Karoo Eremomela

Eremomela gregalis

A small plain warbler with a gray-green back, wings and crown, a grayish face, silver-gray underparts, and a contrasting white chin and throat. Pairs and small groups of 3-7 move secretively between riverine trees and bushes in dwarf scrub in desert and semi-desert Karoo plains and hillsides, often foraging close to the ground. They are most often found by their plaintive, nagging two-note “pee-liip” call that can continue for minutes. There are several nondescript confusion species within its range, but none have the distinctive yellowish eyes of the Yellow-rumped Eremomela.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Eremomela gregalis
Authority
(Smith, A, 1829)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Cisticolidae
Genus
Eremomela

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Blackcap Babbler

Blackcap Babbler

Turdoides reinwardtii

A mostly brownish babbler with a black head and a white eye. The underparts are pale in the west and become increasingly darker in the eastern part of the range. Found in moist woodland, dense savanna, scrub, gallery forest, forest edge, cultivated areas, and gardens. Almost always in groups, which feed by hopping across the ground. Similar in behavior, shape, size, and overall brown coloration to Brown Babbler, but easily separated by the black head and the lack of a contrastingly paler rump. Calls include a raspy babbling, nasal calls, and a dry clucking, all usually given by a whole group in chorus. 

Dwarf Cassowary

Dwarf Cassowary

Casuarius bennetti

A huge flightless bird of hill and montane forest; occasionally in lowland rainforest, especially where other cassowary species are absent. The smallest member of the family. Plumage loose and black in adults, brown in juveniles. Adults have a bright blue neck with a red patch on the lower nape. Also note the low, rounded casque. Very secretive and seldom seen. Forages for fallen fruit on the forest floor. Similar to other cassowary species but smaller in size, with lower casque, lacking wattles and does not normally co-occur.

Emerald-chinned Hummingbird

Emerald-chinned Hummingbird

Abeillia abeillei

Very small, short-billed hummingbird of humid evergreen and pine-evergreen forest in highlands and upper foothills; uncommon. Usually feeds low, often at banks of flowers along edges and roadsides. Feeding flight is usually quick and hard to follow. Best identified by small size, big white spot behind eye, and rather liquid twittering call (similar to Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, which occurs in the same areas but looks quite different).

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