Silver-eared Honeyeater

Small, orange-legged plover with solid dark breast band. Medium-brown upperparts are the color of wet sand, noticeably darker than Piping or Snowy Plovers. Look for short, blunt bill with orange base (often indistinct on juveniles). Feeds on mudflats and beaches, often mixed with other shorebirds. Even when in a flock, individuals are typically spread out rather than remaining a tight unit. Breeds on the tundra or rocky beaches at northern latitudes; winters to southern South America. Migrants are common and widespread, inland and coastal. Listen for distinctive two parted “chu-weep!” calls, and assorted chortles and chuckles.

A slender tern with a short bill. Breeding adults are dark-capped with an ashy-gray body, a strongly contrasting white cheek stripe and rump, and a reddish bill and legs. In flight, underwings and uppertail are mostly grayish. In non-breeding plumage resembles other non-breeding terns, but note structure. Restricted to a handful of subantarctic islands, where it forages in inshore waters; common on Kerguelen and uncommon on Crozet and Marion. In breeding plumage, the larger Antarctic Tern is paler gray than Kerguelen, with a larger bill and whitish (not grayish) uppertail and underwings. Arctic Terns (in non-breeding plumage) only overlap with Kerguelen Terns (in breeding plumage) in austral summer.

A stout-billed, boldly patterned finch of forest understory and overgrown areas near the forest edge, often found near water. Can occur alone or in mixed-species flocks. Note the blue bill, the bright red underparts, and the black back. Males have black heads and bellies, whereas females have red faces and white-spotted black bellies. Western Bluebill is the only bluebill or seedcracker in which the male has a black head. Calls include high-pitched whistles: “psiu.” Songs include longer series of clear whistles with varying pitch.