Papuan Thornbill

A small drab bird of montane forest understory. Pale brown underparts, warm brown back and crown, rufous wing and tail feathers and a rusty-tinged face. Similar to Papuan Scrubwren but Large Scrubwren is usually found higher, is larger and lacks pale bases to the wing feathers. Overlaps with other scrubwren species at lower elevations but Large, is distinctly bigger. An energetic, warblerlike up-and-down song. Call, a dry “chat”.

A rather small owl with lightly spotted brown upperparts and creamy underparts thickly barred with reddish brown. Inhabits forests from lowlands up into the highlands. Unlikely to be confused with any other species in its very limited range. Listen for its monotonous “poot” calls, sometimes given in duet. Formerly lumped with West Solomons Owl, Malaita Owl, and Makira Owl under the name “Solomons Boobook.”

A small flocking bird of scrub and grasslands. Note the dark face (black in males and gray in females) that is surrounded by a swirl of yellow from behind each eye, down the sides of the neck, and across the chest. The male Yellow-faced Grassquit has a passing resemblance, but the throat is yellow and the chest is black. Female Yellow-faced and Black-faced Grassquits are of similar size and color but lack the yellow neck and chest seen on Cuban Grassquits. The call is a sharp musical chip and the song is a rather high-pitched twitter.