Lake Lufira Masked-Weaver

A fairly small, slender bird of lower montane grassy valleys. Warm brown above and on the belly, with a white throat and a faintly streaked grayish chest. Note indistinct pale brow and pale barring across the base of the undertail. Very skulking. Similar to Long-tailed Bush-Warbler, but has shorter tail and grayish rather than deep brown underparts. Also similar to Philippine Bush-Warbler but with less distinct pale eyebrow. Song is a sequence of piercing and grating ringing notes repeated at regular intervals.

A garish scarlet bird sporting a dramatic spiky crest and a hefty gray bill. Male overall brilliant red with black chin; female brown, gray-headed, with red crest and tail. Often found in pairs, perched in erect posture on the top of bushes or on exposed branches. Common in desert scrub and dry forests in the lowlands. Voice a melodious and slow whistled series. Unmistakable in arid regions of northern Venezuela and extreme northeastern Colombia.

This handsome little flycatcher has the endearing habit of fanning its tail and flicking its wings when agitated. The male’s long slender white eyebrows and orange breast make him unmistakable; wintering male Mugimaki Flycatchers may cause some confusion, but that species has a smaller, block-like eyebrow patch and a broader, shorter white wing patch. Females are brown above and whitish below with an orange chest and rufous tail; her combination of plain brown wings, warm-toned tail, and a fairly uniform head pattern separate her from female Snowy-browed and Mugimaki Flycatchers. Female “blue flycatchers” can be similar, but they are more slender and have proportionally longer bills. Found in foothill and montane forests, where it forages in dense low thickets, typically singly or in pairs. Song is a brief 3–4-note phrase of very high, thin notes: “tsee-a-tsee-tsee”, or “tsee-ah-tsee”.