Sundaic Island-Thrush

A distinctive raptor confined to New Britain. Entirely blackish-brown with indistinct dark markings and a beady pale eye. In flight appears long-tailed and broad-winged, with well-pronounced “fingers” on the outer wing; from below, note bold white bars on the tail, outermost wing feathers, and trailing edge of the wings. Juveniles resemble adults. Found in forest from lowlands to hills. Unmistakable in its limited range, where no other similar raptors occur. Call consists of a series of upslurred whistles, rapidly gaining in pace.

A bulky, iridescent bird clad in deep purple, blue, green, and olive washed with pink. It clambers acrobatically through riverine woodland and savanna thickets. In flight it explodes from the canopy with distinctive deep red panels in the wings. It produces a distinctive croaking “khoh-khoh-khoh-khoh….” that gets progressively louder before suddenly stopping. The similar Ross’s Turaco differs from Purple-crested Turaco by being darker overall and having a red crest and yellow face.

Tiny nomadic honeyeater with thin decurved bill, found across arid inland Australia. Male has completely black upperparts and black hood that extends down the center of the breast to a rough point. Female gray-brown above, with mottled dark marks on pale brown underparts. Often attracted to areas of flowering Eremophila bushes. Call a long, high-pitched whistle, repeated slowly.