Black-headed Gonolek

Medium-sized brown, heavily streaked seedeater. Note the boldly marked face with a streaked crown, white eyebrow, and broad black patch through the eye. Found in miombo and mopane broadleaf woodland. Gives a pretty, musical up-and-down song of whistles and trills. The call is a harsh “chu-we-dit.” Similar to Reichard’s and Streaky-headed Seedeaters, but has a much bolder and more contrasting facial pattern.

A sunbird masquerading as a warbler, this medium-sized sunbird of forest and forest edge is often found in small groups or mixed-species flocks searching the understory deliberately for insects. Overall yellow-green with more olive tones to the head. Has distinctive pale spectacles around its eye and a large, slightly decurved bill. Could be confused with longbills, but note Fraser’s Sunbird’s decurved bill and noticeable spectacles around the eyes. Calls include a short, dry “tiktiktik!” The song is a longer set of sunbird-like notes with noticeable pauses in between, varying in quality from clear whistles to trills: “dree, djier, drtil, drtil.” 

A nocturnal inhabitant of open arid woodlands and thornscrub. Perches on ground from which it makes floppy and erratic flight upon its long wings in pursuit of insects. During the day it nestles in shaded leaf litter, wherein its cryptic coloration hides it well. Both the Hispaniolan Nightjar and Chuck-wills-widow are considerably larger, darker, and lack the Least Pauraque’s white terminal tail band. Calls include a low scratchy “wuck-wuck-wuck-wuck,” a low-pitched rising and trilled “tooooooeeeeeee,” and a similarly low-pitched trilled “oo-weee-oo,” with emphasis on middle syllable. The calls of the Hispaniolan Nightjar is a lower pitched “toooooeeeeeo.”