Dull-capped Attila

A small, attractive robin with a bright crimson chest and belly. Varies across range, but male is mostly dark above and on head except for bright white forehead and pale wingbar. Base of undertail white. Female mostly brown above but red below. Generally unique and unmistakable within range. Inhabits forested areas at a range of elevations. Voice varies across range but is generally a mix of high-pitched tinkling, sweet high-pitched tweeting, and whistling.

Medium-sized pigeon, usually seen on the ground in open woodland or along roadsides in northwestern Northern Territory and the northern Kimberley in Western Australia. Plain brown plumage, with white stripe along the edge of the breast. Distinctive facial markings, with comical red (Northern Territory) or yellow (Western Australia) facial skin. Takes flight with a loud clatter of wings. Compare Squatter Pigeon, Flock Bronzewing (with black-and-white facial markings), and both Chestnut-quilled and White-quilled Rock-Pigeons (with pale wing panels).

Skulky and secretive speciality of the Kontum and Dalat Plateaus, in Vietnam’s central highlands. Like other Locustella warblers, much more easily heard than seen: listen for its buzzy, repetitive “bizee, bizee, bizee, bizee”, typically given from within a dense clump of grasses or shrubbery. A patient birder, with some luck, may be rewarded with a brief glimpse of this elusive and range-restricted songster in its tangled haunts--a drab brown bird with a white throat and weak eye-ring. Formerly regarded as a subspecies of Russet Bush Warbler (and under which it may be listed under older field guides).