San Cristobal Mockingbird

An uncommon migrant songbird through Taiwan, rarely encountered anywhere away from breeding grounds on Izu and Tokara Islands, Japan. Olive above and whitish below; best distinguished from similar species by narrow bill with yellowish lower mandible, brownish-pink legs, and weak head pattern. Prefers mature coastal broadleaf forests but uses bamboo patches and conifers during migration as well. Smaller than Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler, with thinner bill and no crown stripe. Song consists of a series of trills; calls, given often, include a descending “twee” or quiet “pee.”

The smallest of the crested penguins. Note the thin yellow eyebrows that, once past the eyes, flare out toward the rear of the head. The species consists of two subspecies, the Eastern and Western Rockhopper Penguins. The Western Rockhopper Penguin breeds on offshore islands off southern Chile and Argentina and on the Falkland Islands, while the Eastern Rockhopper Penguin breeds on various subantarctic islands around New Zealand and the southern Indian Ocean. The Eastern has even eyebrows with pink skin at the base of the bill; the Western has black skin at the base of the bill, with an uneven eyebrow shape. Vagrants occasionally reach the Snares Islands. Distinguished from Snares Penguin by thinner eyebrow and smaller bill, and from Moseley’s Rockhopper Penguin by shorter, less flowing crest.

Endemic to Taiwan's mountain forests, this is the only breeding rosefinch on the island. Male deep wine-red with a frosty white brow and dark wings. Female dark brown, finely streaked below. Usually forages low in the forest, in thickets or on the ground. In parks and near villages, often perches up on railings and trail markers.