Morningbird

Tiny, compact hummingbird with short tail. Males are distinctive with streaked magenta throat. Females very similar to several other hummingbird species, especially Broad-tailed. Note small size, short tail with almost no rusty color, finely spotted throat, and thin white line above base of bill. Generally uncommon. Breeds near clearings and edges in mountainous regions. Migrates south to Mexico and descends to lower elevations in winter. Visits sugar water feeders.

The male is a striking, medium-sized, mostly dark bustard with a bold white cheek patch and a reddish bill. The female has a black belly and is elsewhere finely barred. In flight it has a conspicuous white window on both the upper and lower sides of the wing. Scattered individuals, sometimes associated in small groups, inhabit arid savanna and Karoo scrub. It singscalls a strident, ratcheting “kraak-kraak-kraak” which leads into a maniacal “raa-cha-ka-ka-ka....cha-ka-ka-ka” display as the male flies around 20–30 m above the ground, with legs dangling. In flight, Black Bustard’s lack of large white wing patches separates it from the similar White-quilled Bustard.

A gray flycatcher that has a distinctive blackish tail with white outer tail feathers. It forages more like a warbler than a typical flycatcher, flitting through foliage searching carefully for insects; seldom sallies to catch flies. Often it leans forward with its tail slightly raised and spread, a behavior that may flush insects nearby. It forages unobtrusively in broadleaf woodland, thickets, and forest edge, where it is most often detected by its trembling, mournful “wheeely-wheerr” song. The similar Gray-throated Tit-Flycatcher prefers lowland rainforest and has an all-dark tail and a plain gray face, while Ashy Flycatcher has an all-dark tail and hunts by perching and sallying like a typical flycatcher.