
or cuckoos. They have broad based bills with grey upper parts, black wings, white vent, graduated white-tipped tails, black bills and legs. Females are overall lighter in all taxa.
Distribution
They breed in summer in mountains from 300–2450 meters and migrate altitudinally or south in winter. It is distributed from NortheastPakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
through the lower Himalayan region (Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
and into the hills of NE Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
continuing to China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. It winters in the foothills, occasionally longer distances south west to northern parts of peninsular India and east to Orissa, Bengal and Bangladesh, but may travel as far south as Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
).Taylor, B. (2005). Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina melaschistos). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/57880 on 7 March 2015).
Habitat: Breeds in deciduous and broad-leaved evergreen forest but winters in open forest, groves, singly or in pairs. They are also known to join mixed feeding parties. Their diet consists mainly of caterpillars, beetles and other bugs.
Description
A medium-sized, dark cuckoo-shrike with unbarred, grey underparts.
:Male: dark grey above; contrasting black wings and tail. Wide white feather tips on underside of tail.
:Female: Palers with faint barring on underside
:Call: Loud ''twit twit to we'', descending in scale.
:Diet: mainly invertebrates.
:Nests in tree.
References