The Visayan broadbill (''Sarcophanops samarensis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Eurylaimidae The Eurylaimidae are a family of suboscine passerine birds that occur from the eastern Himalayas to Indonesia and the Philippines. The family previously included the sapayoa from the Neotropics, the asities from Madagascar, and the Calyptomeni ...

where it was previously conspecific with the

wattled broadbill The wattled broadbill or Mindanao broadbill (''Sarcophanops steerii'') is a species of bird in the family Eurylaimidae where it was previously conspecific to the Visayan broadbill. It It is endemic to the islands of Mindanao, Basilan, Dinagat an ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the islands of

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...

in the central Philippines. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description and Taxonomy

Small, brightly coloured

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

of lowland forest on Bohol, Leyte, and Samar islands. Has a pale blue bill and deeper blue eye wattle, a black face, a streaked crown, a reddish-brown back, a dark wing with a pinkish to white wingbar, a thin white collar with some scaling above, reddish rump and tail and overall stout appearance. Underparts are white in the female and pinkish in the male. Makes short sallies for insects. Can be found in pairs, small groups, or sometimes mixed-species flocks. Unmistakable. Voice includes a plaintive whistle and a sharp '. They are sexually dimorphic in which the males have reddish-pink bellies with the females having clean white bellies. The collar of the males is reddish-pink while females have a black-and-white collar. It is differentiated by its thinner reddish collar and white wing patch versus the

Wattled broadbill The wattled broadbill or Mindanao broadbill (''Sarcophanops steerii'') is a species of bird in the family Eurylaimidae where it was previously conspecific to the Visayan broadbill. It It is endemic to the islands of Mindanao, Basilan, Dinagat an ...

with its thicker white collar and yellow wing patch. It is also smaller with sizes of 14-15 versus the 16–18 cm of the

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural

s are

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

, tropical mangrove forest, and tropical moist shrubland with most records under 1,000 meters above sea level. It is often found foraging in the

understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...

and lower parts of the canopy. IUCN has assessed this bird as vulnerable with the population being estimated at 2,500 to 9,999. Extensive lowland deforestation on all islands in its range is the main threat. Most remaining lowland forest that is not afforded protection leaving it vulnerable to both legal and

Illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corruption, corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, o ...

, conversion into farmlands through

Slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

and mining. There is only 4% forest remaining in

and around 400 km² of

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

combined in

and

with no respite in deforestation. This occurs in a few protected areas such as

Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape The Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape is a protected landscape area of forested limestone hills, grasslands and natural springs in the island province of Bohol in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. It is the largest remaining tract of ...

and Samar Island Natural Park however protection is lax. Conservation actions proposed include to survey remaining habitat to better understand ecology and population size. Propose sites supporting key populations for protection and ensure that proposed protected areas receive actual protection from threats.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.

Visayan broadbill The Visayan broadbill (''Sarcophanops samarensis'') is a species of bird in the family Eurylaimidae where it was previously conspecific with the wattled broadbill. It is endemic to the islands of Samar, Leyte and Bohol in the central Philippine ...

Endemic birds of the Philippines Fauna of the Visayas Fauna of Samar Fauna of Leyte Fauna of Bohol

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tyranni-stub