African Emerald Cuckoo

Fairly distinctive for a pipit: blackish-brown above, including the wings, with bright golden feather edgings giving it a boldly streaked appearance. The chest and flanks are buff and lightly streaked. Look for the buffy-yellow eyebrow. Mostly encountered in well-preserved natural grasslands, favoring short grass areas that have regenerated after fires. Gives a series of sharp twittering notes ending with a slurred “eeeeeeeur.”

Attractive, chunky little bird of tropical forest in dry and humid lowlands and foothills. Away from display areas, usually found in ones and twos perched quietly or feeding at fruiting trees and bushes from understory to canopy. Complex displays involve loud whistles and interactions between two males. Adult male is unmistakable. Female and young are greenish overall with orange legs and rather long tail. Immature males have varying degrees of adult male plumage; the sky-blue back being the last feature to appear.

A rather small owl with a grayish-brown head, brown upperparts spotted with white, and whitish underparts barred with rufous. Common in most forests up to at least 1000 meters of elevation. Differs from the similar New Britain Boobook in barred rather than spotted underparts, lack of contrastingly dark chest, and lack of slim white eyebrows. Ranges unlikely to regularly overlap. Voice is a gruff, frog-like “kra-kra-kra-kra.”