Sclerurus is a genus of morphologically uniform, strict understorey, leaf litter specialists. We present the first description of the nest and eggs of Ceará Leaftosser S. cearensis from north-east Brazil and review breeding data for the genus. Based on three nests, the nest of S. cearensis was classified as cavity/with-tunnel/low cup, the type typical of the genus. The nests were excavated in banks at a mean height of 1.48 ± 0.22 m above ground. Tunnels measured 50.83 ± 4.25 cm and terminated in an expanded, globular chamber where a small cup of sticks harbours the two white eggs. Eggs at one nest measured 25.7 × 19.8 mm and 24.3 × 19.6 mm, and weighed 5.1 g and 4.5 g, respectively. Available breeding data for the genus Sclerurus are remarkably uniform in all aspects and match our observations of Ceará Leaftosser.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto was widely considered to be the wild ancestor of the domesticated Barbary Dove (domestic S. risoria), and even following its recognition as a species its taxonomic status was a source of confusion. Since 1900, and the species' massive geographic expansion (both naturally and by introduction) the two taxa have occasionally met. The resultant hybridisation is probably the cause of the large number of Eurasian Collared Doves with the aberrant pale colour of Barbary Doves in areas where hybridisation has occurred.

The status of three Sternula terns in southern and eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean is updated based on observations in Mozambique during October 2009–August 2021. Damara Tern S. balaenarum and Saunders's Tern S. saundersi, both new to Mozambique, were found at the San Sebastian Peninsula in August 2018 and have been recorded regularly since. Damara Tern arrived in May, numbers were lower June–July, with a peak of 100+ in August–October. Breeding plumage was assumed by late October and all departed in early November; those aged were all adults. Observations of ringed birds suggested they originated from colonies in South Africa. Numbers of Damara Tern reached the Key Biodiversity Area designation threshold population for the site in 2020. These are the first records of large numbers of Damara Tern in the Indian Ocean, whilst timings suggest the species is partly transient at the site and may also occur further north. Saunders's Tern was recorded at San Sebastian in all months except March and April, with 5–80 regularly present, and peak numbers perhaps in October–December. Birds were observed in a range of plumages in all months, from non-breeding, transitional to full breeding. Courtship feeding was observed in September–November suggesting at least some attempt to breed locally, although disturbance is high. Birds in non-breeding plumage may stem from Northern Hemisphere breeding localities. Little Tern S. albifrons was a numerous migrant in southern Mozambique in October–May, peaking in April when large numbers were observed during pelagic trips to the continental shelf edge, and at onshore roost sites including San Sebastian. Smaller numbers fed in coastal lagoons and freshwater lakes. Three Little Terns had been colour-ringed in Israel.

The genus Sphenopsis P. L. Sclater, 1861, has recently been restored to recognise the genetic monophyly of four Neotropical tanager species, formerly placed in the genus Hemispingus Cabanis, 1851, which are little known and poorly represented in museum collections: Oleaginous Hemispingus Sphenopsis frontalis (von Tschudi, 1844), Black-eared Hemispingus S. melanotis (P. L. Sclater, 1855), Western Hemispingus S. ochracea (von Berlepsch & Taczanowski, 1884) and Piura Hemispingus S. piurae (Chapman, 1923). Only ten study skins of S. ochracea are known in collections; prior to this study, just seven were known and no collection had adults of both sexes. The paucity of specimens has caused a considerable amount of confusion about the morphology of S. ochracea, both in published literature and private discussions among ornithologists. To review species limits, I assembled and photographed a comprehensive sample of study skins of Sphenopsis species, including S. ochracea study skins of both sexes, under a single light source, and compared plumage characters to published colour standards. I also quantified and analysed morphometric variation. These data expose multiple errors in published literature and scientific illustrations, and support recognition of S. ochracea and S. piurae at species rank.

We clarify the breeding status of Great Frigatebird Fregata minor in Chile, and describe the discovery of a new breeding colony at the Islas Desventuradas, which becomes the species' south-easternmost outpost in the Pacific. However, recent suggestions that it breeds on Rapa Nui appear to be unconfirmed, and there are no records at all for the Juan Fernández archipelago. Based on currently available data, in Chile the species breeds in August–September and December–January, with some minor fluctuations in egg laying. Based on published and unpublished accounts, we estimate c.200–300 breeding pairs in Chile, with the largest population and main breeding site at Isla Salas y Gómez, and a small population far to the east on Islote González in the Islas Desventuradas.

We present the first report of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus in Brazil, an individual at Araruama, Rio de Janeiro state, in late November 2021 until at least early April 2022, and discuss hypotheses to explain its appearance so far from the species' normal distribution. We believe that it was either an escapee from a captivity or a genuine vagrant that reached Brazil due to bad weather. We also reviewed earlier reports of this species in the Americas on citizen science databases, all of which pertained either to misidentifications, a single escaped individual, or taxonomic misclassification. Given the species' ability to make long-distance movements, including over-water dispersal, we contend that the P. roseus in Brazil was the first record for South America and the first wild bird in the Americas.

Based on a detailed analysis of the external appearance of redpoll Acanthis skins, Knox (1993) explicitly accused the collector Richard Meinertzhagen of having stolen specimens from the Natural History Museum bird skin collection and re-labelling them. Here, I test Knox's results using independent evidence of the internal appearance of the specimens in question derived from radiography. Radiographic evidence strongly supported Knox's overall conclusion of fraud by Meinertzhagen but revealed limitations inherent in his attempt to determine the collection history of bird skins using external appearance alone. Although results in such investigations are inherently likely to be probabilistic rather than certain, a multi-factorial approach, taking a wide array of evidence into account, is most likely to engender confidence in the outcome.

Borneo is part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, yet this large tropical island still harbours much unrecognised biodiversity. In this integrative study, we combine the results from phylogenomic, bioacoustic, biometric and morphological analyses, and show that the Sundaic species Dark-throated Oriole Oriolus xanthonotus comprises two species-level taxa, both of which occur on Borneo. The eastern species, here re-named Ventriloquial Oriole O. consobrinus, is characterised by plumage distinctions, most notably a more male-like coloration in females, and a characteristic ventriloquial song unique among the region's orioles. The precise contact zone of the two species on Borneo is incompletely mapped. Their populations on Borneo show pronounced character displacement whereby individuals of O. xanthonotus on other landmasses are significantly larger than Bornean individuals, presumably to prevent non-adaptive hybridisation with the larger Ventriloquial Oriole along their Bornean contact zone.