North Island Robin
Petroica longipes
A small charcoal-colored songbird endemic to New Zealand. Confined to central North Island and a few offshore predator-free islands. Favors mature native and exotic forest stands. Male is almost all black with a white spot above the bill. Female and juvenile grayer, with lighter patches on breast and throat. Can be incredibly confiding and curious about humans. It is possible to bring individuals out into the open by disturbing leaf litter and then sitting quietly. Actively flushes out prey with foot trembling and by flicking its wings and tail. Male song is a loud and simple phrase of notes including “pwee-pwee-pwee.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Petroica longipes
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1827)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Petroicidae
- Genus
- Petroica
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Melignomon eisentrauti
Medium-sized honeyguide with a plain face, a slim pale bill, yellow legs, and large white patches in the outer tail. Found in the middle levels and canopy of humid forest at low and middle elevations. The distinctive vocalization is a series of around a dozen rising “sveeya” notes. The series slows down and becomes slightly lower-pitched at the end. Very similar to Zenker’s Honeyguide, but there is only minor overlap in range, and Yellow-footed is paler overall with more white in the tail. Similar to other honeyguides, but separated by the slim bill and the yellow legs. Separated from most greenbuls by the white in the tail, and from Honeyguide and Sjöstedt's Greenbuls by the smaller size and shorter tail.

LeConte's Thrasher
Toxostoma lecontei
The palest thrasher; entirely light tan with whiter throat. Undertail coverts peach colored. Bill dark and strongly curved; eye dark. Found in dry flat deserts with open ground, often seen running between patches of low bushes. Shy and difficult to see well. Song similar to other thrashers, often with doubled or tripled notes; tends to be rather slow.

African Piculet
Verreauxia africana
A tiny woodpecker of forest and forest edge, more likely to be mistaken for a crombec than for another species of woodpecker. A squat bird with a round body, a large head, a short, stout bill, and a very short tail. Body is gray overall with greenish wings, white markings around the ears, and orange around the eyes. Males have an orange forehead. Voice is a weak trilling “si-si-si-si-si.”
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