The white-winged cuckooshrike (''Edolisoma ostentum''), also known as white-winged cicadabird or white-winged graybird, 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 Campephagidae. 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

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

found on the islands of Negros, Panay and formerly (now extinct) on

Guimaras Guimaras , officially the Province of Guimaras ( hil, Kapuoran sang Guimaras; tl, Lalawigan ng Guimaras), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Jordan while its largest local government ...

. Some taxonomists place this species in the genus Analisoma. 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. 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

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized, fairly long-tailed bird of forest and edge from the lowlands to middle elevations in the mountains on Panay and Negros. Gray on the crown, back, and rump. Has black wings with a large white patch, a black tail with white tips, and white under the base of the tail. Male has a black forehead, face, and chest, whereas the female has pale gray underparts. Similar to Bar-bellied cuckooshrike, but smaller, lacking the barring on the belly, with white on the wing. Voice includes a harsh rising and falling shriek repeated at intervals." They can form flocks of up to 8-10 birds.

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural habitats at 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 secondary forest up to 1,300 meters above sea level. While they can tolerate secondary forest, they have the highest population densities and health in primary (old-growth) forest. The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

has assessed this bird as vulnerable with the population being estimated at 6,000 to 15,000 mature individuals. Its main threat is

habitat destruction 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 ...

through 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 ...

, charcoal burning, and mining. Its preference for low altitudes suggests that it must have suffered population losses with the loss of lowland forest in the Philippines. Habitat loss on both Negros and Panay has been extensive. By 2007, Negros and Panay had a 3% and 6% remaining forest cover with most of this being higher elevation forest where this bird does not thrive in with these figures are still declining. It occurs in a few protected areas on Northern Negros Natural Park, Mount Kanlaon National Park and

Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park The Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park is located on the island of Panay, in the provinces of Aklan and Antique of the Philippines which was proclaimed a natural park by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on 18 April 2002 (Presidential Proclam ...

. However, as with most areas in the

, protection from hunting and illegal logging is lax. Conservation actions proposed are surveys particularly on Panay, to identify further key populations. Formally protect the Central Panay Mountain Range and other key sites. Promote more effective protection measures for the Northern Negros Natural Park. Encourage careful reforestation activities around remaining forests with emphasis on native trees.

References

white-winged cuckooshrike Birds of Panay Birds of Negros Island white-winged cuckooshrike Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Campephagidae-stub