Rubeho Akalat

A large hornbill of lowland and foothill forest. Body dark, with rufous thighs, chest, and neck, a whitish tail, a red casque, a long red bill, and a black face bordered behind with yellow. Females have a smaller casque, a paler eye, and no eye-ring. Southern birds have a yellow-tipped bill. Similar to the Writhed Hornbill, but Rufous lacks the black tip to the tail and has a rufous rather than black or pale head. Voice includes loud, downslurred nasal honking notes.

Nondescript plain brown bulbul with dull red eyes. Buffy brown vent distinguishes it from similar red-eyed form of Cream-vented Bulbul. Has neither the olive wing patches of Olive-winged Bulbul nor the streaked ear coverts of Streak-eared Bulbul. Red eye is not surrounded by the orangish eyering of Spectacled Bulbul. Forages primarily in the middle and upper levels of forest, often with other species in mixed flocks. Song is a relatively monotonous series of upslurred whistles.

Very small, with a distinctive short, rounded tail with conspicuous spots at the tip. Body sandy-colored below, streaky above. Breeding males have a dark bill and crown. Found in open grasslands, meadows, marshes, and agricultural areas. Most readily detected by its repetitive and monotonous song, given from either a perch or in an undulating song flight. Song varies across wide distribution, ranging from evenly-paced squeaky “tsik, tsik” of African and European birds to the fast dry ticking of Southeast Asian birds.