Cook Islands Fruit-Dove

A medium-sized, bulky dark petrel with a large head and long pointed wings. It often shows a grizzled, gray scaly muzzle around the bill. It flies fast with a flexed wrist and its heavy head angled downward, giving it a characteristic appearance. It breeds on subantarctic islands between the Tristan group and western Australia, dispersing across the southern oceans between 30 and 50°S, where it is a deep ocean specialist. Several species are similar to Great-winged Petrel. Gray-faced Petrel, sometimes considered the same species, breeds off New Zealand and is almost identical except for a more extensive grizzled face patch. The smaller Kerguelen Petrel has a more contrasting silvery underwing. The gadfly petrels mostly have more pale patterning on the underwing or belly and lack the bulkiness of Great-winged Petrel.

A spectacular turaco with iridescent dark blue wings and tail and a green head and breast. Note the ornate markings on the head: a moderate crest that is white-and-orange along the back, and white stripes above and below the eye. Like all turacos, shows large crimson wing patches in flight. Found in coastal forest and woodland and along forest edge. Acts like a typical turaco, bouncing through the trees and flying occasionally with short bursts of wingbeats and long glides. Overall similar to Livingstone’s and Hartlaub’s Turacos, but easily separated by the orange in the crest. Call is a gruff, accelerating series of “kow” notes. 

Similar in size and shape to House Sparrow. Breeding season males have a heavily streaked black breast and back and a rufous crown and nape. Males are duller in the nonbreeding season. Females are very difficult to separate from female House Sparrows but tend to have bigger bills and paler bellies. Colonial, builds huge stick nests, often in/under White Stork nests.