Usambara Hyliota
Hyliota usambara
A medium-sized, generic-looking warbler-like bird of Tanzania’s Usambara Mountains with a blue-black back, a white wing patch, and a pale breast suffused with a yellow-orange tinge. Found very locally in humid foothill forest, where it forages in the canopy and sometimes joins mixed flocks with other birds. Easily recognized as the only hyliota within its tiny range. Can appear warbler-like, but separated from all warblers by the white wing patch. The vocalizations are not well known and seem to be easy to overlook, but do include quiet “pit” notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Hyliota usambara
- Authority
- Sclater, WL, 1932
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Hyliotidae
- Genus
- Hyliota
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

Tepui Spinetail
Cranioleuca demissa
Small, creeping bird of highland forest canopy. Chestnut cap, wings, and tail contrast with olive-brown back and gray underparts. At close range, note somewhat decurved bill. Found only in humid highland forests of the tepui region (above 800 m), particularly in areas with heavy growth of mosses and epiphytes. Forages by hitching up large branches and tree trunks, and also creeps along limbs, inspecting bromeliads and bark crevices from which it gleans insect prey. Often encountered with mixed-species flocks. Voice is a long series of high tinkling notes, dropping in pitch and accelerating. No similar species occurs in tepui highlands.

White-winged Collared-Dove
Streptopelia reichenowi
A distinctive dove with a restricted range. The white wing patches are usually visible when perched, and become very conspicuous in flight. A white eye-ring is conspicuous at close range. Found locally in riverside scrub, thickets, and adjacent habitats. Similar overall to Ring-necked Dove, but separated by the white eye-ring, gray breast, and white wing patches. The song is a fast-paced, quickly repeated rolling series of cooing notes with a somewhat rough, churring quality.

Black Sunbird
Leptocoma aspasia
A small songbird with a long downcurved bill. Male is blackish with iridescent areas: crown glossed greenish or blue, and shoulders, rump, and tail glossed with blue. Throat iridescent reddish-purple in most of range, but blueish in the north Moluccas and Kai islands. Female is nondescript, with a grayish head, white throat, olive upperparts, and yellowish underparts over much of range. In the south Moluccas and Aru islands, underparts are grayish. Juvenile resembles female, but yellower on throat. Inhabits forest edge, open forest, gardens, and scrub in lowlands and hills. Male can be separated from dark-bellied forms of male Olive-backed Sunbird by glossy, iridescent crown and black back. Females differ from Olive-backed Sunbird by absence of eyebrow, absence of white tail tip, white throat, grayish head, and duller yellow underparts. Females lack eye-ring, unlike larger female Brown-throated Sunbird, and are less uniform underneath than female Elegant Sunbird.
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