Fiji Island-Thrush

A short-tailed understory robin with a bright yellow-orange throat. Also shows a dark-green back, buff belly, and a white spot in front of the eye. Most often encountered by its song: a duet, in which the male gives high-pitched whistles and the female makes an accompanying chatter. Similar to Orange-breasted Forest Robin (potentially very limited overlap in range), but underparts more extensively yellowish-orange. Otherwise most likely to be confused with Lowland Akalat, but can always be distinguished by the white spot in front of the eye, as well as the dark-green rather than rufous-brown back, and the buff rather than white belly.

A medium-sized cuckoo, with a warm buff colored chest and belly. Gray eyering and heavily barred tail. Lack of a yellow eyering separates it from Fan-tailed Cuckoo, with which it overlaps in Australia and New Guinea. Calls frequently with an exhaustive series of separate whistles that fall in pitch and speed. Also does the remarkable "brain-fever-bird," a call that is repeated faster and faster.

Scarce and local in open and semiopen habitats of the high Andes, where it usually greatly outnumbered by similar Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant. Both species have mostly white tail (obvious in flight) and are best separated by bill size: White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant has a stout bill that is pale below compared with the slender, dark bill of Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant. These species can occur side-by-side and have similar habits, perching on prominent lookouts but then disappearing easily; both run well on the ground and often fly long distances.