Gray-winged Cotinga

Large, dark-brown hummingbird with lilac-gold iridescent lower back and rump. Like other sunbeams, it has a proportionally short bill for a hummingbird. Inhabits high elevation, semi-arid montane ridges and cloud forests. You are my sunbeam, my Shining Sunbeam / You make me happy when you display / Aglaeactis cupripennis / Please don’t take my sunbeam away.

A striking finch with a heavy silvery bill, a dark coppery hood, a brilliant white underside, and chestnut upperparts. Juveniles duller, with paler head and browner upperparts. Found in groups, sometimes with other finches, on or near the ground in open country, including croplands, grasslands, scrub, forest clearings, and very lightly wooded areas, in lowlands and foothills. Confined to the Lesser Sundas. On juvenile, note heavier bill and darker head than Pale-headed Munia. Gives weak, high-pitched “wi-wi-wi” calls and louder “tririp” notes.

This strikingly colored denizen of montane woodlands (and less often, mangrove swamps) is rather sedate. It is often found sitting upright and rather motionless, typically in pairs. One's first impression is often of a rather long and largish bird with a brilliant red belly, emerald back, and blackish head. No similar species occur within its range. Song is a tremulous “whut-will,” with second note longer and trailing off at end. The first note is sometimes omitted and second note is sometimes given as doublet or triplet. Calls include a shrill “whee” and soft coos. Though rather vocal, calling birds are difficult to locate due ventriloquial quality of their vocalizations.