Lesser Grass-Finch

Medium-sized pigeon, usually seen on the ground in open woodland or along roadsides in northwestern Northern Territory and the northern Kimberley in Western Australia. Plain brown plumage, with white stripe along the edge of the breast. Distinctive facial markings, with comical red (Northern Territory) or yellow (Western Australia) facial skin. Takes flight with a loud clatter of wings. Compare Squatter Pigeon, Flock Bronzewing (with black-and-white facial markings), and both Chestnut-quilled and White-quilled Rock-Pigeons (with pale wing panels).

A handsome long-tailed inhabitant of the Western Ghats. Black face and white underparts set this species apart from Rufous Treepie. White-bellied is typically found well away from human habitation in humid hill forests, where it inhabits both primary and secondary patches. Forages at upper and middle levels of forest, often with other species, particularly Greater Racket-tailed Drongos. Noisy, giving hooting, chattering, and grating calls.

A sociable lark with a decurved bill, upright posture, and a diagnostic short white-tipped tail. The plumage is highly variable, but the throat is always paler than the underparts, which vary from buff to rusty; eastern populations are darker than western ones. Small groups of 3 to 10 birds are resident in desert, semi-desert, and grassland, where they forage for invertebrates and seeds in open country with sparse low bushes. The species flies low with a bobbing flight pattern, and generally for distances of only 10 to 50 meters, before dropping suddenly to the ground. Gives a characteristic quavering trill “trrrri-trrri-trrri-trrri” and other soft contact calls.