Amber Mountain Rock-Thrush

Large kingfisher with a massive lipstick-red bill. Note dark head, dark chestnut throat and chest, purplish body, electric blue wings, and large black shoulder patch. Bright white wing patches revealed in flight. Uses a variety of both wet and dry lowland and foothill habitats, including ponds, mangroves, agricultural fields, open forest, and scrub. Can be close to human habitation. Gives high piping screams, often in series.

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.

This dashing medium-sized tit can be found in broadleaf and mixed hill forests, as well as adjacent parks and gardens. Utterly unmistakable, with a bright yellow face and nape, which contrast smartly with a black crest, throat, and breast. Wings are gray and black with white spots and bars. Gregarious; often in small flocks of its own species or with large mixed feeding flocks. Song is a bright, repetitive “chew-wee-ee, chew-wee-ee, chew-wee-ee.” Calls vary, but usually incorporate several sharp notes and one or two lower, buzzier notes.