Wilson's Snipe

Fairly small gull, common and widespread throughout most of North America. Breeding adults are white-headed with a bold black ring around the bill; nonbreeding adults have smudgy brown markings on the head. Note pale eye and yellow legs. Immatures are mottled brownish overall; note pink bill with black tip. Found along lakes, rivers, ponds, and beaches. More common inland than most other gull species, and quite fond of parking lots and urban areas. Often in flocks. Most similar to Short-billed Gull, but larger and larger-billed. Immatures of the two species are especially difficult to differentiate, but Ring-billed is usually more coarsely mottled.

Medium-sized hornbill; resembles a smaller version of Wreathed Hornbill. Black with a white tail. Male has a white head and neck and a yellow throat pouch, while females have a blue pouch. Separated from Wreathed by lack of grooves on bill, small size, and lack of a black patch on the pouch (hence “plain-pouched”). Inhabits lowland forests; frequently detected flying powerfully overhead giving short, high-pitched calls. Often encountered in flocks.

A small lemon-olive finch with a gray patch in front of the eye. Female is smaller, duller, and streakier than the male. Juvenile resembles female but is browner and streakier. An abundant endemic throughout Nightingale Island and small adjacent islands, preferring tussock grass. Male’s song is high-pitched and sharp, an often repeated “wheet-whuu”; female answers with a whistle. The much larger and rarer Wilkins’s Finch has a deep grosbeak-like bill and a slower song, and is more restricted to wooded parts of the island than Nightingale Island Finch.