Gray-headed Dove

An unusual shorebird that is so distinctive that it has been placed in its own family. The back is blue-gray and the underparts salmon; the head and breast are boldly marked with black and white. Immatures are duller, but still distinctive. In flight, shows a striking pattern of black and white in the outer wing. Found mostly on sandbars in slow-flowing rivers, rarely in other wetland habitats. The call is a “tchep” that is often repeated, especially in flight.

A medium-sized iridescent blue-green glossy starling that lacks dark ear-patches and has greenish flanks and belly, giving it a more uniform appearance than the “blue-eared” starlings. Pairs and small groups occupy high-altitude grassland, Karoo, and savanna, including drier habitats than other glossy starlings. The species feeds on the ground and in trees on fruit and insects; often it scavenges from people. It gives a rolling “turrreaau” flight call and harsh “karrr” alarm notes. Similar “blue-eared” starlings differ from Cape Starling by being smaller and having blue-magenta flanks and belly that give them a less uniform appearance.

A small dark brown bird of the shaded understory and forest floor, found hilly forests. Brown overall; gray face is marked with a thin, curving black eyebrow and a weaker black moustachial stripe, though these marks are often hard to discern in the darkness of the thick growth in which it likes to forage. Song is a short but melodic warble; various calls, including a low churring note and a quick “whee-chuck.”