Masked Saltator

A tiny, short-tailed songbird with a thick bill. Has deep olive upperparts, dark wings, and clean white underparts with a conspicuous yellow wash on the flanks. Juvenile shows a pale-based bill and duller flanks. Singles and pairs can be found in a wide variety of habitats in the lowlands and foothills, including forest, forest edge, and cultivated areas. Restricted to Sangihe, Sulawesi, and nearby satellite islands. Yellow flanks are diagnostic, lacking in all other local flowerpeckers. Calls include a wet “swit” note and an extremely high-pitched, monotonous “tzit-tzit-tzit…”.

A fairly large, common kingfisher of wooded areas in the lowlands and foothills, even plantations. Very difficult to see. Thick, bicolored bill with a distinct hook, dark wing with large brown spots, black face with a pale stripe below the eye and a finely speckled crown. Much more often heard than seen. Calls pre-dawn and after dusk. Voice, an initial low note, followed by higher notes speeded up, “puuu! pipipi”. Sometimes sounding like dropping a ping pong ball on a table.

Woodland bird of eastern and northern Australia and New Guinea. Strong sexual dimorphism in plumage. Male dark slaty-gray, with black around bill, and black on wings. Female brown, with dark line through eye, extensive fine barring on chest and belly, and fairly plain brown wings (much browner and lacking the white wingbars of Varied Triller). Shows geographical variation, especially in female plumage. Found in the canopy of a wide variety of forest, woodland, scrub, and savanna habitats. Calls include a long (10-second) sequence of insect-like repeated buzzes (hence its name), also a slower version, and a robin-like sequence of clear whistled notes.