Taita White-eye

Male is distinctive, small and largely black with fine white streaks on underparts, a white chest spot, a short white brow, and a pale base to undertail. Female is olive above and buffy below, with a more richly colored throat and a short, bold buffy brow. Immature male resembles female, but has streaked underparts and rufous-edged feathers on upperparts. Singles and pairs inhabit lower understory of lowland forest. Confined to Damar island. Thin, high-pitched calls include “tzit-tzit-tzit.” Gives a short song, “tzeee-tzeeee-tzooo” or “tzeeee-tzoooo,” the first note or two higher in pitch.

A small, dark songster of montane rainforest floor and undergrowth on Java. Male is overall slaty-gray but slightly paler on the belly. Female has a slaty-gray head and chest, rufous-brown tail, rump, wings and back, and a slightly paler orange-brown belly. Both sexes have thin, white eyebrows and long, black legs. Forages on the ground but also hops on logs and low branches. Male is superficially similar to Javan Blue Robin but the shortwing’s tail is shorter and it lacks the white forehead. Song is a series of random, tuneless whistles.

Incomparably beautiful songbird in which adult males are almost too colorful, with a jarring combination of rich blue head, bright red underparts, and lime green back. Females and immature males are plain green and unstreaked, not brown-toned like other buntings. Breeds in shrubby fields and forest edges, where males often sing from a high exposed perch. Found in a variety of weedy or thickety habitats in winter, often in small flocks that like to stay low and hidden. Sometimes visits feeders. Two disjunct populations look and sound very similar, but have different migration routes. Eastern birds, mainly breeding in Georgia and South Carolina, just migrate south to Florida and the Caribbean for the winter. Larger western population centered in Texas migrates to western Mexico and then filters south through Central America.