White-shouldered Black-Tit

A nondescript sparrow-sized songbird with a slender, downcurved bill. Entirely olive-green above and uniform pale gray below, but note head pattern, which includes a prominent whitish smudge on the cheeks and dull bare skin below the eye. Juvenile has a pink facial patch. Singles, pairs, or groups inhabit scrubland, wooded areas, and coconut plantations in lowlands. Confined to islets in the Moluccas and to West Papua, where it is readily identified by its head pattern. Harsh, squeaky vocalizations include “tchew” and “grrt” notes and “chi-witchoo” or “witch-oo” phrases.

A tiny bird of forest canopy from the lowlands to the mid-mountains in the west of New Guinea. Medium gray upperparts, pale gray underparts to whitish belly, and a whitish throat. Male has a bright red chest patch and a yellowish tinge to the head. Female has a broad pale stripe from the bill down to the center of the chest. Similar in size to a gerygone or Pygmy Longbill, but typical flowerpecker behaviour of flying vocally between the treetops. Voice, a buzzing “jig!” call, given regularly.

Shy, earthen-toned groundbird with a rotund, barrel-chested appearance. Both sexes are brown overall with a mossy green back and electric powder-blue nape; the female is much duller than the male, with less extensive blue and green on the upperparts. Face is warm gray-brown--paler than the dirt-brown underparts. Otherwise similar Blue-naped Pitta has no blue on the crown, no blue rump, and a browner face without gray tones. Song is a simple, barbet-like series of widely-spaced “choo” notes.