Rüppell's Parrot

Tiny stump-tailed flycatcher; one of the smallest birds on earth. Minute size and compact body give it a unique appearance, in some ways looking more like a bumblebee than a bird. Whitish underparts with green back, gray head, and white spectacles. Found in mature and secondary rainforest, especially in areas with tall trees. Usually perches in the rainforest midstory and can be tricky to spot. Its song is a soft pair of short trilled notes “trrr-trrr,” sounding rather insectlike.

A small, unusual sparrow of dry country. Males are mostly yellow with black-and-white wings and tail. In non-breeding plumage, males have a grayer back and a rufous wash on the head. Females are much plainer: buff brown on the back and pale below, with a yellow wash. Found in dry thorn savanna, thornscrub, and cultivated areas. Nests colonially, and usually found in flocks, sometimes large, and sometimes mixed with other bird species. Similar to Sudan Golden Sparrow, but virtually no overlap in range. Male is separated by its yellow rather than chestnut back, and females by being brighter and yellower, with less distinct back streaking. The common call is a rattling series of chirps. 

Well-camouflaged nightbird, endemic to the Philippines. Inhabits open areas in grasslands, as well as scrubby forest edge and rocky river margins. Intricately patterned gray-brown, but without the white throat and tail-tips of Philippine Nightjar, and has a less contrasting wing pattern at rest. Listen for its song, a bright, rising “j’wee!”, averaging clearer and less buzzy than the song of the closely related Savanna Nightjar (under which Chirruping was once treated as a subspecies). Little-known Mindanao population may be a distinct taxa.