Western Black-Headed Batis

While at the Savannah Lodge near Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda, I walked the grounds with my guide, William. He spotted a small bird in a large bush and I couldn't get my camera to focus on it. I finally put the camera on manual, instead of automatic focus, and was able to get some good photos through a small window in the bush. I believe I saw both a female (initially) and a male (later) western black-headed batis, also known as Von Erlanger's batis. There are two ssp and I saw the nominate ssp erlangeri found from north Cameroon to Ethiopia, south to Uganda, west Kenya and Burundi. 

It is described as flycatcher-like and shrike-like with contrasting black, gray, white and some rufous. The male has a black crown and mantle; a white superciliary stripe extending to the hindneck; a black mask from the lores back to the nape; blackish scapulars; uppertail coverts, wing, tail; whitish rump, wingstripe, auxiliaries; and yellow iris. The female differs from the male by having a maroon instead of a black breastband. It has a very small entry on Wikipedia and on Birds of the World and only 371 photos and 2,437 observations on Birds of the World. 

Female

Male

Illustration of female from Birds of the World.

Illustration of male from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World.

Black-Winged Bishop

The black-winged bishop, as it is known in Birds of the World and iNaturalist, is monotypic, that is, it has no subspecies. In Wikipedia it is called a black-winged red bishop and has two subspecies. It is the third bishop I've seen (the northern red bishop and yellow-crowned bishop being the other two) and I've just learned that it is in the weaver family (Ploceidae) in the genus Euplectes, which consists of the bishops and widowbirds. I saw several females in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda in July 2025. 

Per Wikipedia, there are two ssp. I saw craspedopterus which is found in South Sudan, southwest Ethiopia, Uganda and west Kenya. The non-breeding male is yellow-brown, streaked above and shading to whitish below, with a white supercilium. It resembles a non-bredding male northern red bishop, but is darker and has black wings. Females are similar, but paler. The male is scarlet, other than the black face, belly, wings and brown tail. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World.

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.

Ruppell's Starling

The entry for Ruppell's starling on Wikipedia is two sentences. The entry in Birds of the World is also very short. But the bird is drop-dead gorgeous. It is a GLOSSY (WOW) starling with a long, graduated tail. The nominate subspecies (purpuroptera), which I saw, has a blue-green with bronzy sheen crown, chin and side of head; a blue nape with a purple sheen; a blue mantle and back; a purple rump; a blue-green wing; dark barring on the coverts, tertials and outer webs of primaries; a purple tail with distinct bars; a blue-green throat and breast; purple belly, flanks, thighs and undertail-coverts; a bronzy sheen in the center of the belly; a creamy white iris; and black legs and bill. It needs no words. Photos do all the talking. 

I got a photo of one in Murchison Falls NP, Uganda.

All the rest were photographed in Kidepo Valley NP in Uganda.

A purple tail. 

Blue nape with a purple sheen. It looks like it is covered in Vaseline.

Illustration from Birds of the World which doesn't even come close to the gloss.

Range from Birds of the World. 

Bare-Faced Go-Away-Bird

In 2014 in Serengeti NP in Tanzania we were staying at the Serengeti Serena Lodge. A bare-faced go-away-bird was standing in a tree next to the parking lot as our tour group from Fun-For-Less was congregating to get into our vehicles for a safari. This bird was oblivious to the crowd and quite noisy as I recall. The name was really weird, but my first introduction to the turaco family, which includes the plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. I still need to see a turaco, but I've now seen three species of go-away-bird and one species of plantain-eater. 

It is named for its distinctive bare, black face. The male has a black beak and the female a green beak, the major difference between the sexes. It primarily eats fruits, leaf buds and seeds. 

Range map from Birds of the World.

Gray Go-Away-Bird

In June of 2018 we were visiting Hwange NP in Zimbabwe. We encountered some gray go-away-birds which look brown in my photos. There are four subspecies and it looks like we saw Crinifer concolor bechuanae, found from south Angola and northeast Namibia to Zimbabwe and north South Africa. Males and females look similar. They are an almost uniform smoky-gray color with long tails and a wispy back-swept crest  which can be raised almost vertically when excited (see the illustration below). They have a black decurved beak and the gape (interior of the open mouth) and tongue are pink. The plumage is darkest on the chin and throat and palest around the eyes and on the belly. The breast is washed slightly olive. 

We were in bright early morning light which is why they look so brown. 

Gray go-away-bird illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range map from Birds of the World. 

Eastern Plantain-Eater

I was with a guide, Wilson, on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp northwest of Entebbe, Uganda. He spotted an eastern plantain-eater on a branch in a tree above us. As we walked a second one appeared on the same branch. Then Wilson noticed a nest and said that was why they were not flying away. Then as we went beyond and looked back, we noticed a juvenile bird near the nest. Later, in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda I saw a single eastern plantain-eater with our guide, William. 

Near Nkima Forest Lodge.

Juvenile 

Nest

In Kidepo Valley NP. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

They are mainly gray above, spotted with brown. They have an erectile crest. The head, neck and breast are brown streaked with silver. The underparts are whitish, heavily streaked with brown. They have a yellow bill and a white wing bar that shows in flight. Both sexes look the same. They are related to the go-away birds, as you can see in my last post, and the turacos which I have not seen yet. 

Range map from Birds of the World.

White-Bellied Go-Away-Bird

I saw several white-bellied go-away-birds in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda. It has a long gray and black tail with a white band, a gray head and dark gray to black pointed crest. The belly and undertail coverts are white which is where the "white-bellied" in the name comes from. The bill of the male is black and the bill of the female is pea-green turning yellowish during breeding season. It has a single or repeated "gwa (or g'away) call which is where it gets the "go-away" part of its name. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. The difference is the yellow bill. 

It eats primarily plant matter such as fruits, flowers, nectar, seeds and buds of acacias. It will also eat some invertebrates such as winged termites

Range from Birds of the World.