Piping Bellbird

This sharply attired black-and-white starling has a pointed yellowish bill with an orange base. Mainly black upperparts with white belly and white rump noticeable in flight. Note the bare, deep orange patch around its eye that contrasts with its white cheek. Easternmost birds have a white, streaked forehead. Seen in loose flocks close to human habitation feeding on human refuse. Garbage dumps, damp grazing lands, and well-watered parks are its favoured haunts. Noisy with a variety of calls that includes mimicked sounds of other birds.

Small finchlike bird, compact and short tailed with a stout bill. Male has notably orange-tinged underparts and dark upperparts with a purplish sheen. The orange-yellow crown is extensive (not restricted to the forehead like many other euphonias). Also note the underside of the tail, which is entirely dark. Females are plain yellowish-olive overall and difficult to separate from other euphonias, especially Thick-billed, but usually seen in pairs or small groups with males. Frequents woodlands, edges, and clearings in lowlands and foothills, often in fairly dry regions. Can be found in mixed-feeding flocks with other species such as warblers and tanagers.

Plump, rock-loving shorebird with slightly droopy bill. Most often seen in nonbreeding plumage, which is fairly dark gray with spotted underparts. Namesake purple sheen (mostly on back, scapulars, and tertials) only visible at close distance in good light. Legs and base of bill usually bright orange. Messy-looking breeding plumage is darker and more heavily marked, with limited rusty tones on upperparts. Largely inaccessible breeding range on high Arctic tundra; most often seen in northern Europe, Spitsbergen, and Iceland. Winters at slightly lower latitudes, regularly south to the mid-Atlantic region in North America and the Iberian Peninsula in Europe; found in flocks on rocky coastlines and jetties pounded by heavy surf.