Appearance:

Unmistakable. Grey, cliff-climbing bird with long, thin and curved bill. Wings with colourful pattern in carmine red, black and white spots. Habitually flicks wings when foraging (see videolink below), but still hard to spot when not flying. Flight jerky and butterfly-like, and also recalls Hoopoe. Wings appear dark from below, except for white pearls on primaries. Male with blackish throat in breeding season.

Sound:

Alarm call a thin trilling "vuiirrrrrrr". Flight call one or several soft whistles, often with (very) short trill as attack or tail. Song variable in length, but main characteristic a sequence of 4-6 long, ascending whistles with timbre recalling whistling kettle. More complex and varied phrases are mixed with the long whistles. Both male and female sings.

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Philippe Legay, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Anonymously brown and dark brown warbler. Slender bill, short rounded wings and broad waist and tail. Base colour varies from olive-brown to yellowish buff. Streaking also varies from diffuse to marked, and is most prominent on sides of throat and upper chest. juveniles are more streaked than adults. Rufous/olive fringes to tertials are broader on outer side (as opposed to Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler). Secretive bird. Generally discovered by song.

Sound:

Song insect-like and high-pitched. A monotonous stream of even clicks similar to a running fishing line. Maintained for seemingly endless periods, and often hard to locate. Song most similar to Savi's Warbler but is slower (each click more separated), and higher pitched with a metallic, ringing quality. Short sequences of song also functions as contact call. Also a Robin-like "tick".

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC