Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver

Adult male distinctive: glossy black overall with bright yellow bill and eyering. Female dark brown overall; slightly paler throat and breast often have faint darker spots and streaks. Juvenile in summer brown overall with pale spots on back, spotted breast; first-year male duller black than adult, with duller yellowish bill. Can be found in wooded habitats, parks, gardens, and farmland with hedges; often feeds in fields and on lawns. Rich caroling song often heard in urban and suburban neighborhoods with trees and hedges. A native of Eurasia and North Africa, introduced to southeastern Australia, New Zealand, and a few surrounding islands.

Spectacular male shows diagnostic maroon sides to head and collar, iridescent metallic blue-green forehead and crown, blue shoulder, moss-green back, and yellow rump. Underside is uniform bright yellow in both sexes, although female is entirely olive above. Juvenile resembles female but with pale legs. Singles and pairs inhabit forest, shrubbery, and plantations in lowlands and lower hills, often joining mixed-species flocks. Female can be separated from female Black and Brown-throated Sunbirds by bright yellow underparts and lack of yellow eyebrow. Gives high-pitched “tzeeet” calls. Song is an undulating trill.

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.