Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Hyliota flavigaster
Mid-sized, generic-looking warbler-like bird. Males have a glossy blue-black back, a white wing patch, and pale yellowish underparts. Females are similar, but more gray-brown on the back. Found in savanna with broadleaf trees, including miombo and Guinea savanna. Usually in pairs or small groups, which will join mixed-species feeding flocks. The quiet vocalizations include chatty calls and trills. Very similar to Southern Hyliota. In most of the range, Yellow-bellied males distinguished by the longer white patch on the wing, and females by their grayer upperparts. In Uganda and Kenya, males are extremely similar, but Yellow-bellied can still be recognized by its more glossy blue-black back.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Hyliota flavigaster
- Authority
- Swainson, 1837
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hyliotidae
- Genus
- Hyliota
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-browed Coucal
Centropus superciliosus
A large, robust, ungainly cuckoo with rufous wings and a long, broad tail. Shows a solid dark cap and back of the head, and white underparts. Unlike other coucals, shows an obviously barred rump and upper tail coverts. It often moves clumsily, preferring to clamber about in rank vegetation or walk on the ground foraging for insects or small vertebrates. Its flight is labored and heavy. This species uses a wide variety of habitats with a thick understory, including savanna, woodland, forest edge, and wetlands. The song is a deep descending bubbling series, “bu-bu-bu bu bu bu bu”, that falls and then rises in pitch.
Black-backed Water-Tyrant
Fluvicola albiventer
Medium-sized flycatcher, usually seen walking on the ground around marshy areas, lakes, and rivers. Mostly white below and on the face contrasting with a black crown and back, a white rump and two white wingbars. Sweeps its tail conspicuously from side to side. The call is a sharp and short “tic.”
Asir Magpie
Pica asirensis
A crow-like bird with a long, narrow tail. Flashy black-and-white pattern distinctive within range. An endangered species, this is a rare but conspicuous bird of juniper forest and riverine scrub between 2200–3000m in the Asir massif of southwestern Saudia Arabia, where it typically moves in pairs and small family groups. Very vocal, often giving loud querulous grating “kuaynk-kuaynk” calls and high-pitched woodpecker-like “keenk” notes. Does not overlap in range with Eurasian Magpie, but Asir has less white in the plumage, a larger bill, and a shorter tail.
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