Pale-naped Brushfinch

A small bushshrike in which males and females are strikingly different. Males are black and gray on the upperparts, whitish below. Females are gray-brown on the upperparts, pale gray below. Local and generally uncommon in dry savanna and thornscrub. Usually in pairs. Similar to Black-backed and Northern Puffbacks, but noticeably smaller, with a pale base to the bill. The most common vocalization is an explosive, repeated “kweea,” but the species also gives scolding and ratcheting calls. 

Brown-and-yellow leaf warbler without a wingbar. Breeds in high-altitude areas, in open areas with low vegetation. Winters at lower elevations, including throughout the Indian Subcontinent south of the Himalayas, where it is most abundant in shrubbery in the northeast Indian plains and in the high Western Ghats. Resembles Sulphur-bellied Warbler, but has a yellower cheek and underparts, and shows little contrast between the eyebrow and the throat. Tickell’s spends less time on or near the ground than Sulphur-bellied, tends to flock, and often participates in mixed-species foraging flocks.

Long, curved bill. Adults mostly dark with iridescent green and reddish tones. Very thin white border surrounding the dark facial skin. Dark eyes. Usually gregarious, it is found mainly in salty marshes and shallow wetlands. Unmistakable in most of its range, though American birds are best distinguished from White-faced Ibis by distribution and facial pattern.