Shelley's Starling

Large, plain montane cisticola. The most outstanding aspects of the plumage are a reddish cap and two bands across the tip of the tail, one pale and one black. Found in open montane habitats with thick herbaceous undergrowth, including forest edge, grassland, and heath. Almost always in pairs or small groups. The distinctive song is given in chorus: a frantic up-and-down series of scratchy notes. As with other cisticolas, habitat and vocalizations are important to identification. Fairly similar to Singing Cisticola, but lacks a rufous panel in the wings.

A large woodpecker of wooded habitats on Palawan and neighboring islands. Whitish below with dark scaling and golden-olive above with a diffuse reddish mark on the back and a finely spotted, pale cream-colored throat. Angular crest is black with a red tip in females and entirely red in males, which also have a small red moustache patch. Similar to Red-headed Flameback, but Spot-throated has black-and-white stripes on the head and a dark rather than pale yellow bill. Voice includes a loud, stuttering, staccato “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki!” trailing off at the end.

Large black and white cormorant with a long ivory-colored bill. Note black "trousers" that help distinguish it from Little Pied Cormorant, which also has a shorter yellow bill. Common in marine environments, but also on inland waterways and large dams.