Zenaida Dove

Medium-sized brown, heavily streaked seedeater. Note the boldly marked face with one dark brown mark across the ears and another below the bill. The distinctive subspecies found in southern Tanzania and Malawi has a yellow wash across the face. Generally common at middle and high elevations in a variety of open habitats including gardens, cultivation, scrub, heath, and forest edge. Gives a pretty, musical up-and-down song that is more like a thrush’s than a typical seedeater’s. Also gives a distinctive, high-pitched “seeeiiu” call. Similar to Reichard’s Seedeater, but has a different facial pattern, with a pale mark below the eye.

Small long-tailed bird of thickets and undergrowth. Light gray with reddish brown wings and tail. Light throat without any black helps distinguish it from similar spinetails. Found around forest edges, as well as around gardens and human dwellings. The most common spinetail over most of its range; often heard singing throughout the day, a repeated “pew … put WEET!”

Tiny hummingbird. Male mostly green with contrasting white belly; female green above and whitish below, speckled with green on throat and breast. Both sexes show buffy rump band. Males usually appear dark but are easily identified by small size and long, modified outer tail feathers; females told from other coquettes in range by speckled throat without buff tones. Rarely encountered. Found around flowering trees in rainforest and perhaps most readily seen along rivers. Local populations may fluctuate in abundance from one season to another. Like other coquettes, has fast, weaving flight reminiscent of a large insect, which may help it evade detection by larger hummingbirds whose territories it infiltrates to feed on nectar.