Appearance:

Very deep and heavy, conical bill. Large head and bull-neck, gives the bird a front-heavy appearance, especially in flight. The short tail adds to the impression. Wings with broad, white bars and tail with white terminal band. Bill grey in breeding plumage, and yellowish in winter. Largely unmistakable, but easily overlooked when hiding high in foliage. Often flies high, even for short distances. Flight heavily undulated.

Sound:

Most typical call a sharp and explosive "tzek", with abrupt, emphasized, cut-off ending. Quite similar to Robin, but harder, with each syllable marginally longer with a slightly wheezing timbre. Repetitions are slower and more singular than Robin. Diagnostic when interspersed with high frequency notes.

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

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Olive green upperparts, yellowish chest with gradual transition to off-white belly. Very similar to Chiff-chaff, and most field characters are subtle and often hard to see. Distinguished by (usually) pale, yellow-brown legs, dark framing to ear-coverts, stronger supercilium. Long primary projection (often 3/4ths the length of tertials) with irregularly spaced tips (visible when wing folded). Wings slightly more pointed than in Chiff-chaff, and not so fan-shaped. Juveniles often with whole underparts yellow. Frequently flicks tail, but not sideways (unlike Chiff-chaff). Generally also more calm when moving among the foliage.

Sound:

By far most easily identified by it's call or song. Contact/alarm call a soft, plaintive ascending "hoo-eet". Similar to Chiff-chaff, but first part more drawn, giving it a disyllabic feel. Song: A 3-5 second, falling phrase of soft, rippling "svi-svi" sounds, starting high with some attack, and then falling in a mellow manner. The phrase lacks any conclusion, and diminishes both in strength and tempo.

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