Gray-hooded Sunbird

Rather dull buffy ground-dwelling bird with a large but disjunct range from Panama to Argentina. Streaky brown above and paler below with a streaked breast and plain belly. Note long pinkish legs and white outer tail feathers. Found in any flat open habitat including savannah, agricultural areas, and desert. Most often seen on the ground, occasionally perched up on a small shrub or fence. The only pipit in most of its range. Listen for the distinctive song, a few tick notes followed by a long descending buzzy “tzeeeeeeew,” often given in flight.

A prinia-like warbler with a russet-colored back and crown, a plain grayish face, and a whitish throat. The long, graduated tail and fine breast streaks are distinctive. Pairs are resident and restricted to the semi-arid Karoo, where they are specialists of reedbeds and thorn tree thickets along dry drainage lines. The species’ presence is often detected by its distinctive song, a dry sharp “tsit” rapidly followed by a sweeter accelerating rattle “tsit-trrrrrrrrrrrrr.” The similar Karoo Prinia differs from Namaqua Warbler by having a shorter scruffier tail, duller gray-brown upperparts, and boldly blotched underparts with streaking that can reach the throat. The voice is also different.

A fairly large, short-tailed bird of mid-montane forest canopy. Male is mainly black with a bronzy-scaled chest and 6 antennalike feathers projecting from the back of the head. Note the blue eyes. The female is warm-brown above with barred underparts and a black head. The male has an elaborate dance at a terrestrial display court. Females are similar to female lophorinas, but are larger and lack a pale eyebrow stripe. The vocalizations are poorly known, but likely include various rasps and parrotlike squawks.