Lovely Sunbird

Also known as Marshall’s Iora. Very similar to Common Iora, but easily distinguished by the prominent white edges to the tail and the broad white edges to the tertials. Breeding males have with more prominent white on the flight feathers than Common Iora. The churring calls of White-tailed are subtly different than those of the Common Iora, and a trained ear can easily pick up this call even in places where the two species occur together. Unlike Common Iora, White-tailed is sparsely distributed, usually restricted to scrubby habitat with sparse acacia growth.

Medium-sized crake with dense whitish spotting and speckling on the neck and breast. Also note greenish legs and short yellow bill with a reddish base. Breeds in freshwater marshes and wet meadows with dense vegetation cover, but migrants and wintering birds may also be found in ephemeral wetlands and brackish marshes. Retiring and rarely seen, but sometimes comes out at muddy edges, mainly early and late in the day. Song is a series of repeated “huit, huit, huit” notes.

A relatively small diving duck with a tall peaked crown. Males are handsome with glossy black head and back, clean gray sides, and a brighter white spur on the side. Females are grayish-brown, often with a paler patch at the base of the bill and a white eyering. Both sexes have a white band near the tip of gray bill. Also note gray, not white, wingstripe in flight. Usually favors small bodies of water, such as beaver ponds and cattail marshes, but also occurs on larger lakes, rivers, and bays. Can be found in mixed flocks with other diving ducks, although usually in smaller numbers than scaup. Compare with both species of scaup and Redhead (especially females).