Banggai Scops-Owl

A slender, active unstreaked warbler with a long graduated tail that is sometimes cocked. It is mouse-brown above and pale below, with tawny flanks and a distinctive pale eyebrow. Pairs and small groups patrol rank grass, riverine scrub, and thickets in savanna, where they are often on the ground or in the lower levels of vegetation. The species sings a strident “stiiikk” note repeatedly 6-15 times before pausing, but it may sing incessantly for minutes, and it also has a tinnier “stip-stip-stip” call; tone and pitch vary geographically. The similar Pale Prinia is more washed out with whitish flanks, and the very similar-looking River Prinia is local, restricted to riverine fringes in the Sahel, and has a sweeter higher-pitched song.

Extremely similar to widespread Rufous Hummingbird; identical in plumage except for males' solid green back (which can be shown by Rufous too). Breeds only along a narrow strip of coastal California and southern Oregon. On females and immature males, the only way to separate them from Rufous is by the shape of the tail feathers, which is extremely difficult to determine without good photographs.

Very rare and poorly known, but likely widely overlooked, small rail of the southern cone from SE Brazil to central Argentina. Its secretive nature makes it difficult to understand its habitat and habits, but timing of records, combined with records from the middle of downtown Buenos Aires and São Paolo, suggest it is at least somewhat migratory.