Tickell's Thrush

Beautiful little finch with a sharp pink bill, cherry-red mask, and brilliant black-and-yellow flashes in the wings. Juvenile (seen in late summer and autumn) has a plain head but is told easily by bold wing pattern. Uses a wide array of wooded and open habitats, from forests and gardens to steppe grasslands and meadows; often feeds on seeding thistles. Forms flocks in autumn and winter, gathering at food sources. Can be inconspicuous, but often detected by pleasant bubbling and twittering calls and song.

A medium-sized nectar feeder endemic to New Zealand. Note yellowish-green plumage, blackish wings and tail, and red eyes. Male has purple tints on his head. Female browner, with a bluish gloss on the head. Juveniles show a clear yellowish cheek stripe. Widespread in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Favors native and exotic forest, scrub, and urban parks and gardens. Listen for its melodious song consisting of a series of tuneful notes. Alarm call is a harsh, rapidly repeated “yeng.” Distinguished from European Greenfinch by lack of a pale, conical bill and larger size. Listen for lack of grunts, wheezes, and clicks to distinguish song from that of Tui.

Flamboyantly plumaged little gamebird, with pumpkin-orange head and breast, brown wings, and smart black-and-white scaling on back and sides. Listen for its exuberant song, a series of accelerating whistles that eventually collapses into harsh, coarse notes, as though its voice had broken. Inhabits lowlands and middle-elevation forests, where it can be difficult to see as it forages on the ground, typically singly or in pairs; most readily seen at established feeding stations.