Gray Laughingthrush

A rather large olive-brown thrush with conspicuous orange-yellow legs and bill, a bold black brow, and an obvious yellow eye-ring. Juveniles are scaled below. Found in montane forest, foraging both on the ground and high in the understory, sometimes joining mixed-species flocks. Confined to Sulawesi, where distinguished from Geomalia and Island Thrush by presence of black brow and lack of rufous belly. Sulawesi Thrush is also shorter-tailed than Geomalia. Song is typical of thrushes: a rich, melodious, mournful song with fluty cadences. Also gives chattering calls and a high, weak “tsip.”

A small brown owl with yellow eyes and feathered ear tufts. Note square head shape when tufts are not raised. Body all brown with extensive scattered darker and paler markings. Juvenile is heavily barred on the back and crown. Endemic to the Banggai islands off the east coast of Sulawesi; known specifically from Peleng and Labobo. Inhabits understory of forest and forest edge from lowlands to lower mountains. Distinctive: the only scops-owl in range. Song is a short, low trill, quite different from the clipped whistle of Sulawesi Scops-Owl, which it was once regarded as a subspecies of.

Rather local; found at salt lakes and bogs in the high Andes. Associates readily with Chilean and Andean Flamingos, although each species often stays slightly apart within mixed groups. James’s is the smallest New World flamingo best identified by its relatively short, stubby bill, which is yellow with a black tip. Adult and older immature have distinctive red legs and feet (can be whitish when caked with dried salt). Immature is whitish overall, like other immature flamingos.