White-cheeked Nuthatch

A large hornbill of lowland and foothill forest. Body dark, with rufous thighs, chest, and neck, a whitish tail, a red casque, a long red bill, and a black face bordered behind with yellow. Females have a smaller casque, a paler eye, and no eye-ring. Southern birds have a yellow-tipped bill. Similar to the Writhed Hornbill, but Rufous lacks the black tip to the tail and has a rufous rather than black or pale head. Voice includes loud, downslurred nasal honking notes.

A large gray terrestrial bird with an elegantly frilly tail. Bright red face and upswept white facial plumes (“ears”) are unique in its range. Found in both subalpine and alpine areas, preferring open forests in the former and scrubby meadows in the latter. Forages in small groups for most of the year, pairing off during the breeding season. Hunted in much of its range, thus wary and found in remote areas, far from settlements.

Large antpitta with a tiny range in southeast Ecuador. Unmistakable. Typical antpitta shape: plump and short-tailed with long legs, like a grapefruit on stilts. Brown above and pale silvery-gray below with a black cap and thick white mustache patch. Rare and local on or near the ground in the upper subtropical zone from around 2,300 to 2,600 m; especially fond of bamboo patches. Essentially never seen away from the Tapichalaca Reserve in Ecuador, where several birds have been trained to eat worms.