White-winged Apalis

Uncommon small black crow. Plumage has an iridescent dark blue sheen when seen up close. Compared to much more common Philippine Large-billed Crow, note present species’ larger-headed appearance, small bare patch behind eye, and somewhat stouter-looking bill. Formerly treated as part of a more generic “Slender-billed Crow” that ranged from the Philippines to Sulawesi; Sierra Madre Crow is restricted to montane forests in northern and central Luzon. Often encountered singly, in pairs, or as small flocks in flight over swathes of contiguous forest. Calls are quite different from those of Philippine Large-billed Crow, being rather high-pitched short caws: “weh, weh, weh!”

A mostly black inhabitant of swamps and marshes. The male has a telltale orange-red shoulder patch with pale yellow trim, which the female lacks. Both sexes of Tawny-shouldered Blackbird have a yellow-orange shoulder, though the shoulder color is sometimes only visible in flight. The Shiny Cowbird lacks a shoulder patch, is quite glossy, and has a shorter and stouter bill than Red-shouldered Blackbird. The call is a “chut” or “chut-chut” and song is a shrill “Shuh-reee-eee.”

Small woodpecker of open forest and forest edge. Note size, pale eyes, and broad-striped head pattern. Darkness of the crown varies; palest in northern and peninsular India and darkest in Sri Lanka. Where it overlaps with Gray-capped Woodpecker, note the more “blocky” head pattern, pale eyes, and white-spotted tail of Brown-capped. Gives a short chittering trill that rises and falls quickly.