Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Warm brownish songbird of shrubby forest edges, reedbeds, and gardens. Brown above, pale below, with pale supercilium and dark eyeline. Note rufous crown. Shy and skulking, rarely straying from dense undergrowth even when singing. Usually detected by its song, a long mournful whistle followed by a quick burst of rich, bubbly notes. All but indistinguishable from Japanese Bush Warbler; averages slightly more rufous on the crown, but best identified by range and voice.

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.

Long-tailed, small-headed, maroon-and-gray pheasant. Male has a longer tail than the female, and his green spots are brighter; they gleam like hewn emeralds when he is displaying. Found in foothill and montane forest. Forages quietly on the ground, scratching through leaf litter. Typically shy and very difficult to see; only reliably and easily viewed where habituated.