Fuscous Flycatcher

A plain clay-brown laughingthrush with a long, curved yellow bill. Largely without distinguishing plumage features, but note weak white brow, blue-gray tinge to the wings, and small black patches on the “elbow” and face. The only laughingthrush in much of its range. Forages in hilly and montane regions, where it often moves about noisily in medium-sized flocks in scrubby, brushy habitat, often near waterways. Long rambling song melodious and thrush-like; calls include fluid whistles, nasal chattering, and quiet peeping.

A colorful sunbird; the male has a green metallic crown and shoulder patch, a dark brown body with purple a rump, a purple throat, lemon-yellow underparts, and whitish flanks. The female is light grayish-brown above and pale yellow below. The female can be separated from female Purple Sunbirds by their grayish-white (not yellow) throat. Often seen hopping and hovering around flowers, picking up insects, and probing flowers for nectar. The song is a twittering “tityou, tityou, trritt, tityou.”

Large, stocky gull of the North Pacific. Generally fairly pale and uniform-looking; at all ages, note wingtips and back are approximately the same color. Takes four years for immatures to progress from mostly brown to fully white and gray adult plumage; intermediate plumages are often mottled and messy. Most immatures look frosty grayish-brown with smooth patterning. Found in coastal areas, including beaches, mudflats, and even city parks. Identification is complicated by frequent hybridization with Western, Herring, and Glaucous Gulls in various parts of range. Pure birds can be difficult to find and identify with certainty, and many intermediate birds are best left unidentified.