Rubeho Akalat

Chunky brown songbird with a weak crest, typically found on the ground in open fields and meadows. Darker above than below, with fine black streaking on the chest and light chestnut ear coverts with dark border. Very similar to Eurasian Skylark, with which it shares much of its range, but Oriental has buffy, not white, outer tail edges and trailing edge of wing. Breeding males “skylark,” singing a series of variable notes while hovering high above the territory.

Tiny rotund, short-tailed bird, scarcely larger than a sparrow; like a diminutive partridge or quail but only distantly related. Brown with scaly streaking above, extensive black barring on the chest (more extensive on the female), and rich tawny flanks. Extremely difficult to detect, moving about invisibly in dense weedy vegetation in fields, forest edges, and farmland. Flying birds have whirring flight, show contrast between dark flight feathers and paler coverts. Courting females give sonorous, booming calls from dense vegetation.

Medium-sized, grass-green toucan of humid tropical forest in foothills and highlands; also very locally in lowlands. Usually in pairs or small groups, moving through the canopy or feeding at fruiting trees. Nothing similar in its range. Note the rusty tail tips, best seen from below. Pattern of black and yellow on bill varies from region to region.