Rose-bellied Bunting

A stunning small bird of lowland and foothill scrub and gardens in the western Visayas. Male has a bright red head, back, and chest, a purple forehead, a broadening purple mustache stripe, a purple tail, black wings and belly, and a bright yellow patch on the lower back. Similar to Purple-throated, but larger; male lacks the purple throat, and female is mainly olive with distinctive reddish wings and tail. Call is a repeated high-pitched “chik!”

Common summer resident in the Andes of central Chile and adjacent Argentina; migrates north in winter. Found on rocky and stony slopes with scrubby bushes, gravel plains, bogs, and lakeshores; often the commonest ground-tyrant, associating readily with other species in migrant flocks. Best identified by brownish cast to back (not pure gray), diffuse rusty nape patch, and relatively distinct whitish eyebrow; sometimes very confiding.

A relatively small, glossy crow. Very difficult to separate from American Crow by appearance; look for Fish Crow’s slightly more tapered wings, quicker wingbeats, and shorter legs. Most easily identified by voice, a nasal “eh-uh” or single nasal caws. Mostly restricted to the southeastern U.S., especially along the coast, but range expanding slightly northward and inland in recent years. Often near water, but also seems especially fond of fast-food parking lots and dumpsters.