Bougainville Fantail

Slender, long-winged plover usually found in relatively dry habitats. Breeding plumage shows black belly and face, white neck sides, and dark back and crown spangled with gold. Note sides and undertail coverts entirely black, but beware females and molting birds can be mottled with some white. Nonbreeding plumage is much drabber; grayish overall with distinct white eyebrow and dark cap. Juveniles are crisp and neatly spangled above, washed with gold on the upperparts. At all seasons, note slender shape and narrow bill to separate from Black-bellied Plover, along with grayish underwing in flight. Extremely similar to Pacific Golden-Plover; American is slightly longer-winged, shorter-legged, and smaller-billed, but these features are difficult to judge. Juvenile American is usually duller than Pacific, especially on the face and neck. Average habitat preferences are important (Pacific Golden and Black-bellied more regular on beaches and mudflats), but much overlap. Range is also important. Breeds on Arctic tundra. Fairly common migrant through central North America, uncommon on East Coast, rare on Pacific Coast. During migration, prefers sod fields, dry mudflats, and pastures; often in small flocks, sometimes mixed with Black-bellied Plover. Winters in South America. Note voice: a plaintive “pleedoo” call.

Dark, long-tailed, sparrow-sized bird of dense thickets. Body plumage is mostly dark gray with a bright rufous cap and wings. An uncommon and patchily distributed resident of tepui slopes and lowland forest; often found near large rock formations and in old disturbed areas in rainforest. Stays close to the ground, rarely emerging from dense cover. Occurs in pairs or small family groups that forage unobtrusively for insects and do not follow mixed-species flocks. Voice is only audible at close range but is usually the first indication of this bird’s presence: it is a low, gravelly note, given repeatedly and irregularly, often sped into a rolling churr. Pale-breasted Spinetail has a similar plumage pattern, but McConnell’s is much darker and occupies forested habitats that Pale-breasted avoids.

Males are striking with a mostly glossy black body, but with a red forehead, crest, and back. Females are uniformly olive-green and also crested. Locally common in gallery forests embedded in savannas where it often accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is a trilling series of alternately soft and loud whistles.