Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant

A small, dark songster of montane rainforest floor and undergrowth in the Philippines. Male is overall dark, blue-gray with an indistinct, often concealed white eyebrow. Female has a dark gray body with a paler belly, and brown head and base to the undertail. Forages on the ground of various types of forest, including bamboo, fern, and mossy forest. Song is an up-and-down melody of long whistles, broken into short separate notes. Call, a repeated, soft double-note “biirrick!”

Small gray-brown finch with fiery reddish patches all over the body. Combination of bright red eyerbrow and similarly colored rump patch distinguishes this species from other waxbills. Inhabits both dry and wet areas with extensive tall and grassy vegetation. Associates with other waxbills, as well as other species of estrildid finches. Native to eastern Africa; introduced to Singapore and parts of Japan.

A nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Purple Grenadiers. As with other whydahs, breeding males are spectacular, whereas non-breeding males and females are drab. Breeding males are mostly black, with golden-buff coloring on the cap, the belly, and the elongated central tail feathers. Non-breeding males and females have a brownish back, a golden-buff head, and a red bill. Found in rather dry savanna and cultivated areas. Non-breeding male and female can be identified by their red bill and their almost unmarked plain buff head. Not very vocal, but does imitate Purple Grenadier, and gives a quick jumble of high-pitched whistled notes.