Blackcap Babbler
Turdoides reinwardtii
A mostly brownish babbler with a black head and a white eye. The underparts are pale in the west and become increasingly darker in the eastern part of the range. Found in moist woodland, dense savanna, scrub, gallery forest, forest edge, cultivated areas, and gardens. Almost always in groups, which feed by hopping across the ground. Similar in behavior, shape, size, and overall brown coloration to Brown Babbler, but easily separated by the black head and the lack of a contrastingly paler rump. Calls include a raspy babbling, nasal calls, and a dry clucking, all usually given by a whole group in chorus.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Turdoides reinwardtii
- Authority
- (Swainson, 1831)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Turdoides
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
Bias musicus
Unusual, chunky, short-tailed, crested, yellow-eyed member of the vanga family. Males are strikingly black-and-white, with a small white patch at the front of the wing. Females have a chestnut back, blackish head, and pale underparts. The wings are short and rounded, and the flight is weak. Found in the canopy of humid forest, at low and middle elevations, often along forest edge and clearings. The variable song consists of slurred whistles. Calls include rasps and clearer bulbul-like notes.
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Celeus loricatus
One of several species of mostly rufous woodpeckers with a crest. On Cinnamon, look for pale off-white belly with black scaling, and uniformly rufous head and back. Sexes mostly similar; male has red mustache stripe. Mainly a forest bird, found singly or in pairs, usually at middle levels or in the canopy. Listen for series of loud breathy whistles descending in pitch, similar to several other species in this genus.
Western Boubou
Laniarius poensis
A dark boubou, almost wholly matte black except for its grayish eyes, found in the shadows of thickets and dense vegetation. Common at higher elevations in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Noisy and usually found by its distinctive calls. Song is a series of whistles often ending in a harsh note: “go-WHEE-chk!”. Also makes a grating chatter, meowing “reawr” calls, and a quick, upslurred “kew-ick!” whistle, as well as other calls.
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