Band-tailed Sierra Finch

Compact brown bird with a stubby black bill. Warm reddish brown with heavy black-and-white barring on the undersides, face, and eyebrow. Walks around the ground in dense montane forest with a springy gait, bobbing its tail up and down with each slow step. Exceptionally timid bird heard far more often than seen; listen for its long hooting song, an accelerating series of low toots.

A large canopy honeyguide that is far more often heard than seen, although it does sometimes descend lower, almost to ground level. When seen, its greenish upperparts contrast with its pale olive underparts to give it a two-toned appearance. Belly is pale with flank streaking, and the distinctive tail has white edges and feathers that curve outward, giving it a lyre shape that is most noticeable in the males. Males perform aerial displays high overhead in which they quickly open their wings and tails to create a two-parted sound like a bow on a string that gradually grows louder, “huhwa, huh-wa, HUH-WA.” Despite its distinctive displays, the bird can be frustratingly difficult to locate and see.

A large gadfly petrel with a pale white head and a distinctive dark eye-patch. Back is pale gray with darker outer wings, creating an “M” shape on the back. Look for stout black bill and pinkish-colored feet. Breed on Antipodes and Auckland Islands in the New Zealand region and also on subantarctic Indian Ocean and Macquarie Islands. Forages between the subantarctic and Antarctic convergence zones. Three similar species: Soft-plumaged Petrel is smaller with gray-brown head and band on upper breast; Gray Petrel is larger with a smaller, darker head, a pale green bill, and a long neck; and pale morph Kermadec Petrel is smaller, lacks an eye patch, has darker upperparts, and shows white patches under the wing.