Striped Cuckoo

Slender, long-winged gull, slightly smaller than Herring Gull. Adults show dark gray back and yellow legs; in winter note fairly heavy streaking on head and neck. Takes four or five years to reach adult plumage; immatures can be difficult to distinguish from other gulls, especially Herring. On first- or second-year birds, look for contrastingly whitish head with dark smudge around the eye, long wings, dark bill, whitish rump and tail base, and evenly dark wings in flight. Can be found around any body of water but prefers beaches and flats. Often with flocks of other large gulls. Common in Eurasia, wintering to Africa and Southeast Asia. Population in North America has increased dramatically in the last couple decades; now regular (even fairly common!) on the Atlantic coast, rarer inland and farther west.

A tiny, short-tailed bright green parrot with a gaudy red rump. Male shows a red throat patch that is absent in females. Inhabits foothills forests, where singles and pairs frequent the canopy. Inhabits a limited range on the island of Flores, where no other miniature stump-tailed parrots occur. Gives extremely high-pitched, repeated “tseet” notes that can also be jumbled together into a rapid twittering phrase.

Small, boldly patterned bird of mossy tepui forests. Mostly rufous-brown on back and tail, with dark ear patch, bright white throat, and dark underparts streaked white. Found only in humid, mossy forest on tepui slopes, where it is often one of the more common understory birds provided moss growth is sufficient. Clambers over branches and climbs small tree trunks, gleaning insects from bark and probing into moss, usually in the understory but up into middle levels as well. Often follows mixed-species flocks. Contact call between members of a pair is an sharp squeak. Song is a series of 6–9 high-pitched, forceful notes, the first somewhat lower pitched. Unlikely to be mistaken for other species given bold plumage pattern and restricted range.