Bay-crowned Brushfinch

A huge, distinctive all-dark flightless forest rail with a powerful red bill and red legs. Restricted to the island of Halmahera in the North Moluccas, where it occurs in swampy areas within forest, especially sago swamps. Very shy, roaming the forest floor singly or in pairs. Calls include deep drumming noises, and a racket of loud “WAK-WAK-WAK” notes repeated in an agitated-sounding series. Also gives quieter clucking notes.

Widespread but uncommon forest hawk of tropical America. Adults are mostly gray, darker on crown and upperparts, with two pale tail bands and rufous thighs that are often hidden from view. Belly is tinged rufous and faintly barred in the southern part of its range. Immature looks remarkably like a forest-falcon, but note its yellow eye and lack of dark crescent on face. Overlaps with the similar Rufous-thighed Kite in parts of South America. Bicolored Hawk is larger, lacks a vertical stripe on the throat, usually stays inside forest, and almost never soars. Feeds mainly on birds and is generally quiet and elusive. Birds from central and southern Chile as well as adjacent parts of Argentina are now considered a separate species, Chilean Hawk.

A distinctive dove with a restricted range. The white wing patches are usually visible when perched, and become very conspicuous in flight. A white eye-ring is conspicuous at close range. Found locally in riverside scrub, thickets, and adjacent habitats. Similar overall to Ring-necked Dove, but separated by the white eye-ring, gray breast, and white wing patches. The song is a fast-paced, quickly repeated rolling series of cooing notes with a somewhat rough, churring quality.