Cuzco Warbler

A large, heavy-billed dark purple bird with a conspicuous orange bill and feet. Bold pale wing markings visible in flight. Juvenile is sooty-colored with a dark, pale-based bill and smaller wing patches. Singles or pairs perch high within clearings and gaps in forested lowlands and low hills, often utilizing emergent dead branches. Distinguished from Dollarbird by its uniform dark coloration, lacking green iridescence, and its brighter, more contrasting orange bill and feet. Call is a harsh, grating “geek,” given singly or in a rapid combination that descends into a chuckle.

Small honeyeater of open forest, heathland, and coastal areas of northern Cape York. Black above, paler with dark streaking below, with small grayish cheek patch, yellow spot behind the eye, messy white throat feathers, and large yellow wing panels. Blackish bill with bluish base.

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.