Black-headed Waxbill

Large shorebird with an enormous chunky beak, black-and-white-marked face, white stripes on the shoulder, and long and sturdy legs. Unlikely to be encountered anywhere except coastal areas, particularly beaches, reefs, and estuaries; very unusual even a few hundred meters inland from these habitats. Heavy human activity on beaches in certain areas has confined them to small offshore islands. Often calls at night, giving high-pitched piping and whistling notes.

Beautiful sparrow with gray upperparts, and black mask and crown separated by a white stripe. Similar to male Collared Warbling-Finch, but breast band is smaller, face stripe does not reach past the front of the eye, and tail lacks white. Inhabits the understory of dry and semi-humid forest. Vocalizations are generally high-pitched: song consists of a few wheezy whistles followed by a quicker trills; most common call is a simple “tink” note.

Slightly smaller version of the familiar cartoon Greater Roadrunner, but usually the two species do not occur in the same places. Favors dry brushy woodland and overgrown weedy fields in tropical lowlands and foothills. Can be very elusive, but at other times runs out in the road or sits quietly sunning itself on a fence post or bush top in the early morning. Note that the center of the throat and breast are plain rich buffy, without the dense dark streaking of Greater Roadrunner.