Malabar Flameback

A distinctive plump, short-tailed, long-legged terrestrial forest bird with a conspicuous red belly and a broad band of electric blue above that. Head brown and body green. Forages on the ground in humid lowland and hill forest and also in neighboring secondary growth. Calls both from the forest floor and from low perches in the understory. Gives a soft two-note whistle with a quivering, longer first note: “whoooyoop-woo.”

Unique social passerine with a disproportionately long tail and very short and rounded wings. Overall pallid sandy-brown. Often seen hopping on the ground with its tail cocked. Favors vegetated desert wadis and plains in the Middle East; also found near human habitation. Eats arthropods, plants, and berries. Moves around in noisy social groups; the subject of intensive studies for decades. Gives a high-pitched “tsee tsee tsee.”

A rather small, demure understory denizen resembling a cross between a robin and a flycatcher. Mostly dull brownish-olive with a rusty rump and a paler throat and belly. Juvenile is more mottled. A local and endangered bird found singly and in pairs in thick undergrowth of primary and secondary forest, thickets, and coffee plantations, resident in a narrow range along the Angolan escarpment between 810 and 1300 meters of elevation. Sits for long periods, sallying to catch insect prey. Calls include a soft series of descending whistles. May be mistaken for a flycatcher, but its furtive nature and preference for thick understory are unique within its range.