Black-headed Saltator

Odd dove-gray corvid with a slightly decurved bill. Note black lores, tail, and chest. Delicate buffy-pinkish wash on the chest visible in good light. Inhabits sandy deserts with scattered shrubs. Often perches out in the open, next to roads, and forages on the ground in small flocks or pairs. Gives a bubbling ‘bl’lip, bl’lip’, often in the early morning.

An entirely dark boubou found in thickets and dense vegetation. Widespread, but can be surprisingly rare and local in many parts of its range. A distinctively nondescript medium-sized skulking forest bird whose most obvious field mark is a lack of field marks, as it is wholly dark all over. The scientific name, which means “white-billed,” refers to young birds, whose bills start out white and darken with age. Similar to other species of sooty boubou, but Lowland Sooty Boubou is found at lower elevations and has a distinctive voice: a series of drawn out, ringing hoots or whistles, given singly or in short groups. Calls are harsh, sometimes mechanical chatters. 

A chunky partridgelike pheasant of montane scrub. Males are silvery gray with extensive pale streaking all over the body and crimson-tinged face, tail, breast, and tail - the namesake “blood” of this species. Female is warm brown with an orange face. Both sexes have a small head with an occasionally raised weak crest. Usually seen in small flocks in the winter and in pairs or singly in the summer.