Puna Tinamou

A large, long-billed sunbird of forest and forest edge, sometimes venturing into gardens and farms. Both sexes have a distinctive long and mostly straight bill with a noticeable droop towards the tip. Males are iridescent green above and dark below with a green throat, a red-and-purple chest, and a maroon belly. Females are light brown above with a subtle eye-line, and pale with fine brown streaking below. Most likely to be confused with Splendid Sunbird, but look for the male’s green throat and maroon rather than red belly, and the female’s finely streaked underparts. Call is a descending whistled “tiuw.” The song is a complex jumble of whistled notes, not unlike that of other sunbirds.   

Mostly ground-dwelling, rotund and rusty brown. Intricate scaling on breast becomes fainter but denser on throat. Note the two rows of white spots on the wing. Prefers to walk and hop rather than fly. Found in dense undergrowth of forest, especially gullies, between 400 and 700 meters of elevation, but occasionally lower. Common call is a very high-pitched, thin “tseeeep” that is easily overlooked.

Medium-sized pale-brown bird with a long, spiky tail. Endemic to Madagascar, where it is found in southwestern spiny forest and scrub. Skulks in thick undergrowth. Incessantly given call is a Geiger counter-like ticking. Paler brown than Madagascar Brush-Warbler, with a higher-pitched call and little overlap in range. Similar to Madagascar Swamp-Warbler, but is paler, has less distinct breast streaking and a white eyebrow, and is generally found in scrub or spiny forest rather than marsh.