Smoky Robin

A large bird of mid-montane forests in eastern New Guinea. Black head and back, bright blue wings and tail, white bill and split eye-ring. Male also has reddish and blue plumes and 2 long, black tail streamers. Male has a remarkable display, hanging upside down from a low perch. Female, brownish below, with slight barring. Both sexes are unmistakable. Male gives a far carrying, upslurred “where?!” repeated at intervals from a high perch.

Iconic and unmistakable; the crane most commonly depicted in Chinese and Japanese paintings and ceramics. Adults have a white body, scarlet crown, and black secondaries, tail, and neck. Younger birds lack the red crown and have a light brown neck and brownish speckling on the wings. Breeds in marshy meadows and wetlands and spends the winter in fields, marshes, and other open areas.

Unusual and distinctive paradise-flycatcher. Adult males are completely glossy blue-black with extremely long tail streamers. Female has a black head, rufous upperparts, and white underparts, and lacks tail streamers. Both sexes have a blue ring of bare skin around the eye. Endemic to the Seychelles, where it is found mainly on the islands of La Digue and Denis. Habitat is thick indigenous woodland. A restless, active bird of middle levels of the forest. Calls include a tearing “shreeet” and an agitated twittering. The song is a long, musical, slightly descending series of “twee” notes.