Cinnabar Boobook

An unusual paradise-flycatcher, slate-gray overall with a slightly darker head. Males have slightly elongated central tail feathers. Both sexes have a blue bill and ring around the eye. A poorly known bird that is found in humid forest at lower middle elevations along the west side of the Albertine Rift. Similar in shape to other paradise-flycatchers, but easily separated by the gray underparts. Reminiscent of Dusky and Blue-headed Crested-Flycatchers, but larger and less crested, with more vertical posture. Call is a series of tearing “shreet” notes, and song is a fast, bubbling series of “twee” notes.

A small loquacious inhabitant of scrubland, thickets, and brushy forest edges where it typically feeds within dense cover. The similar White-eyed Vireo can be distinguished by its smaller bill, greener back, and bright yellow sides; furthermore, adults have white, not dusky, eyes. The Cuban Vireo lacks the Thick-billed Vireo’s bold wingbars. The song is a scratchy jumbled “chick, didderwid-weee-zhee, chip” or variations thereof. Calls include a “zhip” given singly or in short bursts, a drawn-out harsh “zzhhe,” and a variety of chattering sounds.

A striking, little-known thrush with a largely jet black body except for a carmine red back, rump, and nape and a large white smudge on the cheeks.  Forages on the ground singly or in pairs inside lowland forest. Unmistakable in its restricted range on Peleng and Taliabu islands. Gives a typically complex song characteristic of thrushes, with fluty notes and whistles combined with burry phrases, repeated regularly. Call note is weak and barely audible: a very thin, high-pitched “seeep.”