Masked Bowerbird

A small, dark songster of montane rainforest floor and undergrowth on Sumatra. Male is overall dark slaty-gray but slightly paler on the belly. Female is similar but duller and even paler on the belly. Both sexes have thin, white eyebrows and long, black legs. Forages on the ground but also hops on logs and low branches. Can be confiding but moves rapidly when alarmed. Superficially similar to Sumatran Blue Robin but shortwing’s tail is shorter and it lacks the white forehead. Song is a cheerful, random series of up-and-down whistles. Call, a sharp “click!”

A garish scarlet bird sporting a dramatic spiky crest and a hefty gray bill. Male overall brilliant red with black chin; female brown, gray-headed, with red crest and tail. Often found in pairs, perched in erect posture on the top of bushes or on exposed branches. Common in desert scrub and dry forests in the lowlands. Voice a melodious and slow whistled series. Unmistakable in arid regions of northern Venezuela and extreme northeastern Colombia.

A chunky, mid-sized, remarkably drab babbler with a white throat and brownish breast. Found in the understory of rainforest at low and middle elevations, usually in small groups. Shy and skulking; rarely seen unless searched for. Very similar to Brown Illadopsis, but slightly different vocally, with higher and more inflected whistles. Also slightly paler below and more richly colored above, with a cleaner white throat. Most often detected by voice. The highly variable song consists of single-note pure whistles or short whistled phrases separated by pauses, often in a three-note ascending series; listen for a haunting clear monotone whistle. Also gives scolding calls, sometimes accompanying the whistled song.