Tukangbesi Sunbird

Small, pale piculet. Light tan below, olive-brown above, with a black-and-white speckled crown; males have a red crown patch. Found in secondary forest, usually where there is dense understory, often bamboo, with emergent trees. Listen for its distinctive song, a descending series of 5-8 very high pitched notes (more notes than any other piculet in its range).

A small hawk with yellow eyes, a lime-green bill base, and yellow legs. Adults are slate-gray above with a vinous breast and dirty white belly and thighs. Immatures are rufous above with diagnostic bold blackish spots and bars and heavily streaked pale underparts. Does not soar. Found primarily in forest from coast to mountains, but also in mangroves and woodlands. Confined to Sulawesi and nearby islands, including the Banggai and Sula Islands. Adult mostly inseparable from Small Sparrowhawk except by call, but largest female Vinous-breasted are longer-bodied, larger-billed, longer-tailed, and longer-toed than largest Small Sparrowhawk. Pale eyes separate Vinous-breasted from Spot-tailed Goshawk and from adult Chinese and Japanese Sparrowhawks. Absence of white tail spots further distinguishes it from Spot-tailed Goshawk, and unbarred thighs separate it from adult Japanese Sparrowhawk. Heavily marked underwings further differentiate it from Chinese Sparrowhawk. Call is a “kew-kew-ke-ke-ke-ke, lower-pitched than Small Sparrowhawk.

Sparrow-like weaver in which scarlet breeding males are distinctive, but females and non-breeding females very drab. Found in virtually all habitats except the interior of thick forest. Often found in flocks, sometimes mixed with other birds. Calls are high, silvery notes, given in long series as a song. Can be very similar to Forest Fody. Breeding male Red Fody has red on the back and belly, though molting males can match the pattern of Forest Fody. Females and non-breeding males very similar, but Red Fody is paler and less greenish, with a smaller bill. Unlike Forest Fody, not found in the rainforest interior. Separated from female and non-breeding male Sakalava Weaver by smaller size, smaller bill, and different facial markings.