Five-striped Sparrow

Beautiful and highly range-restricted trogon found only in Java’s far western belt of volcanoes, where it inhabits montane and foothill forests at 900-2500 meters. Unmistakable, decked out in all the colors of the rainbow: note bright red bill, yellow breast, orange belly, olive-green head and chest, glossy blue-green back, and purple-and-green bare facial skin. Perches quietly in the middle levels of the forest. Sometimes joins mixed feeding flocks, flying noisily with whirring windbeats. Gives a harsh descending trill.

Small finch with bright orange bill and a distinctive black-and-white “moustache” mark. Adult male gray above, with barred grayish bib, rusty white-spotted flanks, and black-and-white tail pattern. Female smooth gray to buff on the chest and belly; juvenile similar but with a dark gray bill. Inhabits arid inland Australia, where often found in very large flocks.

Noisy, conspicuous, and often a common scavenger in habitats ranging from towns and cities to open forest, farmland, and beaches; ecological counterpart to crows. Often in groups, locally of tens or even hundreds, feeding on the ground or tumbling and sailing with agile flight; often chases and mobs larger raptors. Plumage brownish overall, often with gingery tones, and with variable paler dappling above and fine barring below. Bold creamy white wing panels and tail base striking in flight.