Southern Crested Guineafowl

Cryptic night bird, more often heard than seen. Listen for namesake song, a whistled "whip-poor-WILL," repeated endlessly. Found in forests, often with a mixture of pines and deciduous trees with open areas nearby for foraging. Forages for flying insects from the ground at night. Intricately patterned with gray, brown, and black. Similar to Chuck-will's-widow but with smaller head and shorter wings and tail. Eastern and Mexican Whip-poor-wills were recently split into separate species; they differ mainly in voice and do not overlap in range.

A tiny fruit dove of lowland and foothill rainforest. Mainly green with bright yellow vent. Male has a distinctive purple mark across the chest and a pale crescent above the shoulder. Often found in pairs and sometimes mixing with other fruit-dove species. Feeds on fruit and also nectar. Similar to female Claret-breasted and White-breasted Fruit-Doves, but Dwarf Fruit-Dove is smaller and has yellow edging to the wing feathers. Call, a distinctive falling and rising, “oh-wah!” repeated several times.

A medium-sized iridescent blue-green glossy starling with a dark ear-patch and contrasting royal blue to violet flanks and belly. Pairs and small groups occupy savanna, where they feed on the ground and in trees on fruit and insects; occasionally up to 300 may gather at fruiting trees. Often the species scavenges from people. It gives a cat-like nasal “squuee-aar” contact call that is distinctive. The similar Lesser Blue-eared Starling differs from Greater Blue-eared Starling by being smaller with a more compact head and finer bill, by having a smaller ear-patch, and by preferring broadleaf woodland. The Cape Starling differs from the “blue-eared” starlings by having greener ear-patches, belly, and flanks.