Slender-billed Greenbul

Small, patchily distributed bird humid forests. Entirely rufous in most of its expansive range, but at the eastern end of its distribution in Brazil it is mostly sooty-colored with rufous wings. Long-tailed profile, terrestrial habits, and small black mask should clinch identification. Found near the ground inside lowland forest and in premontane forest in the tepui region, often around treefall gaps or other areas with dense understory. Often in pairs. Vocal; two-noted song often given in duet is distinctive in habitat.

A small, noisy songbird endemic to New Zealand, found on the South and Stewart Islands. Favors myriad forest types. Note brown upperparts with an ashy-gray face and neck, and pale creamy-brown underparts. Often located first by its harsh chattering contact calls and canary-like song. Forms fast-moving flocks in the canopy that will come down to investigate “squeaking.” Associates with other species such as Silvereye and Gray Gerygone in the non-breeding season, forming noisy, continuously chattering flocks. Pipipi is the main host of the parasitic Long-tailed Koel, and so adults can be encountered feeding a much larger Koel chick. Distinguished from Dunnock by lighter underparts; does not feed on the ground. Look for sharp contrast between gray face and lighter underparts and larger size to distinguish from Gray Gerygone.

A rather plain medium-sized dove, mostly restricted to western Ecuador but also occurs in western Colombia and extreme northwestern Peru. Within range, the main confusion species is White-tipped Dove. Pallid Dove has notably darker and warmer brown upperparts that contrast more with the whitish underparts. Like other members of the genus, Pallid is typically found on the ground (or flushing up into the understory). It is most often seen walking on roads or trails, or flying across quickly. There are a few places where it visits feeders. Within its limited range, it is fairly common, but be careful to separate from the equally (or more) common White-tipped Dove. Listen for its low-pitched, single “hoo” call.