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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
{{GSearch|Megalurulus+mariae}} | {{GSearch|Megalurulus+mariae}} | ||
| − | + | *[http://www.aviceda.org/abid/birdimages.php?action=birdspecies&fid=77&bid=1421 View more images of this species on the ABID] | |
[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Missing Images]] | [[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Missing Images]] | ||
Revision as of 19:29, 29 August 2007
- Megalurulus mariae
Identification
Identification:
Small (7 inches = c. 17-18 cm) with a long tail, male and female identical, young birds less rufous (Hannecart & Letocart). Upperparts uniform olive-brown; slightly darker and more rufous on crown, wings, and tail; more olive grey on back. A conspicuous long white eyebrow from the base of the bill to the nape, brown eye-stripe and ear-coverts (slightly resembling an unstreaked European Whinchat Saxicola rubetra). Underparts creamy white with a pale-rufous wash, flanks brownish, more or less orange at the sides of the breast, often forming a faint rufous breast band. Iris brown; bill black; feet yellowish horn colour. Inside of mouth and throat black.
Distribution
Found on New Caledonia only
Taxonomy
Habitat
Lives in the grassland and open heathlands, lowlands, and hills.
Behaviour
Nests on the ground, where an open cup of grass and other leaves is constructed in dense vegetation (e.g. ferns). The breeding season was supposed to be probably from October to November (Mayr), but Hannecart & Letocart (1983) report November to January. The 1 to 3 eggs are greyish-white, speckled with reddish-brown. On leaving the nest, the young move around on the forest floor like terrestrial birds and they are fed by one of the parents for several months. Adults and young are rarely seen outside the vegetation. It calls not infrequently, either a sharp tzik or a note like the purr of a kitten. It reportedly eats insects.
