Somali Crow

An entertaining heron to watch—known for sprinting, jumping, and spinning around in shallow water with its wings held up. Dark morph is more common than white morph. Adults are dark gray with a rusty head and neck. Immatures are paler grayish and rusty overall. In breeding plumage, the pink bill and blue lores can become shockingly bright. White morphs are similar to other egrets, but note behavior, grayish legs, and pink bill base (adults). Found exclusively near the coast, especially on mudflats. Typically uncommon, usually seen singly or in scattered small numbers. Dark morph most easily confused with Little Blue Heron, but Reddish Egret is larger and forages much more actively.

A beautiful, glossy green-and-purple starling. There is a stripe through the eye that sometimes looks black and sometimes deep purple. The eye is reddish-orange. Juveniles are dull and blackish. Found in a wide variety of savanna habitats, from moist broadleaf woodland to dry thorn savanna. Also found in villages, towns, and cultivated areas. Very similar to Lesser and Greater Blue-eared Starlings, but separated by the purple rather than greenish tail and the darker reddish eye. The vocalizations include rising whistles, nasal whines, and long series of chattering notes. 

A chunky bird with a thick pale bill. Shows lots of geographical variation, ranging from mostly rich rufous birds in southern New Guinea to birds that are gray on the back and buffy below, often with a paler throat and/or vague streaking on the underparts, in the Australian portion of the range. Found at low elevations in a variety of moist forest, including secondary forest, gallery forest, swamp forest, and mangroves. Rich, melodious, variable song consists of several penetrating whistles. A classic pattern is several accelerating whistles, followed by a couple of upslurred notes. Calls include “chak” notes and whiny nasal notes. Similar to Gray Shrikethrush, but found in denser habitats, and appears smaller, shorter-tailed, and browner overall, with buffy underparts. Also similar to Rusty Pitohui, but smaller, with a dark rather than pale eye.