Scaled Quail

Very rare, small kingfisher of forested streams and rivers up to the lower mountains. Highly threatened and found at very few remaining sites. Both sexes have silver-blue back and tail, white throat and broad, blue-green breastband. Male has white belly and all-black bill, female has an all-orange belly and red base to lower bill. Distinguished from Common Kingfisher by overall duller, darker coloration and lack of an orange patch behind the eye. Usually higher up than Blue-eared Kingfisher and lacks the bright blue color. Gives a piercing call similar to that of Common Kingfisher.

A small, pale plover with sandy upperparts, pinkish-colored legs, and a black bill. Male in breeding plumage has a mostly rufous crown and small black marks on top of the head and at the sides of the breast. The face is mostly white, including the area between the bill and eye. Breeding female and non-breeding adults duller, lacking black and rufous. The face is still pale, though there can be a hint of brown between the bill and eye. Breeding range and habitat unknown. In migration and winter, found along the coast on sandy beaches, dry mudflats, and salt ponds. Often joins mixed-species shorebird flocks, especially with other plovers. Separated from Common Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers by the lack of a complete dark band across the breast. Very similar to Kentish Plover. Breeding male is separated by the white (rather than black) area between bill and eye, and by the more restricted black on the head and sides of the breast. Female and non-breeding birds more difficult to separate, but note the whiter face, smaller dark patch at the side of the breast, paler legs, slightly heavier bill, and slightly broader white stripe through the wing (visible in flight). Also similar to Malaysian Plover, but separated by the whiter face (including the area between the bill and eye), less scaly-looking back, and smaller dark smudge at the side of the breast. Breeding male further distinguished by the lack of a black collar at the back of the neck.

A small lemon-olive finch with a gray patch in front of the eye. Female is smaller, duller, and streakier than the male. Juvenile resembles female but is browner and streakier. An abundant endemic throughout Nightingale Island and small adjacent islands, preferring tussock grass. Male’s song is high-pitched and sharp, an often repeated “wheet-whuu”; female answers with a whistle. The much larger and rarer Wilkins’s Finch has a deep grosbeak-like bill and a slower song, and is more restricted to wooded parts of the island than Nightingale Island Finch.