Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant

Striking and essentially unmistakable, with elegant shape, boldly pied plumage, long bluish-gray legs, and long, slender, upcurved bill. Curve is stronger on female. Usually breeds in small colonies; nesting birds call noisily. Nonbreeding flocks locally number in hundreds. Feeds while wading or swimming, sweeping its bill side to side. Most common in coastal wetlands and brackish lagoons and estuaries, but will also appear inland, particularly on or near large lakes.

A large, all-dark gadfly petrel found across the Tasman Sea and the temperate and subtropical southwest Pacific Ocean. Note the gray face, chin, and throat and the stout bill. Wings long and narrow. In New Zealand, breeds on offshore islands off the North Island as well as on some mainland cliffs and headlands near the sea. Gives an “o-hi” or “o-hoe” call when flying above breeding areas or a loud “si-si-si” when on land or in burrows. Other dark gadfly petrels are rare off the New Zealand mainland but the similar Providence and dark-morph Kermadec Petrels have white patches on the underwing; the latter also lacks any gray on its face. The rarely-seen Kerguelen Petrel is smaller, with a shorter bill and a pale edge on the underwing.

Smartly patterned small brown forest-dweller. Warm russet-brown above with smudgy gray-brown underparts. Clean white eyebrow and throat contrast sharply with an orange-brown “chinstrap” and a warm brown crown bounded by black stripes. Active in dense undergrowth, frequently traveling with other species in mixed flocks. Generally not as bold as other small fulvettas, and does not clamber around in the open on exposed trunks and branches. Song is a melodiously bright and brief “chewee-chewee-peeta!” Calls include an explosive “chom-wit!” and softer whistling and churring.