Bronze-tailed Starling

A fairly large bird of lowland and foothill secondary forest and edge. As the name suggests, a variably plumaged bird. All have rufous underparts, but one is all rufous with yellow bill, the rest have dark bill and dark wings, some with blackish and others with gray hood. All rufous birds are similar to Rusty Pitohui but lack the white eye. Black headed birds are almost identical to Hooded Pitohui, but Northern Variable is slightly larger and found at lower elevations. The variable song is a medium-pitch, warbled jumble and call, a nasal grating.

Small, distinctive boobook with extensive chestnut-brown barring. Favors surviving primary rainforest, but can sometimes be found in secondary growth; can be found on roadsides through suitable habitat when hunting. The only resident owl on the island; the migratory Northern Boobook is a winter visitor to the island, and is significantly larger and much darker overall, with an all-brown head and brown-striped white underparts. Present species gives an odd, distorted-sounding “qwr-qwerk.” Begging birds give a shrill trill. Unfortunately, like many other Christmas Island species, has suffered declines due to the introduced yellow crazy ant, which has caused the owl to disappear from parts of its range.

A medium-sized bird of upper-montane forest and shrubland. Mainly slaty-gray color with green back and yellow lower belly and sides. Note the black face, chest and crest which it can hold up or down. Also note the striking white mark from behind the eye to the back of the head. Can be found singly, in pairs, or in small flocks, which sometimes join mixed flocks with other birds. Very similar to Western Crested Berrypecker, but little or no overlap in range, and separated by longer white mark behind eye, brighter green back, and yellow along the sides. Not very vocal, but does give various scratchy calls and a nasal “wek!”.