Edolisoma amboinense
The South Moluccan Cicadabird, *Edolisoma amboinense*, is a medium-sized passerine bird belonging to the family Campephagidae, known for its distinctive, often buzzing or trilling, calls reminiscent of a cicada. Males are strikingly sexually dimorphic, displaying glossy blackish-grey to dark slate plumage across their entire body, measuring approximately 20-25 cm in length and weighing around 40-60 grams. Females, in stark contrast, exhibit a much paler, greyish plumage, frequently adorned wi...
Found predominantly in primary and secondary lowland rainforests, forest edges, and sometimes in plantations or overgrown gardens, typically from sea level up to around 1,500 meters, occasionally higher.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on a wide variety of insects and their larvae, which it gleans from leaves and bark; occasionally supplements its diet with small fruits.
As a diurnal species, the South Moluccan Cicadabird is typically active from dawn to dusk, often found singly or in pairs, though occasionally joining mixed-species foraging flocks. It forages primarily by gleaning insects from foliage and branches in the mid-canopy and subcanopy, exhibiting meth...
The South Moluccan Cicadabird boasts an extensive distribution across the Australasian and Oceanic realms, primarily found as a resident species. Its core range spans the Moluccas (including islands such as Ambon, Seram, Buru, Halmahera, Ternate, and Morotai), extending eastward across New Guinea...
Least Concern
- The genus name *Edolisoma* literally means "sweet body," though the specific reason for this attribution for cicadabirds is not widely known. - Despite their name, cicadabirds are not related to cuckoos; they belong to the cuckooshrike family (Campephagidae). - The "cicada-like" quality of thei...