Masked Bunting

A retiring warbler of densely vegetated forest edges, lightly wooded slopes, and clearings in foothill to montane regions; favors areas with thick ground vegetation. Dull and unremarkable to look at; plain brown above and paler brown below, with a white throat and eyebrow. More contrastingly marked than Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler; smaller and stouter than Manchurian and Japanese Bush Warblers. Song is what sets it apart: a sharp note followed by a quick bout of chattering and squeaking.

Buoyant “river tern” with dramatically different breeding and non-breeding plumages. Breeding adult is wildly conspicuous in flight, with contrasting black-and-white plumage; at rest note white shoulders contrasting with black body. Non-breeding and younger birds are white with gray patches and black “earmuffs.” In areas of overlap, juvenile told from Black Tern by dark back contrasting with lighter upperwings and white rump and by black marking above the shoulder. Non-breeding Whiskered Tern can be similar, but has a faded, patchy dark crown instead of earmuffs. Commonly found in flocks around rivers, lakes, and wetlands, where it picks food from surface instead of splash-diving; generally not as closely associated with saltwater as many typical terns.

A large, stocky pigeon that is found on islands off the shore of Halmahera and far western Papua. Gray head, emerald-green back and wings, blue tail and rusty vent. The eye is red and there is a large knob-like projection on the front top of the bill. Found in a variety of forested habitats, and some wander between islands, sometimes straying to the mainland. Voice a deep, gravelly, 2-note “grrr-waw”, with the second note higher than the first. Similar Spectacled Imperial-Pigeon may co-occur but is separated by its white spectacle around the eye and lack of a knob on the bill.