Sabah Partridge

Retiring, small swimming bird of tropical lowlands. It’s not a grebe and it doesn’t like the sun; instead it favors slow-moving shady streams, mangroves, quiet ponds, and lake edges. Swims with a slight head-jerking motion and flies off low over the water when disturbed or climbs up into low branches and tangles; does not dive. The striped head and neck and stout pointed bill are distinctive. The cheeks are white on the male and orangish on the female.

A medium-sized brown seedeater. Note the boldly marked face with a dark crown, a white eyebrow, and a broad dark-brown patch through the eye. The underparts lack streaking, but may show some brown blotching. Found in woodland, scrub, and cultivated areas. Often in pairs or small flocks. Similar to Reichard's Seedeater, but there is little overlap in range, and West African is easily separated by the unstreaked underparts. Somewhat similar to White-rumped Seedeater, but lacks a white rump, and has a strong facial pattern and unstreaked underparts. Gives a pretty, musical up-and-down song of whistles and trills which also sometimes includes imitations of other birds.

A chunky, heavy-billed songird. Highly variable, with possibly multiple species involved. Male is distinctive, with a black hood, a white throat (bright yellow on Tanimbar), a bright yellow underside, and dull green upperparts with a golden collar. Females are dull, with brown or gray upperparts, a pale throat, and pale buff to yellow underparts. Female differs from Fawn-breasted Whistler in having a larger body and a longer, heavier bill; from female Wallacean Whistler by absence of throat streaking; and from Drab Whistler by yellower underside and browner upperside. Vocalizations variable, with loud whistles sometimes ending in whip-cracking notes, such as “wee-wee-wee-WHIP-CHOO.”