Donaldson Smith's Nightjar

A large gadfly petrel with a pale white head and a distinctive dark eye-patch. Back is pale gray with darker outer wings, creating an “M” shape on the back. Look for stout black bill and pinkish-colored feet. Breed on Antipodes and Auckland Islands in the New Zealand region and also on subantarctic Indian Ocean and Macquarie Islands. Forages between the subantarctic and Antarctic convergence zones. Three similar species: Soft-plumaged Petrel is smaller with gray-brown head and band on upper breast; Gray Petrel is larger with a smaller, darker head, a pale green bill, and a long neck; and pale morph Kermadec Petrel is smaller, lacks an eye patch, has darker upperparts, and shows white patches under the wing.

A fairly large bird of mainly secondary lowland and foothill forest edge. As the name suggests, a variably plumaged bird. Males mostly have a black hood, wing and tail with belly and back, chestnut or orange-brown. Males and females of some races have a brown head. Very similar to Hooded Pitohui, but Southern Variable is usually found at lower elevation and has black rather than brown above the base of the tail. Song, a varied, jumbled warble.

Attractive and unusual helmetshrike with a bright red bill, a black back, and chestnut on the underparts. In the eastern part of the range, has more white on the underparts and more black on the face. In the west, has more chestnut below, and more gray on the face. Found in the canopy of lowland and mid-elevation humid forest. Almost always in pairs or small groups. The complex and varied calls include whistles, rasps, and chirps. Separated from other helmetshrikes by the chestnut underparts.