Appearance:

Very large tern, with deep, dagger-like, blood-red bill with dark tip. Large, black cap reaching well below the eyes. Grey upperparts and white underparts. Rather short tail. Outer primaries distinctly darker than the rest of upperwing, and outer underwing almost black. Unmistakable from the size alone, and leaves a gull-like impression, lacking the elegance of smaller terns. Immatures with paler bill and white forehead (as in adult winter), and markedly speckled back. Hovers and dives. Often rests on the surface, feeding like a gull.

Sound:

Easily recognized by its very harsh calls. Sometimes likened to the sound of a plate of steel being dragged across a concrete floor. Similar in harshness to Grey Heron, but more drawn, with an accented middle; "Kraaeeet", or with a double syllable start "ka-ha-kraaaeet". Immature birds begs with a penetrating, sharp whistle.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:lgooch, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Muchaxo, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:ajmatthehiddenhouse, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Medium sized, green woodpecker with black mask. Crown red in all plumages. Females with black moustache stripe, males with red framed in black. Juveniles heavily marked with small black and white spots all over, and less prominent black mask. Bigger and more heavily built than Grey-headed Woodpecker, with longer and stouter bill. Often foraging on the ground. Flight undulated.

Sound:

Song similar to Grey-headed Woodpecker, but not as soft and fluty. Each phrase consist of a series of short "klee", with a laughing quality. Pitch drops slightly throughout the phrase, but not as markedly as in Grey-headed, and tempo is fairly constant (no ritardando). Short "kek" calls when excited and in flight. Drumming of 1.5 seconds duration with decelerating tempo, but not often heard. Another call is similar to Black Woodpecker; a series of resonant "klit-klit-klit-klit-klit-klit", but is less clear, has a more determined start and has less obvious rising pitch at the end of each syllable.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

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