Papuan Nightjar

Small, uniformly gray swift. With a very good view, pale rump and tiny spines on tail can be seen. Flies rigidly with wings pushed forwards. Seen in flight over and adjacent to all types of forest. On Madagascar, often nests and roosts in cavities of baobab trees. Similar in size and shape to Little Swift, but doesn’t show a bold white band on the rump, and has weaker flight. Similar in size to Malagasy Palm Swift, but has a much shorter square tail. Smaller and shorter-tailed than Madagascar Swift, with much weaker flight.

Woodland bird of eastern and northern Australia and New Guinea. Strong sexual dimorphism in plumage. Male dark slaty-gray, with black around bill, and black on wings. Female brown, with dark line through eye, extensive fine barring on chest and belly, and fairly plain brown wings (much browner and lacking the white wingbars of Varied Triller). Shows geographical variation, especially in female plumage. Found in the canopy of a wide variety of forest, woodland, scrub, and savanna habitats. Calls include a long (10-second) sequence of insect-like repeated buzzes (hence its name), also a slower version, and a robin-like sequence of clear whistled notes.

Spectacular, huge, and long-tailed parrot, wiped out from most areas by capture for the pet trade; attempts at reintroduction are taking place in some protected areas. Found very locally in lowland rainforest and adjacent semiopen areas with big trees; usually in pairs. Unmistakable, bright scarlet red overall with big yellow wing patches and mostly blue wings and rump. Calls are deep, throaty roars that carry long distances.