Lesser Shrike-Tyrant

Medium-sized, leaf-green inhabitant of lowland, foothill, and lower montane forests on Java. Male a triangular black throat patch with a deep blue center, as well as a pale yellow patch on the breast. Female is green all over with a small blue throat smudge. Both sexes have vivid blue highlights on the wings, which help to distinguish it from Greater Green Leafbird, which has plain green wings, as well as a pale yellow throat and eyering on females. Vocalizations varied, including a rather slow, simple song consisting of whistles and warbles, as well as shorter warbled series somewhat reminiscent of bulbul vocalizations.

A dark, rather sturdy cuckoo of scrubby habitats, reedbeds, forest edge, and agricultural areas. Adults black with bright chestnut wings and fine silvery streaking on neck and shoulders. Immatures a grayish brown above, paler below, with dull chestnut wings and a brown-and-black barred tail. Similar to Greater Coucal but significantly smaller, with a dark (instead of red) eye and duller chestnut back and wings with silver streaks. Song is a distinctive series of sharp notes, with the crescendo cadence of a bouncing ball.

A large-bodied, small-headed, black gamebird perfectly lined with rows of hundreds of bluish-white spots. It has a ridiculous-looking plumed “toupee” above the naked face, which features a distinctive ivory-colored bill and a blood-red eye. The bare facial skin is red on the face and blue on the neck. Prefers forest and thickets, where it forages on the ground for berries, seeds, and other plant matter. The similar Helmeted Guineafowl differs by its lack of a feathered crest, having a bone-like casque on top of the head instead. The alarm call is a series of rattling, agitated notes that speed up and slow down; similar to the call of Helmeted Guineafowl, but with a tinnier quality.