Mayotte Drongo

Small, sand-colored tinamou with a mix of rusty and dark spots on the back and a white belly. Found in natural and human-modified grasslands, where it is difficult to catch sight of due to its retiring nature and cryptic plumage. The song is a high, thin “peeea.”

An overall sooty-colored cuckooshrike with broad white tips to the tail feathers. Male is dark sooty-gray with a slaty sheen, slightly paler on rump. Underparts paler toward tail; wings black. Female is very similar to male, but paler in general, often weakly barred with dark and pale gray on underparts. Male has a black mask, while female has dark lores and a faint eyering. Juvenile is blackish-brown above and brownish-gray below, heavily scaled whitish all over, with broad white tips on wing feathers. Immature like female, but more strongly and extensively barred below. Song is a loud series of whistles “pe-pe-pe-peew-peew-pew”; sometimes the starting notes are skipped. Found in all types of woodlands, including broad-leaved forests, sometimes even near cultivation during non-breeding season.

A chunky, short-tailed, colorful savanna starling. Adults have a mostly brown head, a dark green hood and upperparts, and a rufous belly. There is a pale buffy patch in the underwing that is conspicuous in flight. Immatures are duller, with completely pale, buffy underparts. Found in dry savanna and thorn scrub, usually in small flocks, sometimes with other species of starlings. The common call is a short descending trill with a vibrating quality.