Masked Saltator

A strange-looking pheasant which passes ghostlike through dense forests, seldom venturing into the open. Both sexes are gray-brown with iridescent spotting on the wings, but the male has a longer tail and a bushy, forward-arching crest. Display involves opening up the tail and spreading the wings to flash their iridescent peacock-like spots. Song, a series of ascending hoarse croaks, can often be heard in the morning.

Ornate partridge of east Himalayan foothill forests. Often in areas with dense bamboo stands. Note black-and-white “necklace” and dark rusty-red head and chest. Like many other Arborophila partridges, can be elusive and difficult to see in the gloom of the forest floor; instead, listen for its song, a far-carrying slow series of rising whistles or short whistled phrases, often slightly burry.

A dumpy bird with a blue-gray head, a chunky bill, a brown back, and a pale belly with dark streaks. The breast band is broken into two patches and is orange in the male and buff in the female. Pairs are resident at middle levels and in the understory of lowland and montane forest. Call is a thin high-pitched whistle “heeeuuw”; the species also displays with a bizarre mechanical rattle “prrdddrrtt” made by the wings. African Broadbill is smaller and duller than Gray-headed, and Rufous-sided Broadbill has a dark head and white wingbars.