Band-tailed Sierra Finch

Attractive and often confiding laughingthrush, often found around lodges and trails. Endemic to Borneo’s highlands, where it can be one of the most frequently-encountered birds in montane forest and forest edge. Note dark chestnut head, gray body, bright orange bill, and bright silvery wing stripe. Pale crescent behind eye gives it a cartoonishly large-eyed appearance. Hops on the ground and along branches, often with small mammals and other birds, particularly Sunda Laughingthrush. Song, often heard at dawn, is a series of repetitive, rising, mellow warbles. Calls include a harsh buzzing “churrrrr” and rattling notes.

Tiny, sandy-colored bird with short tail and dark-streaked back. Breeding adult males have orange-gold crown. Song a thin, high-pitched, drawn-out buzzing. Inhabits grasslands of northern and eastern Australia, where perches prominently. In similar grassland habitats, Tawny Grassbird has much longer tail. Very similar Zitting Cisticola always has a streaked crown and a very different “tick-tick-tick” song but otherwise almost identical.

A common, mid-sized swiftlet found over forests and open areas, mainly in the mountains. Slender shape and a notched tail that it sometimes fans. Gray-brown with a contrasting darker tail and forewing. Often seen in flocks and can fly at all levels. Does long glides with tips of the wings held down slightly, and sometimes tipping from side to side. Not safely distinguished from the lowland Uniform Swiftlet. Call, a high-pitch, up-and-down chatter including some grating notes.