Solomons Nightjar

A large, uniform blue-gray cuckooshrike with a rather long tail, a pale eye, and a black mark between the bill and the eye. Juveniles show barred underparts. Singles, pairs, or small groups inhabit the canopy of montane forest in the foothills and higher. Often joins mixed-species flocks. The only entirely bluish-gray cuckooshrike with a pale eye on Sulawesi. Gives a harsh, rasping “shhhhhhchu” call as well as a very high-pitched “sweee-sweee-sweee” that rises in volume at the end.

Skulky, long-tailed antbird. Males are dark gray; females are lighter grayish brown above, orange below with an orange face. Found in shrubby secondary growth and dense, wet areas, including bamboo thickets, overgrown oxbow lakes, and riverside vegetation. Its song is a distinctive froggy “pur-PEER,” sometimes answered by a second bird giving a series of clucking notes: “purp, purp, purp, purp. . . .”

A small brown owl confined to New Britain with a dark brown head, prominent white eyebrows and throat patch, and orange-yellow eyes. Broad brown chest band contrasts with pale mottled whitish underparts. Upperparts and wings dark chocolate brown with scattered white markings. Occurs in forest and in modified patches and clearings, in the lowlands and foothills. Distinctive: the only small brown owl on New Britain. Song is a distinctive, incessant series of “whoo” notes, rising in volume toward the end.