Black-faced Firefinch

Medium-sized shorebird. Gray above and white below, with fine white speckling on wings and bold white spectacles. Note dark underwing and dark rump in flight. Smaller and shorter-legged than Lesser Yellowlegs, with duller greenish legs. Often alone, but multiple individuals may gather loosely in appropriate habitat. Tips body like Spotted Sandpiper, but less constantly and not as quick and dramatic. Breeds around ponds and marshes in the boreal forest; uses old songbird nests in trees, unlike most other shorebirds. In migration and winter, mostly seen on small bodies of water like muddy ponds, lake edges, and slow-moving streams. Extensive winter range throughout Central and South America. Listen for piercing, high-pitched “tsee-weet!” call.

A dark babbler with abundant scaly markings and red-orange eyes. The exact pattern and coloration are extremely variable. The underparts can be mostly black with white scaling, or mostly white with dark scaling. There is often rufous on the rump and undertail, and sometimes elsewhere. Found very locally at middle elevations in central Kenya, in thickets, remnant natural forest, and scrub dominated by exotic species. Almost always in small groups, which feed by hopping across the ground. Easily separated from other babblers in its range by the abundant and variable scaling. Usually located by the raspy babbling call, typically given by a whole group in chorus. 

A rather small, demure understory denizen resembling a cross between a robin and a flycatcher. Mostly dull brownish-olive with a rusty rump and a paler throat and belly. Juvenile is more mottled. A local and endangered bird found singly and in pairs in thick undergrowth of primary and secondary forest, thickets, and coffee plantations, resident in a narrow range along the Angolan escarpment between 810 and 1300 meters of elevation. Sits for long periods, sallying to catch insect prey. Calls include a soft series of descending whistles. May be mistaken for a flycatcher, but its furtive nature and preference for thick understory are unique within its range.