Small-headed Elaenia

Spectacular purple turaco with a beautiful facial pattern: a large red-and-yellow bill, red bare skin around the eye, a white patch behind the eye, and a dark red back of the head. Shows large crimson wing patches in flight. Found along forest edge and in gallery forest and lush gardens. Acts like a typical turaco, bouncing through the trees and flying occasionally with short bursts of wingbeats and long glides. Call is a low, rollicking trill that is often given in raucous chorus by a group. Similar to Ross’s Turaco, but overlap in range is minimal, and Violet is easily separated by many details of its facial pattern, including its two-colored bill. 

An unmistakable thrush with a “tiger-striped” face pattern, a white throat, a broad orange chest band, orange flanks, a white belly, and extensive bold white wing markings. Juveniles show rusty wing spots, pale streaking, a black and buff breast band, and black flank spots. Forages singly or in pairs on the ground and in trees, in forests and wooded patches within lowlands and hills. Confined to the eastern Lesser Sundas. Gives a rich, musical song characteristic of thrushes, with sequences of fluty upslurred and downslurred whistled notes comprising repeated phrases mixed with softer, chuckling sounds and thin, high-pitched notes.

Well-named, this is truly a small hawk, although size can be difficult to judge. Look for fine barring on the underparts, darker cap, and relatively short tail. Adults are gray, juveniles warmer rufous. Lacks a conspicuous collar wrapping around the neck, as in Semicollared Hawk. Not frequently seen; often stays inside forests, where it hunts small birds. Sometimes perches at the forest edge. Almost always seen singly.