Velvety Black-Tyrant

An unusual and distinctive starling of dry country. Males are dark above and white below, with a blue-black hood and upperparts; females are dark gray. Both sexes have an orange eye and white patches in the wings that are conspicuous in flight. Found in dry thorn savanna, thorn scrub, and woodland, usually in flocks which wander erratically. The song is a continuous jumble of scratchy notes and whistles. The most common call is a harsh “chek.” 

Large, chunky, all-gray cuckooshrike. There is a pale ring around the dark eye, giving the face a gentle appearance. Males are darker gray than females. Found in forest; away from South Africa, exclusively in montane forest. Quiet and unobtrusive bird that is easily missed as it moves slowly through the forest midstory. Call is a quiet, high-pitched, descending “seeeeuup.” Similar to White-breasted Cuckooshrike, but has much darker underparts and is found in forest rather than woodland.

A drab, gray-brown scrub-robin with bold white tail tips, eyebrow, and throat markings. Pairs are active and noisy in dry scrubby thickets and arid brush, where they vocalize prominently from the top of shrubs, fences, and rocks, or hop and run around on the ground, sometimes with their tails cocked. A scolding harsh contact call and warbler-like song draws attention to them. Other scrub-robins in the same range are more strikingly colored, and chats lack the white tail tips of Karoo Scrub-Robin.