Javan Owlet

Large black antshrike with a white back patch. Males have white wingbars, absent in females. An inhabitant of seasonally flooded forests, second growth, and river islands with dense understory composed of Cecropia and Heliconia vegetation. Forages in the understory and rarely accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is an accelerating series of low descending notes.

Attractive jay of oak woodlands and piñon-juniper forests. Royal blue above with gray-brown back and dirty grayish underparts. Flight style is often distinctive, a series of quick wingbeats followed by a stiff glide. Typically in small groups. Listen for scratchy, nasal calls. Regularly visits backyards and feeders. Most similar to California Scrub-Jay (and once considered the same species), but usually separable by range. Also note Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay is paler and more washed-out, with only a diffuse blue breast band. Population in central Mexico, often called Sumichrast’s Scrub-Jay, is darker and more contrasty than a typical Woodhouse’s, and might be a separate species.

Medium-sized brown bulbul with a puffy brown crest and a brown-and-white-streaked breast. Also note white throat, staring pale orange eyes, and dull olive-tan wing panel. Endemic to the foothill and lower montane areas of western Sumatra, where it inhabits forests and forest edges. Often forages in pairs or small groups, typically in the middle and upper levels of forest. Like other bulbuls, often gathers at fruiting trees and shrubs. Somewhat similar in appearance to Sunda and Spot-necked Bulbuls, but note combination of short dark bill, prominent crest, dark brown face, and lack of olive tones on the back. Song is an odd starling-like series of squeaky, jangling phrases. Calls include quiet jumbled twitters and more insistent squeaks and rasps.