Malagasy Palm Swift

Large wheatear with dark black head and back, and pure white breast and belly. Sexes alike. Extremely similar to the male of the picata form of Variable Wheatear, but Hume’s Wheatear is larger, with a larger bill and longer wings, and the black doesn’t extend past the throat, while the white extends farther up the back. Inhabits barren hills and rocky slopes, where it forages on the ground for invertebrates. The song is thrush-like with some sweet and buzzy notes. The call is a harsh “chuk.”

Small finchlike bird, compact and short-tailed. Generally yellow below and dark blue-black above with stout bill. To identify male euphonias, focus on crown and throat: on Thick-billed, crown is entirely yellow and throat is yellow. Females are extremely difficult to separate from other euphonias, especially Yellow-crowned, but often seen in pairs or small groups with more distinctive males. Frequents open forested habitats, edges, and gardens. Can form mixed feeding flocks with other species such as warblers and tanagers.

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.