European Serin

Small brownish owl with dark ‘glasses’ surrounding eyes. Fairly common in a wide variety of habitats on Tasmania. Similar to Southern Boobook, and range overlaps in southern Victoria during the winter; Tasmanian Boobook is smaller, darker, and has more extensive spotting and a different voice. Call is a familiar ‘boo-book’ with the second note lower pitched than the first, higher-pitched and smoother than Southern Boobook.

Anis are bizarre, coal-black cuckoos with long floppy tails and unique, curiously tall, flattened bills. Smooth-billed occurs in a variety of open and semi-open habitats in tropical lowlands and foothills, typically staying low in shrubs and grasses. Gregarious and not particularly graceful; usually seen crashing around awkwardly in small groups. Flies with choppy wingbeats and long glides. Widespread and common throughout much of South America and the Caribbean, extending as far west as the Pacific slope of Costa Rica and north to Florida. Compare with the very similar Groove-billed Ani, which overlaps in some areas of Central and South America. Note especially the bill shape: Smooth-billed often (but not always) has a taller ridge on the top of the bill, and a sharper angle on the lower edge of the bill. The sides are typically smooth, rarely with weak grooves. Voice is also important: listen for a rising, hawklike whistle with an inflection at the end. Dark eye, size, and habitat help separate from Greater Ani in South America and Panama.

A slim, dark, long-tailed member of the cisticola family. Mostly gray-brown with a black throat and a pale gray belly. Also note the white eye and the white outer tail feathers. Inhabits a tiny range in remnant scraps of montane forest on the Taita Hills of Kenya, mostly along forest edge and in the undergrowth. Somewhat similar to Black-headed Apalis, but easily separated by the dark rather than white throat. The typical song is a duet in which the male gives repeated low “chrup” notes while the female gives rapid-fire higher notes.