Pallas's Rosefinch

Fairly large, plain cisticola. Note the rufous cap, pale underparts, and two bands across the tip of the tail, one pale and one black. Found in a variety of savanna habitats, including miombo. The distinctive song is a high, rising trill, given from a prominent perch. The call is an agitated, repeated “chit.” As with other cisticolas, habitat and vocalizations are important to identification. Fairly similar to Whistling Cisticola, but has a rufous cap.

Dull, short-billed treecreeper with a white throat, brown upperparts, and brown-suffused pale underparts. Restricted to mature montane coniferous stands, especially fir. Like other treecreepers, scrambles quickly up trunks and along branches with its tail held flat against the bark. Very similar to Hodgson’s Treecreeper, but Sichuan averages darker on the face and belly, with a different song: a long tinkling series of descending high notes. Call is high-pitched and sputtery, like a sped-up version of the song.

A handsome forest kingfisher with a blue-green back, rich cinnamon underparts, a broad cinnamon eyebrow and collar, a wide blackish line through the eye, and a dark cap. Juvenile duller, with a white-tipped bill, a mottled breast, and scaling on some wing feathers. Inhabits forest and forest edge in lowlands and lower hills, rarely wandering into local gardens. Distinguished from Sacred and Collared Kingfishers by its almost completely umber-colored underside and its broad brow. Its swift, descending trill, “keeeerrrrer,” is often heard, as is its harsh “krrrreee-kreeee” notes and its yapping calls.