South African Shelduck

The common fairywren of lowland and foothill forest edge and thickets. A small, long-tailed bird with a dark blue mask, a pale blue crown, and a cocked tail. Male has otherwise uniform deep blue plumage, and the female rufous brown upperparts with a white breast. Forages in small groups in thick undergrowth. Female similar to Wallace’s Fairywren but Emperor lacks the white wing bars and facial stripe. Song is a jumble of warbled notes, and call a dry “churr.”

Massive kingfisher with a large scarlet bill. Head is olive-brown with dark green-blue upperparts and buff underparts. Wings and tail bluer, with rump even paler blue, obvious in flight. Juvenile has dusky edges to feathers of breast and hindneck. Vocal in breeding season, giving a loud, far-reaching “peu-peu-pow” whistle, while its regular contact call is a loud laughing “ka-ka-ka” repeated 6-10 times. Prefers large streams, rivers, and the edges of large water bodies with vegetated banks. 

A dull brownish babbler with brightly colored eyes. Found in moist woodland, dense savanna, scrub, gallery forest, forest edge, cultivated areas, and gardens, almost always in groups that forage actively on the ground. Similar in shape, size, and overall brown coloration to Arrow-marked Babbler, but there is only minor overlap in range, and Brown Babbler can be separated by the paler face and throat and the less pointed white markings on the underparts. Calls include a raspy babbling and a dry clucking, both usually by a whole group in chorus.