Sahel Paradise-Whydah

Handsome and well-named large babbler with a snow-white “bib.” Also note blue facial skin and bright chestnut back. Crown is brownish on birds from western Java, and grayish on those from central and eastern Java. Despite large size and bright colors, can be quite skulky and difficult to see well. Hops and clambers about in dense bushes and vines in foothill forests, typically in mid-sized groups, giving dry churring rattles. Also gives a short, fluty-sounding whistle.

A fairly small to medium-sized bird of montane forest and edge on Mindanao. Bright cinnamon on the crown and back with darker wings and tail, a pale orange throat, chest, and sides, and white on the belly and under the base of the tail. Note the red eye and the silver-gray legs and bill. Often found in mixed-species flocks. No similar species in range. Voice is a mixture of high-pitched squeals, a sharp nasal “wik,” and a forceful, medium-pitched “piii! piuu-piuu!” with the final notes downslurred.

A large pied flycatcher that is most commonly mistaken for Southern Fiscal. However, the upright stance and slender unhooked bill are distinctive flycatcher traits, and the pattern of white in the flight feathers and basal windows of the tail is diagnostic. The female is duller than the male. Singles and pairs frequent a variety of open country habitats, including gardens, parks, shrubland, and woodland, where they perch conspicuously and hawk insect prey from the ground or aerially. The species is mostly silent but occasionally it utters a thin high-pitched song. The similar Southern Fiscal is more robust than the Fiscal Flycatcher, with a chunky hook-tipped bill, a white V-pattern on the shoulders, and a long tail with white outer feathers.