Buff-throated Purpletuft

Plain brownish songbird with faint pale eyebrow and rust-colored rump. Similar female White-winged Triller has white-edged wing panel. Brown Songlark larger, with longer legs and bill and more strongly patterned upperparts. Found across much of Australia, less so in the southeast, in treeless open habitats. Spectacular song includes long sequences of trills and loud electrical phrases, very unlike Brown Songlark.

A long-tailed, boldly patterned nightjar with extensive gray markings on the upperparts, bold buff, black, and white markings, and a white throat. In flight, shows prominent white patches on outer wings and tail. Inhabits lowland forest, edge, scrub, and mangroves. Confined to Sulawesi and the Sula islands. Distinguished from the montane Diabolical Nightjar by its lowland habitat, paler plumage, extensive white in tail, and lack of a buff collar. Tail is longer than Savanna Nightjar’s. Gives a distinctive, explosive “tok-tok-toktrrtrr” call that speeds up, then decreases  in volume at the end.

This wee little grebe is dark gray overall with paler fluffy bum. The face is dark in breeding plumage; paler with a whitish throat in nonbreeding plumage. Also note piercing yellow eye and thin, sharply pointed bill. Compare with Pied-billed Grebe, which is larger, browner, and thicker-billed. Widespread throughout Middle and South America; very limited range in the U.S. Found in marshy ponds, often with extensive vegetation. Usually seen singly or in pairs, sometimes in small groups. Frequently dives underwater.