Green-backed Woodpecker

A small, rotund, wren-like warbler of the understory that often leans forward and cocks its short narrow tail. This species has red eyes, olive-green wings, and gray-white underparts. There are two groups that are sometimes treated as different species: (1) “green-backed” birds along the eastern seaboard of Africa from southeast Kenya to coastal South Africa; and (2) “gray-backed” birds in the remainder of Africa. Pairs inhabit thickets and riverine woodland in arid and moist savanna, forest, and forest edge, hopping about, often low to the ground, searching for small insects. Their two common vocalizations are a nasal “meehrrp” alarm call that gives them the moniker “bleating warbler” and a strident, repeated snapping “strik-strik-strik-strik-strik” song.

A large ground pigeon of lowland and foothill forest. Plump with dark upperparts and pale rufous flanks. White cheek with a low crest behind the head and a bright red eye. Pale legs and a long, thick, pale-tipped bill. Shy and difficult to see. Forages on the ground and often flicks its tail. Thick bill and white cheek differentiate it from any similar-sized ground bird. Call, a single, flutelike “hoo!” given at regular intervals. Sounds like blowing over the top of a bottle.

A medium-sized, long-tailed, ground-dwelling bird of lowland forest. Overall deep blue color with a white throat and upper chest, bordered with a broad black band across the chest, up through the eye to the bill. Female has a narrow white eyebrow. Usually separated by elevation from Chestnut-backed and geographically from Dimorphic, with a slight potential overlap, but Blue has a blue back and crown. Song, a slowly repeated, high-pitch whistle followed by an explosive descending “chew”.