Blue-throated Motmot

A cute, dumpy, colorful flycatcher-like bird that flits around in the mid-canopy and understory of forest, forest edge, plantations, and gardens. Males have a broad black chest band, yellow-orange eye, white stripe through the top of the wing, and white throat. Females have an orange eye, buff-and-white stripe through the top of the wing, and rufous chin patch. The song is a series of 8-9 plaintive steady piping “peooop” notes, and calls include buzzing grating “ddrz-drrzt-drrr, ddt-ddzt-drzt-drr”. Female Dark Batis is distinguished by its darker (rich rufous rather than white and buff) wing stripe. Male Dark Batis is very similar, but has a slightly longer tail and broader black breast stripe. Also similar to Chinspot Batis, but has darker orange color to the eyes, and female Malawi Batis shows paler rufous on the throat and buff tinges to the wing stripe.

Despite its exquisite coloration, this tiny finch is reclusive, generally uncommon, and seldom observed. Note emerald-green back and orange extending from the face down to the upper belly. Sky-blue forehead patch is much larger and brighter in males than females. Found in highland forests and forest edge; often associated with bamboo thickets.

The combination of a red bill, yellow-green eye-ring, and brown (not black) undertail are characteristic of this firefinch. The male has a pink face, crown, and underparts, while the female is mostly brown with a small pink patch between the eye and bill and a pink upper tail. Pairs and small flocks are resident in a variety of grassy savanna habitats and in cultivation, where they feed on the ground for seeds and fly into trees when disturbed. The species may join mixed-species flocks and often drinks or bathes. It gives a melodic “swee-tee-eeer” song and a spitting, tinny “prrrrrt” call. The Bar-breasted Firefinch is very similar to the Red-billed Firefinch, but has a brown (not reddish) crown; the Brown Firefinch has a brown rump.