Tablas Fantail

Sprightly, small warbler that poses a bevy of identification issues. Dull olive above and yellow below, with a bright eyering and a gray crown bound in by black stripes. Extremely similar to closely-related Martens’s, Gray-crowned, White-spectacled, and Bianchi’s Warblers; often impossible to identify if seen poorly in where range overlap is possible. Weak or absent wingbar distinguishes this species from Whistler’s, Bianchi’s, and White-spectacled warblers. Slightly larger-billed and shorter-tailed and with more restricted white in outer tail feathers than Martens’s and Gray-crowned warblers. Breeding altitudinal range (600–1500 m) can be helpful: does not overlap with higher-breeding Bianchi’s Warbler (1760–3100 m in China) and minutely with Martens’s Warbler (1200–2300 m). Overlap more extensive with Gray-crowned Warbler (120–1830 m in China) and White-spectacled Warbler (1000–1750 m in China). Simple, short song can be an identification clincher: a brief “che-witchy-chew-witchy-chew”, lacking the trilled notes of Martens’s, Gray-crowned, and White-spectacled warbler, and higher in pitch than Bianchi’s Warbler. Forages low, often in dense growth, of temperate evergreen forests, descending during the non-breeding season into forested lowlands, where overlap with non-singing similar species can make identification nearly impossible.

Large chunky, olive-green greenbul. The crown is gray, and there is a white arc above the eye, and a dark cheek with fine white stripes, though these can be hard to see. Found in humid foothill and montane forest. The song is a chatty, up-and-down series of low “chowp” notes and higher nasal notes. Similar to Black-browed Mountain Greenbul, but has cheek striping, and greenish rather than grayish underparts.

A handsome and striking large wader (shorebird) with long wispy crest. Fairly common in open habitats, from grassland and farmland to wetlands, and locally on coastal mudflats. Declining in some areas with land-use changes. Forms flocks from late summer through winter, locally in hundreds or even thousands. Boldly patterned plumage looks black and white overall, but back shows green gloss in good light. Flies with deep, rather floppy wingbeats and dives steeply in breeding display; wingtips notably broad and rounded, not pointed like most waders.