Uniform Finch

Haplospiza unicolor

Slender finch found at forest borders where it is especially associated with bamboo. Usually forages on or near the ground. Males are uniformly plain dark-gray with darker centers to wing feathers. Females are olive-brown with a streaky breast and a paler belly. The song is buzzy and high-pitched.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Haplospiza unicolor
Authority
Cabanis, 1851
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Thraupidae
Genus
Haplospiza

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Penan Bulbul

Penan Bulbul

Alophoixus ruficrissus

A brownish-olive bulbul with a wispy crest and a puffy, glowingly white throat. Inhabits lowland and montane forests, where it prefers primary or well-aged secondary growth. Forages in the middle and lower levels of the forest, usually in small, noisy flocks. Calls consist primarily of loud, dry “chek” notes; song is pleasant and warbling. Similar to Gray-cheeked Bulbul, but darker, especially on the underparts, with a more conspicuous white throat and a longer crest.

Yellow-throated Nicator

Yellow-throated Nicator

Nicator vireo

A shy but loud bird of forests and forest edges that usually stays within cover. Shaped like a greenbul, but has a thicker, more robust bill. Shows grayish underparts, greenish upperparts, yellow spots on the tips of the flight feathers and upperwing coverts, a yellow throat, and yellow lores. Similar to the larger Western Nicator, but note Yellow-throated’s smaller size, yellow throat and lores, and distinctive song, which often betrays its presence: a sputtering series of notes that can be surprisingly resonant and loud, a “p-p-p-po-keer-ko-wheeeer-pop” and other variations. Call is a growling trill, “prrrrrr.” 

Tanganyika Masked-Weaver

Tanganyika Masked-Weaver

Ploceus reichardi

A typical red-eyed masked-weaver with a plain olive-green back and pink-brown legs. The breeding male has a black face mask extending midway up the forehead, surrounded by a strong burnt-orange wash that spreads to the breast and flanks. Female and juvenile are duller, but their breasts are tinged orange-yellow, flanks brown, and bellies white. Pairs and colonies are localized residents of reedbeds, wetlands, and adjacent woodland, in a very narrow global range between southwestern Tanzania and the Saisi River in northeastern Zambia. The ranges of most similar masked-weavers do not overlap, but breeding male Katanga and Southern Masked-Weavers are yellower than Tanganyika, lacking chestnut tones, and breeding male Lake Lufira Masked-Weaver has black mask extending past the hind-crown, and strong chestnut underparts.

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