Southern Pochard

Fairly small, slim, long-tailed hornbill. Note the red bill, dark eye, pale face, and heavily spotted back. White patches on the wing and outer tail are conspicuous in flight. Found in arid savanna, often in lusher woodland along dry riverbeds. Call is a series of clucks that starts with single notes, then becomes louder and more emphatic, with doubled notes. Has a small area of overlap with the very similar Southern Red-billed Hornbill in northern Namibia. Separated by the unstreaked white face and dark eye, though beware of hybrids. Somewhat like Monteiro’s Hornbill, but smaller and slimmer-billed, with bolder white spotting on the back.

Medium-sized heron of forested and vegetated wetlands, ponds, and lakes. All ages and plumages have dark upperparts and orange, yellow, and reddish striping on the neck and breast. Female and immature average browner with weaker contrast than males. Typically hides and hunts in vegetation similar to other bitterns but occasionally perches visibly on trees and bushes.

Elusive thrush, seldom seen far from cover. Favors well-shaded streamsides, gullies, and valleys in broadleaf hill forests during the breeding season, but can be found in sparser habitats in the non-breeding season. Adult male sharply marked and beautiful if seen well, combining coal-black upperparts with a snow-white belly punctuated with dark speckles. Immature male gray above, belly tinged orange. Female medium brown above with white underparts marked with both dark speckles and an orange suffusion; can be confused with female Gray-backed Thrush, but dark markings in Japanese extend to lower belly (restricted to the throat in Gray-backed). Rich, lengthy song often very repetitive.