very local resident

Crested Bunting

Male: striking glossy black plumage, with long, pointed crest and chestnut wings and tail. Female: crested; olive-brown above, streaked darker; rufous in wings distinctive; buffy-yellow below, streaked dark on breast; darkish moustachial stripe. Small flocks, often spread wide over an area; feeds on ground, on paths, meadows and tar roads, especially along mountainsides; perches on ruins, walls, stones and low bushes; on ground.

Pale-billed Flowerpecker

Sexes alike. Olive-brown above; unmarked greywhite below; pinkish-flesh and yellow-brown beak seen only at close range or in good light. Solitary or two to three birds in canopy; frequents parasitic Loranthus and Viscum; flits from clump to clump; strictly arboreal, restless; territorial even when feeding.

Black Bittern

An extremely dark, medium-sized heron with a bold yellow neck stripe. The male’s upperparts are dull black, while the female’s are browner; below white-streaked rufous and black and grey belly. The immature is more streaked and the upperpart feathers have buff fringes.

Streak-throated Swallow

A small, dusky swallow with notched, long, broad tail. Blackish-blue mantle, brown wings, rump and tail and deep chestnut crown. Heavily streaked blackish on face, throat and upper breast. Brown under tail. Often looks very dark. The browner juvenile is often confused with Plain Martin. Has a weak, martin-like flight.

Dusky Crag Martin

Sexes alike. Dark sooty-brown above; square-cut, short tail, with white spot on all but outermost and central tail feathers; paler underbody; faintly rufous chin and throat, with indistinct black streaking. Small parties; flies around ruins, crags and old buildings, hawking insects in flight; acrobatic, swallow-like flight and appearance; rests during hot hours on rocky ledges or some corner.

Plain Martin

Sexes alike. Long wings and slight tail-fork. Grey-brown above, slightly darker on crown; dark brown wings and tail; dull grey below, whiter towards abdomen. A gregarious species, always in flocks, flying around sand-banks along water courses; individual birds occasionally stray far and high; hawks small insects in flight; flocks perch on telegraph wires.

Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch

Male: blue-grey above; black stripe from lores to nape; whitish cheeks and upper throat; all but central tail feathers black, with white markings; chestnut below. Female: duller chestnut below. Pairs or several, often with other small birds; restless climber; clings to bark and usually works up the tree stem, hammering with beak; also moves upside-down and sideways; may visit the ground.

Orange-headed Thrush

Blue-grey above; orangish-rufous head, nape and underbody; white ear-coverts with two dark brown vertical stripes; white throat and shoulder-patch. The Orange-headed nominate race has entire head rufous-orange. Usually in pairs; feeds on ground, rummaging in leaf litter and under thick growth; flies into leafy branch if disturbed; occasionally associates with laughingthrushes and babblers; vocal and restless when breeding.

Blue Rock Thrush

Male: blue plumage; brown wings and tail; pale fulvous and black scales more conspicuous in winter; belly whiter in winter. Female: duller, greybrown above; dark shaft-streaks; black barring on rump; dull white below, barred brown. Solitary; has favoured sites, often around habitation; perches on rocks, stumps, roof tops; has a rather upright posture; flies on to ground to feed, but sometimes launches short aerial sallies.

Common Woodshrike

Sexes alike. Greyish-brown plumage; broad whitish supercilium and dark stripe below eye distinctive; white outer tail feathers seen when bird flies. Dark stripe
may be slightly paler in female. Pairs or small parties; quiet for greater part of year, vocal when breeding (February–May); keeps to middle levels of trees, hopping about, sometimes coming to ground.

You are here