Gray-throated Warbler

Brownish swiftlet with a shallowly forked tail, restricted to the Chuuk Islands, Pohnpei, and Kosrae, in the Caroline Islands. The only swift in Micronesia; only possible confusion species is Barn Swallow, which is paler below and has a much more deeply forked tail. Flies over all kinds of habitats in agile and twisting flight. Nests in caves.

Small leaf warbler with many extremely similar relatives. Like other “Pallas’s-type” leaf warblers, has olive-yellow upperparts, pale underparts, prominent brow and crown stripes, double wingbars, and a pale rump. Unlike Ashy-throated and Buff-barred Warblers, lacks any white on outer tail edges. Pallas’s averages yellower-headed and brighter overall. Gansu and Chinese Leaf Warblers can be incredibly similar, but Lemon-rumped averages whiter-browed and yellower-bellied than the former, more contrastingly-marked on the head than the latter, and darker-billed than both. As with many other physically similar leaf warblers, best distinguished by voice and habitat. Breeds in coniferous and mixed forests at mid- to high-elevation forests, though may descend into foothills in the winter. Two song types are both highly distinctive; one is a buzzy, descending rattling trill and the other is a series of high-pitched clicking twitters. Call is a loud, strident pair of notes: “pse-tew!”

Supreme understory skulker in montane forest, resembling a hybrid between a thrush and babbler. A dull but distinctive-looking bird if seen well, with brown-olive upperparts and rusty underparts, a bold dull blue-gray eye-ring and black-speckled tawny throat. The bill is dark on top and pale underneath. Immature is paler, lacking the spotted throat. Singles or pairs are highly localized residents flicking through leaf litter or following ants in undergrowth of Eastern Arc montane forest, between 900–2700m; shy and hops or runs quickly across the forest-floor, seldom permitting absorbing looks. Thrush-like song is a varied but distinctive shrill series of whistles and slurs. Calls include a single upslurred sweet “seeuuuiit”, and a scratchy “werrrt” in alarm.