Silver-backed Butcherbird

Uncommon wren-babbler of Bornean lowland and foothill forests. Like most other wren-babblers, secretive and difficult to locate as it forages on the ground, usually in small groups. Best detected by its song, which takes two forms. “Short song” is a repetitive series of ten or so clear, hooting whistles, while “long song” can be up to three or four times the length and interspersed with more rising and falling notes. Duetting birds will often add an additional song element, a mellow rolling series of notes along the lines of “dee-dee-dee-da-doo-da-dih-doo.” If seen, note black throat, pale bluish-gray patch behind the eye, black-edged streaking with a “scaly” appearance, and chestnut wings.

A slim, dark, long-tailed member of the cisticola family. Mostly gray-brown with a black throat and a pale gray belly. Also note the white eye and the white outer tail feathers. Inhabits a tiny range in remnant scraps of montane forest on the Taita Hills of Kenya, mostly along forest edge and in the undergrowth. Somewhat similar to Black-headed Apalis, but easily separated by the dark rather than white throat. The typical song is a duet in which the male gives repeated low “chrup” notes while the female gives rapid-fire higher notes. 

Medium-sized Acrocephalus warbler with cold gray-olive-brown plumage and whitish underparts. Note the long and slender bill and the short eyebrow that reaches just behind the eye. Distinctly larger than Eurasian Reed Warbler and smaller than Great Reed Warbler. Range limited, breeding only in extensive reedbeds along the lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq, and adjacent southwest Iran. Non-breeding habitat includes a broader range of wet, vegetated habitats. Call is a harsh "charr." Song is rather quiet and slow, mixed with deep, bulbul-like notes.