Vietnamese Cutia

Striking warbler with vastly different male and female plumages. Males are unique deep blue above with black face and sides and white belly. Females are plain brownish-olive with dingy buffy underparts and subtle face pattern. Always look for small white patch on the wing, lacking only on the dullest immature females. Breeds in the understory of mixed forests, favoring hills with dense vegetation. Found in nearly any wooded or shrubby habitat during migration. Winters primarily in the Caribbean. Listen for lazy buzzy song, usually a series of notes with a final long buzz.

A small-bodied hornbill with an extremely long tail, a dark bill, and an almost entirely white head with a unique crest. Usually found in thick rainforest, where it can be difficult to view. At times, these birds will follow troops of monkeys to eat animals they scare out of the foliage. Vocalizations are unique among African hornbills, including crowlike caws and long mournful wails. Calls can be similar to those of Congo Serpent-Eagle, but White-crested Hornbill often gives more of a wail with a somewhat raspy quality.

Nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Peters’s Twinspot. Breeding males are glossy greenish-black, and in good light may show a paler gray wash across the head and breast. Females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown on the back, with a bold facial pattern and pale underparts with gray across the breast. The bill is whitish and the legs pale red. Found along forest edge, and in cultivation and moist woodland. The song is a fast mix of scolding and squeaky notes, often mixed with imitations of the vocalizations of its host twinspot: a fast, silvery trill. Similar to other indigobirds, but breeding male separated by its greenish gloss and all-black wings. Non-breeding male and female can be tentatively identified by the gray wash across the breast.