Thick-billed Kingbird

Rather drab but distinctive little bird: note slender, thrush-like bill (not stout, like superficially similar sparrows), blue-gray head sides, streaked back. Usually seen as singles or pairs, hopping on lawns or paths with distinctive shuffling gait. Found in a variety of open scrubby and wooded habitats, from low bleak heathland to parks, gardens, and farmland with hedges. Undistinguished, slightly tinny, rambling song has an even, warbled cadence; distinctive when learned. A Eurasian native, introduced to New Zealand and a few surrounding islands.

Medium-sized, grass-green toucan of humid tropical forest in foothills and highlands; also very locally in lowlands. Usually in pairs or small groups, moving through the canopy or feeding at fruiting trees. Nothing similar in its range. Note the rusty tail tips, best seen from below. Pattern of black and yellow on bill varies from region to region.

Unique, medium-sized antbird with a spectacular heavy and markedly upturned bill. Male is slate gray with a black throat, breast, and tail, and black dotted wings. Female is chestnut with a darker tail and buffy spotted wings. Rare, local, and hard to see, typically skulking in the dark understory of second growth and mature forest in foothills, often in areas with dense bamboo. Best found by voice; song a series of short notes accelerating “deeu-deee-dee-dee-eet-et.”