Red-and-black Thrush Geokichla mendeni

A striking, little-known thrush with a largely jet black body except for a carmine red back, rump, and nape and a large white smudge on the cheeks. Forages on the ground singly or in pairs inside lowland forest. Unmistakable in its restricted range on Peleng and Taliabu islands. Gives a typically complex song characteristic of thrushes, with fluty notes and whistles combined with burry phrases, repeated regularly. Call note is weak and barely audible: a very thin, high-pitched “seeep.”