Gray-backed Sparrow-Lark

A small, dumpy endearing chat. The color varies from pale gray-brown to nearly white, with a very pale rump that extends onto the outer tail feathers to form a distinctive V-shaped black wedge in the tail. Pairs prefer open flat plains in the Karoo and Namib, prospering in the most barren environments where few other birds persist. In Namibia, the similar race of Karoo Chat is longer-tailed, avoids hyper-arid barren environments, and has a distinctive dark tail with white outer tail feathers that reach the tail tip.

A huge raptor of lowland and montane forest. Note long legs, pale belly, dark back and hint of a crest at the back of the head. Doesn’t soar but rather scans for prey from a branch. Superficially similar when perched to Long-tailed Honey-buzzard and Doria’s Goshawk, but New Guinea Eagle is much larger, with a thicker bill and less streaky on the chest. More often heard than seen. Call, a short, far-carrying, nasal “gak!” or low “Boop!”.

A large pale waterbird with a hefty pinkish pouched bill marked with diagnostic dark spots on the upper mandible. The head is grizzled with a hint of a shaggy crest and the back of the neck is dark. Rings of bare skin around each eye that make this bird look like it's wearing glasses. In breeding plumage, the rump, sides, and underwing coverts are salmon pink and the breast ochre yellow. Often seen in large lakes and estuaries fishing in groups. Nests in noisy colonies in trees bleached by droppings.