Pied Coucal

A large brown francolin with yellow bare skin on the throat and red bare skin around the eyes. The bill and legs are black. Pale patches in the outer wings are conspicuous in flight. Found in a variety of fairly arid savanna habitats and in adjacent agricultural fields. Usually in pairs or small groups. Easily separated from other francolins by its bare yellow throat. The call is a fading series of rough “kreaaak” notes.

Sleek, secretive diving duck with a bright orange-red bill and a long, shaggy crest. Relatively rare East Asian endemic. Male has a glossy green head and a black-and-white back. Female has a rusty brown head and gray back. Both sexes have prominent dark-edged white “scales” on the sides that distinguish them from other merganser species. Breeds in cavities along forested montane rivers and winters on fast-flowing rivers and lakes.

A huge, rare kingfisher of rainforest interior from lowlands to mid-mountains. Its unnaturally large bill makes it look almost unrecognisable as a kingfisher. Dark wing and head, rufous belly, broad collar and stripe behind the eye, white throat and a large blue rump. Uses its huge bill for unearthing its invertebrate prey on bare areas on the forest floor. Superficially similar to Rufous-bellied Kookaburra but has a dark instead of blue wing and a much deeper bill. Call, a far-carrying, medium-pitched, incessant piping “peeep!”.