Worstbird

Enormous gray and white raptor that soars with wings held in strong V-shape. In flight note black and white underwing pattern, short tail. Juvenile is much browner and can be confused with Wedge-tailed Eagle, but note mostly pale and fairly short tail. Predominantly found along coastlines, as well as estuaries and inland waterways.

Medium-sized shorebird. Gray above and white below, with fine white speckling on wings and bold white spectacles. Note dark underwing and dark rump in flight. Smaller and shorter-legged than Lesser Yellowlegs, with duller greenish legs. Often alone, but multiple individuals may gather loosely in appropriate habitat. Tips body like Spotted Sandpiper, but less constantly and not as quick and dramatic. Breeds around ponds and marshes in the boreal forest; uses old songbird nests in trees, unlike most other shorebirds. In migration and winter, mostly seen on small bodies of water like muddy ponds, lake edges, and slow-moving streams. Extensive winter range throughout Central and South America. Listen for piercing, high-pitched “tsee-weet!” call.

A Collared-type kingfisher found on a broad band of islands northeast of New Guinea, ranging from the Bismarck Archipelago east to Guadalcanal in the Solomons. Varies across range; note blue-green upperparts, pale collar, slender dark mask, and bicolored bill. Compare with Sacred Kingfisher; Melanesian averages darker and bluer above. Inhabits a range of island habitats, often in coastal regions but also well inland, especially in areas without other kingfishers. Listen for loud, harsh, far-carrying calls.

Very small, short-billed hummingbird of humid evergreen and pine-evergreen forest in highlands and upper foothills; uncommon. Usually feeds low, often at banks of flowers along edges and roadsides. Feeding flight is usually quick and hard to follow. Best identified by small size, big white spot behind eye, and rather liquid twittering call (similar to Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, which occurs in the same areas but looks quite different).

A small, plain crombec of forest edges. Like most crombecs, it is a small, compact passerine with a short tail, not much longer than the wingtips, and a fairly long bill. Often seen foraging in leaves and twigs. Rather uniform in color, being olive-green above and yellow-green below with a grayish throat. Song is a distinctive, piercing “suweet suweet suweet suweet suweet!” that varies in length.