Common Bronzewing

Small hummingbird with a rather large range across northeastern South America and eastern Panama. Male is unmistakable with a golden throat, a ruby-red crown, and an orange tail with dark tips. Female is trickier to identify, but note the pale gray underparts, white-tipped tail feathers, and dull grayish green upperparts. The short and slightly decurved bill should also help identify the female. Fairly common in open habitats, including savannah, forest edge, and gardens.

Brightly-colored male has a bright golden belly, a black chest band and head, and a clean white throat. He appears to have a black “shawl” with golden wings and a black tail. Female is considerably duller, being olive-brownish above and yellow below, with a brown breast. Endemic to Vanikoro, in the southeastern Solomons, where it is found in most island habitats, though avoids villages. Voice includes a sequence of sparsely spaced, thin, uninspired whistles. Formerly grouped with Utupua Whistler and Nendo Whistler under “Temotu Whistler.”

A large, crested woodpecker with a golden back found in wet tropical and subtropical forests across South and Southeast Asia. Separated from Common Flameback and other “small-billed” flamebacks by a much larger bill, a mottled black-and-white nape instead of a black nape, and a divided black horizontal stripe below the cheek. Separated from the similarly large-billed White-naped Woodpecker by a red rump, the lack of a clean white nape, and a preference for wetter habitat. Greater Flameback is a loose participant in mixed-species foraging flocks, often detected by its loud, high-pitched trill similar to that of Common Flameback.