Biak Triller

A large gray cuckooshrike with a strong, hooked bill. Upperparts are mostly gray with black primaries; male darker than female. Note pale patch on back and white tail tips when bird is in flight. Male is gray with a lightly barred white belly. Female has denser barring that transitions to a white lower belly and undertail. Both sexes have a dark patch from the bill to slightly behind the eye, giving a masked impression. Juvenile is brownish, heavily scaled with whitish-buff, and mottled on the underparts. Immature has broader white edges to wing feathers. Vocal. Often gives a two-noted, rather nasal “gii-yaak,” uttered in flight as well as from a perch; also gives scratchy squeal calls. Inhabits lightly wooded country, avoiding wet forests.

Scarce, unremarkable flycatcher of Andean cloud forest understory. Note the yellow underparts, vague brownish wingbars, stubby bill, and faint eye-ring. Male’s orange crest is usually concealed and rarely seen in the field. The species lacks strong field marks, and voice is often the easiest way to identify it. Typical song is a high-pitched “sit-sweet!-sit,” sometimes followed by a few softer notes.

Medium-sized gray bird (small for a cuckooshrike) with considerable geographic variation. Male averages darkest on the wings, throat, and breast, contrasting more heavily with the rest of the plumage than in the fairly uniform-looking male Indochinese Cuckooshrike. Female is pale gray with fine barring on the underparts. Undertail is black with white-tipped feathers concentrated at the end of the tail; does not appear as evenly graduated as in the larger Black-winged Cuckooshrike, and is less extensively white-tailed than Indochinese Cuckooshrike. Forages in the upper levels of forests and forest edge in lowland and hilly areas, often as part of mixed-species flocks. Song begins with a few clear tinkling notes, then transitions into a loud, insistent “jeh, jeh, jeh, jeh”.