Orange-billed Sparrow

A very small and striking gray, white, and black flycatcher-like bird with a very dark crown, a yellow eye, white wingbars, and a white spot above the bill base. Sexes similar. Juvenile has neck and wing washed buffy. Pairs are rare and localized residents in the middle levels and the canopy of secondary and primary lowland forest, below 1300 meters of elevation. The larger Rwenzori Batis has a broader breast band than Ituri Batis and tends to occur in montane forest above 1400 meters.

Rather dull buffy ground-dwelling bird with a large but disjunct range from Panama to Argentina. Streaky brown above and paler below with a streaked breast and plain belly. Note long pinkish legs and white outer tail feathers. Found in any flat open habitat including savannah, agricultural areas, and desert. Most often seen on the ground, occasionally perched up on a small shrub or fence. The only pipit in most of its range. Listen for the distinctive song, a few tick notes followed by a long descending buzzy “tzeeeeeeew,” often given in flight.

Tiny songbird of mountain and hill forests; ranges from the Himalayas south to the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, with an isolated population in Taiwan’s highlands. Adult male is dark blue above and pale creamy white below, with a black stripe leading down the belly from a brilliantly red patch like a bloodstain on the breast. Female is much plainer, brownish-olive above and off-white below; lacks the bright white throat of Plain and female Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers. Often forages at flowers blooming in the canopy. Gives a high, thin, up-and-down “tsee’ip, tsee’ip, tsee’ip” and a rising series of ticks (often ending with more metallic notes); calls include dry tick notes and high, thin “tseet”s.