African Hobby

A large, spectacular, slender, carmine-pink-and-teal-blue bee-eater with a long pointed tail, black bill, and black facial mask. The immature is duller and shorter-tailed. It gathers in large groups that often attend bush fires, and it specializes in catching large flying insects, including dragonflies, butterflies, and locusts. Breeds colonially by burrowing into sandbanks. It has a complex three-stage migration; it generally breeds between 13–20°S from August–September, disperses south of the breeding area December–March, and then moves north of the breeding area April–August. “Trik-trik-trik” calls are more guttural than those of European Bee-eater. Similar Northern Carmine Bee-eater has a teal-colored (not carmine) chin and throat.

A large, long-tailed, thrushlike bird of dense forests. Note its black necklace, streaked white cheek patch, and pale band near the tip of the tail. Very similar to Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush; note dark eye and ‘contained’ (completely encircled) cheek patch. Shy and difficult to see well. Usually found in small flocks in wet lowland and hill forest, often near streams. Song is a series of loud whistles, not as long or varied as that of Hwamei. Native to East and Southeast Asia; introduced to the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Medium-sized brown warbler, very similar to Eurasian Reed-Warbler. Best differentiated by the song, which is delightful, distinctive, loud, and full of mimicry of European and African birds. The call is a nasal, short "chek" or "tret." Longer wings than Eurasian Reed-Warbler, with distinctive pale tips to wing feathers. Bill rather short; legs pale and less warm-toned than Eurasian Reed-Warbler. Breeds in thick herbaceous vegetation in marshy areas and along ditches, not usually in the middle of wet reed beds. Can be found in drier habitats during the non-breeding season.