Naked-faced Barbet

Small green lorikeet with pale blue underparts. Note orange and yellow check patch, purple crown, yellow above the bill, and red patches in front of the eyes. Occurs in dry eucalypt forests but is nomadic and follows the blossom of tree species.

Very small but stocky, quail-like bird of Patagonian steppe, sandy and stony plains in the Andes, coastal dunes, and deserts. Found in pairs or small groups; locally large flocks in nonbreeding season. Male has hooting song given from low mounds or fence posts, and sometimes during display flight. Flight is strong and fast; flushes with loud bleating chatters. Similar Gray-breasted Seedsnipe is larger, favors rockier Andean habitats, and has plain gray breast without diagnostic black Y pattern present on male Least Seedsnipes.

Small, distinctive boobook with extensive chestnut-brown barring. Favors surviving primary rainforest, but can sometimes be found in secondary growth; can be found on roadsides through suitable habitat when hunting. The only resident owl on the island; the migratory Northern Boobook is a winter visitor to the island, and is significantly larger and much darker overall, with an all-brown head and brown-striped white underparts. Present species gives an odd, distorted-sounding “qwr-qwerk.” Begging birds give a shrill trill. Unfortunately, like many other Christmas Island species, has suffered declines due to the introduced yellow crazy ant, which has caused the owl to disappear from parts of its range.