Metallic Starling

A plain brown bird with a pale eyering and rusty-brown tail, best known for its rich, powerful song which can keep people awake when given at night. In areas of overlap, compare with extremely similar Thrush Nightingale; note present species’ unmarked pale underparts, often with a variable buffy wash, as well as its warmer-toned back and brighter rufous tail. Song is extremely variable, and can include whistles, trills, rattles, and warbled phrases; elements often repeated. Calls include a very difficult-to-locate “teek”, low rattles, and harsh rasping calls. Found in varied wooded and scrubby habitats, typically with shady understory. Winters in similarly varied tangled habitats. Typically rather shy and elusive.

Medium-sized slender bird, pale gray above, white below, with a small dark bridge between the bill and eye (lores) and faint partial white eyering. Immature lacks distinct mask of Black-faced Cuckooshrike. Dark morph shows large but variable black bib and breast, mottled or barred at the edges. Inhabits eucalypt forest and other woodlands in Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. Call a high-pitched, two-note squeak.

A small, relatively drab bee-eater of arid country. Note the blue eyebrow, black face mask, white throat, and buffy underparts. In flight, reveals buffy underwings with black tips. Generally uncommon in dry savanna and thornscrub. Often in pairs. Similar in size to Little Bee-eater, but easily separated by white throat and more washed-out overall coloration. The call consists of quiet whistling notes.