Blue-winged Mountain Tanager

A large elegant tern with a very long lemon-yellow bill. Black cap does not extend down to the bill. Juvenile is scaly-looking with much more black on the back and wings. Similar Lesser Crested Tern is smaller with black cap extending down to the bill in breeding plumage. Occurs along coasts and estuaries; very rarely further inland or on freshwater ponds/lagoons.

Large, black-hooded, big-billed vanga. Males are white below, while females are pale rufous. Madagascar endemic that is found locally in eastern rainforest. Can be found solo or in pairs, sometimes in flocks with other vangas. Most common vocalizations are a sharp, rising whistle and a “chi-che-che” scold. Separated from Van Dam’s and Lafresnaye’s Vangas by range. Separated from Madagascar Cuckooshrike and Tylas Vanga by much larger bill. Unlike Madagascar Cuckooshrike, never shows gray underparts. 

The breeding male is black with a pale blue bill, brightly-colored shoulder epaulets (chestnut in northeast Africa, yellow elsewhere), and diagnostic white wing panels that are most obvious in flight. The distinctive display is a slow butterfly-like flapping. The non-breeding male is buffy and streaky, but retains the shoulder epaulets and wing panel. The female lacks the wing pattern and has a pale unstreaked belly. Pairs and flocks are resident with local movements in open savanna, brushy grassland, swamps, and cultivated areas.