The wattled broadbill or Mindanao broadbill (''Sarcophanops steerii'') 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 where it was previously conspecific to the

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 ...

. It 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

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ...

, Dinagat and Siargao in the Philippines. It is one of the most striking birds in the country with its sky-blue wattle and bill and yellow wing patch 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 ...

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 Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

, and tropical moist shrubland. 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 and foothill forest on Mindanao and neighboring islands, with a pale blue bill and eye wattle, a black face, a streaked crown, a dark back with a white-and-yellow wingbar, a white collar, reddish rump and tail and stout appearance. Underparts are white in the female and pinkish in the male. Makes short sallies from a perched position to catch insects. Can be found in pairs, small groups, or sometimes mixed-species flocks. Unmistakable. Voice includes a plaintive whistle and a metallic “chink,” plus wing noise and bill clicks. They are sexually dimorphic in which the males have reddish-pink bellies with the females having clean white bellies. It is differentiated from the

with its white collar and bright yellow patch. It is also larger with sizes of 16–18 cm versus the 14–15 cm of the

Subspecies

Two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...

are recognized: * ''Sarcophanops steerii steerii:'' Central and Eastern

, Siargao and Dinagat Islands; Larger and darker red on males; No recent records on Dinagat Islands * ''Sarcophanops steerii mayri'':

Zamboanga Peninsula Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...

and

; Smaller and paler red on the males; Possibly extinct on

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural

s are tropical moist lowland

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 ...

and well developed

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. I ...

up to 750 meters above sea level. It appears to not be able to tolerate great amounts of forest degradation. It is known to forage in the lower levels of the forest in the

understory 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 close to the

forest floor The forest floor, also called detritus, duff and the O horizon, is one of the most distinctive features of a forest ecosystem. It mainly consists of shed vegetative parts, such as leaves, branches, bark, and stems, existing in various stages ...

. 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 corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a ...

, 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. This occurs in a few protected areas such as Mt. Apo,

Pasonanca Natural Park The Pasonanca Natural Park is a protected area that preserves a major watershed in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in the Zamboanga Peninsula. It contains the headwaters of the Tumaga River in the southern Zamboanga Cordillera mountain ...

and Siargao Island Protected Landscape however protection is lax. Conservation actions proposed include to survey remaining habitat to establish its current distribution, population status and ecology. Propose sites supporting key populations for protection and ensure that proposed protected areas are gazetted and are actually protected.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.

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 ...

Endemic birds of the Philippines Fauna of Mindanao Fauna of Basilan Fauna of Dinagat Islands

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tyranni-stub