The birds of the Solomon Islands have received ample historical attention by explorers, collectors and researchers. Despite this, knowledge of the region's avifauna is categorised by BirdLife International as ‘poor’ and multiple new populations of birds have been found in recent years, highlighting our incomplete knowledge of the region's avifauna. Here, we present new information on the elevational occurrence, abundance and natural history for ten bird species we observed on Isabel Island. The data we present are based on three weeks of field work at three field sites that included the restricted montane forests above 1,000 m elevation on the Kubonitu-Sasari massif. In this poorly known montane area we observed multiple Island Leaf Warblers Phylloscopus maforensis for the first time since it was discovered on Isabel in 1927.

Although it is a common species, almost nothing is known concerning the breeding biology of Yellow-margined Flatbill Tolmomyias assimilis. We present the first formal description of the species' nest. It was found in an open area near Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, and was, like the nests of other Tolmomyias species whose nests have been described, a closed structure, suspended from a branch, with an entrance tunnel.

Solomons Nightjar Eurostopodus nigripennis, listed as Vulnerable by BirdLife International, has previously been recorded only from the north and central Solomon Islands. Even within the species' known range there are few records, limiting knowledge of its ecology. We provide photographic evidence of a Solomons Nightjar nest in a streambed on the island of Malaita at an altitude of c.270 m—the first record on this large island. This observation, combined with traditional local knowledge, suggests that the species may have a wider range of nesting habitat than previously documented, and that further surveys in collaboration with local tribespeople could be important for conservation efforts.

Observations on nesting Beautiful Long-tailed Sunbirds Cinnyris pulchellus in The Gambia revealed that some females have dark or partially dark bibs, contrary to most accounts in the literature. Furthermore, all fledglings seen in The Gambia also had dark bibs and some males in eclipse plumage or lacking tail-streamers engaged in breeding activity. The conclusion that some adult female C. pulchellus have dark bibs and that some, probably all, juveniles have dark bibs was confirmed from museum specimens. It is further demonstrated, based on specimens, that some adult females and juveniles of Gorgeous Sunbird C. melanogastrus also have dark bibs.

We report a documented record of a Great Frigatebird Fregata minor at Fernando de Noronha, 360 km off the coast of northeast Brazil in the equatorial Atlantic. We presume that the bird at Fernando de Noronha originated from Trindade Island, c.1,800 km to the south, since it is the species' nearest breeding site, and we hypothesise that it moved with the south-east trade winds towards the north-east Brazilian coast.

We present data pertaining to the nesting of 12 species of forest birds, based on opportunistic observations made between April and November 2018 in Humaitá Forest Reserve, Acre, in south-west Brazilian Amazonia. For some of these species, knowledge of their reproduction is still little known, e.g. Blue-tailed Emerald Chlorostilbon mellisugus, White-shouldered Antshrike Thamnophilus aethiops, Black-spotted Bare-eye Phlegopsis nigromaculata and Pink-throated Becard Pachyramphus minor. The data presented here help to fill gaps in the reproductive biology of these species in an ornithologically poorly known region.

Philippine taxa currently assigned to Blue-backed, Azure-rumped or Müller's Parrot Tanygnathus sumatranus are distinctive both morphologically (larger bill, red vs. pale yellow iris, royal blue vs. glossy turquoise-blue rump, paler green head and duller green underparts; and males having darker green mantles and no blue on the carpals and scapulars) and genetically (as distinct from Indonesian T. sumatranus as T. lucionensis is from T. megalorhynchos). We therefore propose T. everetti (with subspecies burbidgii and freeri; race duponti synonymised with nominate) to be elevated to species rank with the name Blue-backed Parrot, leaving Indonesian T. sumatranus (with subspecies sangirensis) as Azure-rumped Parrot. The taxonomic status of T. e. burbidgii (Sulu Islands) and T. s. sangirensis (Talaud Islands), both notably larger than their respective nominates, deserves study.

Hybrids between Green Junglefowl Gallus varius and domestic fowl G. gallus domesticus confused several 19th-century ornithologists. The plumage of these hybrids is so unlike the colours and patterns of either of the parent species that they were considered to be distinct species: G. aeneusTemminck, 1825; G. temminckiiGray, 1849; and G. violaceusKelsall, 1891. Darwin wanted to understand if G. aeneus and G. temminckii were hybrids or species, as part of his research on the origin of the domestic chicken. His view was that all domesticated fowl have a single wild ancestor, Red Junglefowl G. gallus (formerly G. bankiva). A hybrid specimen now present in the bird collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring played an important role in Darwin's reasoning and, although the conclusions he drew from this specimen were incorrect, his single-ancestor origin theory for domesticated fowl stands.

‘These hybrids were at one time thought to be specifically distinct, and were named G. aeneus. Mr. Blyth and others believe that the G. Temminckii is a similar hybrid' (Darwin 1868a: 234–235).