Malagasy Kingfisher

Quite brightly-colored for a snowfinch. Pale sandy brown above and white below with an orange crescent on the back of the cheek. May be confused with Blanford’s Snowfinch, but look out for a pair of roughly equal-length black stripes on the face which form a right angle. Found on wide open steppe meadows, pastures, and near human settlements.

A medium-sized sunbird with an olive back and gray belly. Male has a metallic bluish (may appear green in some light) hood and breast; female appears plain-headed with limited metallic plumage on crown. Immature like female, but darker and duller. Singles and pairs are uncommon residents of riparian forest, forest-edge, and broadleaved Miombo woodland. Sings a series of short jumbled high-pitched notes. Compared to similar Green-headed Sunbird, smaller Bannerman’s Sunbird has a shorter, straighter bill, and mostly blue head (duller on female), lacking an obvious green crown.

In breeding range, this large, long-billed songster of expansive reedbeds can often be seen perched on top of a stalk belting its heart out, but on wintering grounds, it is more likely to be detected by a harsh, grating rattling from deep within the vegetation. Unremarkably plumaged, brown above, paler below, with a weak white supercilium and a short bristly crest, occasionally raised. Compare with other large reed warblers, especially Clamorous Reed Warbler.