Kikuyu White-eye

Small, strongly migratory starling; common on its wintering grounds, but localized when breeding, and often difficult to find when on migration. Male dark above, white below, but intricately patterned, with shades of violet, green, and orange in wings. Female has similar general pattern but brown above, grayish below. Prefers open areas between forests and meadows but feeds in open agricultural fields as well, often gathering in immense flocks.

A dull, nondescript, slender buffy bunting. Subtle features include a rusty wing panel, a pale spot near the ear, a buffy eyebrow, and a small pale silvery bill. Pairs can be low-density residents, but typically the species is nomadic, and large flocks irrupt into the semi-arid Karoo, Kalahari, and Namib after rainfall events; but it may reach savanna and other atypical habitats, particularly in drier years. It prefers areas with bare stony soil and often is found close to pools of drinking water. The song is a short series of varied scratchy trills, but the distinctive flight call is short, dry, crisp one-note “tec” which often betrays its presence. It often flocks with other seedeaters, lacking the black belly patch of the otherwise similar female sparrow-larks.

Small gray gull with red legs. Adult has red bill (younger birds have a darker bill), white head and body, pale gray "silver" wings, which have prominent black and white tips. Abundant across much of New Zealand and coastal Australia, including inland areas around waterways and rivers.