Siberian Pipit

An unusual small sparrow of dry country. Males have a yellow head and underparts and a chestnut back. Females are much plainer, sandy brown on the back and pale below with a yellow wash. Found in dry thorn savanna, thorn scrub, and semi-desert. Nests colonially, and usually found in flocks, sometimes large, and sometimes mixed with other bird species. Similar to Arabian Golden Sparrow, but almost does not overlap in range. Male is separated by his chestnut back, and females by being duller and less yellow. The common calls include chirps and chatters. 

Dull brown fulvetta with pale eyes, found only in central and south-central China. Note streaky throat, dark lores, and pale, narrow wing panel. Distinctive in its blandness; no other fulvetta in the region is essentially all brown with no dark eyebrows or significant patches of warmer, brighter colors. Occurs at 2200-4300 meters, favoring areas with shrubby oak or rhododendron cover. Typically forages low down or at middle levels of forest. Not as social as the “Alcippe” fulvettas, and are often encountered singly or in pairs, though small groups do occur. Song is a simple but variable series of whistles in which the first note or two rise and the last one or two fall, sometimes with an intermediary note in between: “tsi-tsi-dih-deer-deer.” Call is a high-pitched chittery rattle.

Beautiful dark velvet dove with a pristine white face, throat, and breast. Endemic to Chuuk and Pohnpei, in the Caroline Islands group. Inhabits forested areas, including disturbed patches adjoining agriculture. Forages actively on or close to the ground. Unlike many other doves and pigeons, flushes more or less silently; typically flies only a short distance when flushed.