Supercilium

Last updated
The whinchat has a prominent white supercilium. Saxicola rubetra 2 tom (Marek Szczepanek).jpg
The whinchat has a prominent white supercilium.

The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. [1] Also known as an "eyebrow", [1] it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line that runs across the lores, and continues behind the eye. [2] Where a stripe is present only above the lores, and does not continue behind the eye, it is called a supraloral stripe or simply supraloral. [1] On most species which display a supercilium, it is paler than the adjacent feather tracts. [3]

Contents

The colour, shape or other features of the supercilium can be useful in bird identification. For example, the supercilium of the dusky warbler, an Old World warbler species, can be used to distinguish it from the very similar Radde's warbler. The dusky warbler's supercilium is sharply demarcated, whitish and narrow in front of the eye, becoming broader and more buffy towards the rear, whereas that of the Radde's warbler is diffusely defined, yellowish and broadest in front of the eye, becoming narrower and more whitish toward the rear. [4] The supercilium of the northern waterthrush, a New World warbler, differs subtly from that of the closely related (and similarly plumaged) Louisiana waterthrush. The Louisiana has a bicoloured supercilium which widens significantly behind the eye, while the northern has an evenly buffy eyebrow which is either the same width throughout or slightly narrower behind the eye. [5]

A split supercilium divides above the lores. In some species, such as the jack snipe, the divided stripes reconnect again behind the eye. [6] In others, such as the broad-billed sandpiper, the divided stripes remain separate. [7]

A supercilium drop is a feature found on some pipits; [8] it is a pale spot on the rear of the ear-coverts which, although separated from the supercilium by an eyestripe, can appear at some angles to be a downward continuation of the supercilium.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachman's warbler</span> Potentially extinct bird species

Bachman's warbler is an extinct passerine migratory bird. This warbler was a migrant, breeding in swampy blackberry and cane thickets of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and wintering in Cuba. There are some reports of the bird from the twenty-first century, but none are widely accepted. Some authorities accept a Louisiana sighting in August 1988 as confirmed, but the last uncontroversial sightings date to the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cream-colored courser</span> Species of bird

The cream-colored courser is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. Both parts of the scientific name derive from Latin cursor, "runner", from currere, "to run" which describes their usual habit as they hunt their insect prey on the ground in dry open semi-desert regions of the Middle East and northern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stilt sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The stilt sandpiper is a small shorebird. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name kalidris or skalidris is a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific himantopus means "strap foot" or "thong foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattler (bird)</span> Genus of birds

The tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roraiman warbler</span> Species of bird

The Roraiman warbler is a species of passerine bird in the new world warbler family Parulidae. It is known to associate with Tepui rainforest ecosystems and is found in southern Venezuela, western Guyana, and adjacent areas of northern Brazil. The bird has been periodically granted full species status, although it has also been occasionally considered a subspecies of two-banded warbler. Based on the population's physically disparate distance from the nominate species, vocal differences, and slight differences in plumage, several authorities consider the Roraiman warbler independent. Recent genetic evidence also indicates the birds of northern South America are significantly diverged from the two-banded warbler populations in the Andes.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10
  2. Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 11
  3. Kaufman, Kenn (2011) A Field Guide to Advanced Birding ISBN   978-0-547-24832-5, page 51
  4. Mullarney, Killian; Svensson, Lars; Zetterström, Dan; Grant, Peter J (1999). Collins Bird Guide. London: HarperCollins. pp. 306–307. ISBN   0-00-219728-6.
  5. Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 394.
  6. Hayman, Marchant and Prater (1986), p. 359
  7. Hayman, Marchant and Prater (1986), p. 383
  8. Harris, Alan; Tucker, Laurel; Vinicombe, Keith (1989). The MacMillan Field Guide to Bird Identification. Grange Books. p. 158. ISBN   1-85627-641-4.

Sources