Appearance:

Adult male unmistakable if seen well. Body and head bright yellow, lores, wings and tail black. Females and young males less distinct, with lime-green back, pale, streaked underparts and black wings and tail. Bill quite strong with reddish colour in adults, and grey in young birds. Despite the bright plumage the bird is difficult to see due to skulking behaviour in foliage. Usually spotted when moving from tree to tree in undulating flight. Then resembles a large thrush or woodpecker, quickly darting upwards into the next tree-top.

Sound:

Varied repertoire, but song and common contact call very distinct. Song a series of 1-2 seconds long phrases of 3-5 yodeling, clear, fluting notes, interspersed with 2-3 second pauses. Tone very full-bodied, melodic and pleasing. Contact call surprisingly different: A forced, drawn "weeackt", slightly resembling Jay, but less harsh, and much more nasal. Other sounds include a Wryneck-like warning call.

Contact call, 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

Appearance:

Bulky, golden-brown heron with thick neck and short legs. Largely unmistakable but skulky behaviour makes it difficult to observe, as it generally forages hidden in reed-beds. Plumage mottled above, with coarse stripes below. Primaries and most secondaries with dark barring, in contrast to paler coverts. May recall Eagle Owl in flight with broad, rounded wings and retracted neck, but wings are bowed and legs trail behind tail. Crown and moustache stripe black in adult and brown in immature birds. Betrays its presence by it's far reaching song.

Sound:

Flight call a deep croaking "graat". Song unmistakable and far reaching (up to 5 km). Pitch very deep, with timbre similar to blowing on a big empty bottle. At close range an "inbreath" is also audible (1-3 dampened, higher pitched introductory notes).

Song (note; recording not audible on small mobile devices):

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

CC-photo:littlew, Licence,Link.