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Pale Flycatcher Bradornis pallidus
Abuja, Nigeria. July 2008

The Pale Flycatcher (once also known as Mouse-coloured Flycatcher) is a widespread and locally common bird found from West to South Africa in many moist wooded habitats. A typical Bradornis the Pale Flycatcher can appear somewhat chat-like and often feeds by hunting from an open perch and dropping to [...]

African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta
Aberdare Mountains, Kenya. July 2008
 
The African Dusky Flycatcher (or just Dusky Flycatcher) is an African endemic found mainly in the east of the continent from the Ethiopian highlands south to the Cape, extending West to Angola: its distribution in Kenya marks the eastern most extent of its range.

A common highland species, [...]

Some types of birds, such as raptors, waterfowl, and warblers, appeal to both birdwatchers and sane people alike. Members of these avian families are fun to observe at least in part because they appear in a broad array of easily-discernible forms. Given a minute with a field guide, most individuals can separate different types [...]

When I first started birding long, long ago (how long? pre-computer, but post the printed word thankfully) one of the birds that got me firmly and eternally hooked was a species that we here in the UK know as “the robin”. A small, rotund, fiery bundle of aggression and sweet song, the European Robin Erithacus [...]

Stacy Mote of Phenix City, Alabama is an environmental consultant that gets to bird for a living (lucky!) but she spends time off-duty as a weekend warrior scouting out local birding hotspots. As a birder, she tells us, you can never stop learning! Here, she shares photos of her first dramatic sighting of [...]

After a late night playing poker with my father and his friends (and getting my butt kicked, I might add) I headed down to Daisy’s house and we got to sleep at some time after two AM. So when my cell phone rang at ten to seven on Saturday morning, you can understand why I [...]

When the word “phoebe” comes up, most people automatically think of things like the outermost of Saturn’s known satellites, the Greek Titan-goddess of the moon, or the most fascinating and complex character from that happily departed sitcom, Friends. Anyone who has gone bird watching in North America, however, knows another kind of phoebe, a bold [...]

The White-browed Forest-flycatcher Fraseria cinerascens is a locally common West and Central African endemic (found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone). It’s a species of dense undergrowth, found in the forest [...]

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher Melaenornis fischeri Nairobi, Kenya. January 2004 and June 2006

A locally common resident in the highlands of East Africa (Nairobi is situated at 1660 metres (5450 feet) above sea level.), south to Malawi and Zambia. Occurs in highland forest, forest margins, and scrub: in Nairobi it is a familiar bird in gardens and [...]

White-starred Robin Pogonocichla stellata
AFEW Nature Sanctuary, Nairobi, Kenya
 
The beautiful White-starred Robin Pogonocichla stellata is related to old-world flycatchers and monotypic within the genus Pogonocichla. An African endemic found from eg Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo, east to Kenya, and south to Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa, Sudan. Its natural habitats are subtropical [...]