Red-and-Black; for the bird who really wants to be noticed!

This three-part series, on birds which flaunt red, started here with the focus on feathers, and continued here with a bit of a look at other red body parts. As promised, after a brief hiatus I'm completing the series by looking at birds which highlight their redness - already pretty striking - by contrasting it with black. We should of course never presume that animals such as birds which do see colour, unlike most mammals, see the same palette as we do. In fact we know that they don't. We (and birds) see colour with the cone cells in the retina - that's very simplistic, but it'll do for now. However where we have three colour pigments in the cone cells, birds have four and in some cases five - and moreover they are all different from ours! Obviously we can't know just what a bird sees when it looks at the same subject as us, but it can't be the same. However we must assume that the black and red combination (like black and white, and black and yellow, both popular combinations in nature as well) is striking for them too, given how prevalent it is.

Crimson-breasted Shrike (or Gonolek, or Boubou) Laniarius atrococcineus, Witsand NR,
northern South Africa. A truly stunning bird indeed, seen behind the park visitor centre
as we were about to leave and I blame it for the fact that I left my field guide on the roof
of the car, an oversight that I didn't recognise until it was far too late to remedy it!
It's the national bird of Namibia (though I've also read that it's been demoted because
its appointment was on the basis of the association with the flag colours of Germany,
the former colonial ruler, but I'm finding conflicting information).

I'm not sure if this combination of colours is used because it really is even more striking than red alone would be, or if it's because such profligacy - expending the energy to extract enough carotenoids from its food to dye all its feathers, and storing them in the liver it until the next moult when they're needed again - would put too much strain on the bird. Melanins on the other hand, which produce black, can be manufactured by the bird relatively cheaply and easily.

I've noticed in selecting the photos that in each case the black comes from feathers, while the red can be on various body parts, as illustrated in the previous posts. I'm not sure if this is significant. There are photos in the previous posts that I could have also used in this one - I haven't duplicated, so if you'd like to see more that's another reason to go back to the first two in the series.     

 

Most of the rest of the post will be a sort of photo essay, just admiring some lovely and sometimes dramatic birds. I'll start with those which juxtapose red feathers (as opposed to other body parts) with their black ones, which are the majority of those featured, and set the scene with some Australian examples.Unsurprisingly many of the examples feature male birds only - in fact of the eight Australian species which follow only the females of the pitta, and to some extent the black-cockatoo, exhibit the red and black pattern.

Male Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum, Bundjalung NP, north coast NSW.
The black contrasts with the red breast from both below and above.

Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris, Darwin. It seems a somewhat unlikely place for a colour
combination which is surely intended to be seen, but I've read that when displaying
the bird stands erect, either on the ground at the territory boundary (when it bows down
then stretches up again) or on a branch with outspread wings,
which would show the red/black off nicely.

Red-backed Fairywren Malurus melanocephalus, Julatten, north Queensland.
Perhaps the most spectacular of all fairywrens, this little chap really glows even in dim
light. Like other fairywrens most males only retain their bright plumage during
the breeding season, so moult twice a year.

Red-winged Parrots Aprosmictus erythropterus, Gulf Country, north Queensland.
He's the one who needs to catch her attention, so only he wears the full outfit.
Another very impressive bird.

Scarlet Honeyeater Myzomela sanguinolentam, National Botanic Gardens, Canberra.
More usually seen at the coast, but a few come inland to here fairly regularly.

Male Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii, Bourke, northern NSW.
The female's tail panels are orange rather than red..

The next two are more ashy grey than black, especially the Gang-gang, but it's just a question of degree and the principle's the same.

Flame Robin Petroica phoenicea, high in Namadgi NP, above Canberra.
He too glows, in the misty mountains in summer, and in open
country around Canberra in winter.

Male Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum, National Botanic Gardens, Canberra.
This delightful small cockatoo, with its distinctive creaky call and bouncy flight,
is the official bird emblem of the Australian Capital Territory.

And here are some overseas - mostly South American - examples of red/black contrasting feathers, from a range of different families, starting, as many things birdy do in the Neotropics, with some tanagers.

Brazilian Tanager Ramphocelus bresilius, Peruibe, south of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Crimson-collared Tanager Ramphocelus sanguinolentus, central Costa Rica;
found throughout Central America.

Masked Crimson Tanager Ramphocelus nigrogularis, Ecuadorian Amazonia.
This one, closely related to the previous species, is common throughout the Amazon basin.

Yellow-billed Cardinal Paroaria capitata, Pantanal, south-western Brazil.
Despite the name, these 'cardinals' are actually tanagers too!
There's a lot of that sort of thing in the Neotropics...

The manakins form another spectacular family of Neotropical birds, though aren't nearly as easy to see as the tanagers. If you can find a male display post in the darkness of the forest though, you're having a very good day indeed!

Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata, near Peruibe, south-eastern Brazil.
One of many species restricted to the highly threatened Atlantic forests
of this part of Brazil and neighbouring Paraguay and Argentina.

Wire-tailed Manakin Pipra filicauda, Amazon rainforest, north-east Peru.
His courtship dance, where he competes with other males in a lek in lowland
tropical rainforest, is simply amazing. Have a look here.

Another, better-known, Neotropical bird, also competes in leks for the attention of females.

Two males Andean Cocks-of-the-rock Rupicola peruvianus, Manu NP, Peru.
These extraordinary birds compete in leks of 15 or so males, in Andean forests.

The last four examples of black/red-feathered birds are all from different families. 

Long-tailed Meadowlark Leistes loyca, Torres del Paine NP, Chilean Patagonia.
Windblown, as everything is in Patagonia, this male's brown back is edged
with black to provide a contrast with the gorgeous red underside and brows.

Northern Red Bishop Euplectes franciscanus, Murchison Falls NP, Uganda.
One of the many species in the mainly African weaver family, the gorgeous males perform a
display flight to attract females, and build elaborate woven nests to impress her. Once it's
worked though he loses interest in her and his eggs and chicks, and leaves
the rest up to her.

Pale-billed Woodpecker Campephilus guatemalensis, Carara NP, Costa Rica.
Found throughout most of Central America, this is one of a genus of 11 large
New World woodpeckers with red heads contrasting with a black-and-white body.

Darwin's Flycatcher Pyrocephalus nanus, Santa Cruz, Galápagos.
Now recognised as a Galápagos endemic, this was formerly included
in the widespread mainland American Vermilion Flycatcher P. obscurus.
Not many of the New World flycatchers are colourful, and these two
species really stand out from them.

Another seemingly popular option for birds who want to emphasise a red feature against black feathers (the anthropomorphism is ironic by the way!) is to have a red bill, though there is nothing about a red bill which makes it more efficient at its primary purpose. Here are some impressive examples, a couple of which also flaunt red legs. This selection is split evenly between waterbirds and land birds, and ranges across 8 families. I've tried to choose as diverse a range as possible, though in the end I've included two oystercatchers because I wanted an Australian example in this section, and couldn't leave out the other beautiful example.

Blackish Oystercatcher Haematopus ater, Pisagua, northern Chile. Note also
the stand-out red eyes, and those lovely pale pink legs. It is found along much
of the west coast of South America and the far south-east coast.

Sooty Oystercatchers Haematopus fuliginosus, Gooloowah NP, northern NSW.
This is a seriously black oystercatcher, an Australian endemic, which shares the previous
species' bright red bill and eyes.

    

Black Skimmer Rynchops niger, Pantanal, south-west Brazil. One of three skimmer species
(the other two being in Africa and Asia), members of the gull and tern family. They use
their remarkable bill (which itself is black-and-red) to trail the lower mandible in the water
as they fly just above it. It snaps shut when it contacts small prey animals, especially fish.
They can be found throughout South America, either coastally or following inland rivers
(as here) except for the Andes and the far south.

Inca Tern Larosterna inca, surely the world's most beautiful terns, here at Pucusana,
south of Lima, Peru. They are found along much of the continent's west coast,
and I am utterly delighted by them.

Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Amboseli NP, Kenya.
At 1.5 metres, this is one of the tallest storks in the world. I just love the great
red-black-red beak against the inky black head and neck, and the yellow
saddle on the bill. And the delicate pink knees!
This is a female, with yellow eyes (the male's are black).

The other five red bills featured today are of land birds, each from a different family.

Bateleur (sometimes with 'Eagle' appended, though it's not really) Terathopius ecaudatus,
Serengeti NP, Tanzania. This is another 'beak and legs' (and face) example.
Highly distinctive, 'bateleur' is French for a tumbler or acrobat, which is supposedly
to reflect its slow, rocking hunting flight, though I don't really understand that.
In fact it is often claimed to also mean a tightrope walker, which would
make better sense - except that as far as I'm aware, this is not the French word for that!
This bird is carrying a prey item, but I can't identify it.

Black-throated Grosbeak Saltator fuliginosus in the Atlantic Forests near Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Another tanager which is called something else! Little is known of its
feeding habits in the canopy, though this bill is surely that of a seedeater.

Green Wood Hoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus, Lake Nakuru NP, Kenya.
Not hoopoes, but they are in a related family; there are 9 species of
wood hoopoes and scimitarbills in the family, all African.

Rhinoceros Hornbill Buceros rhinoceros, Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
What an extraordinary bird, nearly a metre long, and unsurprisingly the national bird of Malaysia.
Juxtaposing red and yellow is effective too, as evidenced by this and the next species, and
the stork earlier.

And speaking of extraordinary birds... Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco, Pantanal, Brazil
The largest toucan, the bill alone is nearly 25cm long. Note too the bright red vent.
It is notable also in being the only toucan found in open country.

We talked about birds with red skin last time too, and here are some where this skin is directly contrasted with the black plumage.

Brush Turkey Alectura lathami, Cairns, north Queensland.
And yes, the red skin of the bare neck and head is actually narrowly separated from the
black body by the yellow wattle, but the effect is the same, or even enhanced.

Guanay Cormorant Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum, Pucusana, south of Lima, Peru.
Just a ring of red skin around the eye, as we saw in some examples last time,
but this is perhaps rendered even more effective by being alongside black feathers.

Swallow-tailed Gulls Creagrus furcatus, South Plaza, Galápagos.
The world's only nocturnal gull (and indeed only nocturnal seabird as far as I know),
this delightful little gull breeds almost exclusively in the Galápagos.
I well remember my first sight of them when I went up on deck in the night,
and saw one flying alongside, in the glow of the boat's lights.

Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana, Pantanal, Brazil. Here the red skin is in the
form of wattles on the face, which show up well against the sooty head and breast.

Male Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens, North Seymour, Galápagos.
The amazing inflatable red throat pouch is an adapted air sac, part of a bird's
incredible respiratory system, just under the skin. He inflates it to display to
females flying over, and surely it must work!

And finally, a very handsome pair of red legs to set off a black (or at least blackish) ensemble.

Blackish Rail Pardirallus nigricans, Atlantic Forests near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Like most rails a shy bird, not easy to get a good look at.

Well I've had fun putting together this three-part series, though it's probably not caught as many people's attention as I might have hoped. However, you're reading it and that makes it all worth while! Thank you.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 29 JUNE

 

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
Should you wish to be added to it, just send me an email at calochilus51@internode.on.net. You can ask to be removed from the list at any time,or could simply mark an email as Spam, so you won't see future ones.