Sharp-tailed Starling

Beautiful parrot found in Andean cloud forest in western Ecuador and western Colombia. Green with golden breast and neck, and a red face bordered with black. Nothing similar occurs in range. Most often encountered flying rapidly overhead in small flocks that give piercing shrieks. Feeds on fruiting trees, usually high in the canopy, but sometimes descends lower where there is abundant food.

Gangly wader with a long bicolored bill. Breeding plumage is dark brick-red below (male) or pale orangey (female); nonbreeding plumage is overall gray-brown with white belly; compare to Black-tailed Godwit. In flight shows rather plain upperwings with only a faint whitish wing stripe; white rump and finely barred tail. Mainly coastal away from tundra breeding grounds. Often in flocks feeding on mudflats and in brackish coastal lagoons, roosting in adjacent freshwater habitats. Feeds by probing its long bill into the mud.

Round-headed diving duck. Males have black breast, medium gray back, white sides, and yellow eye. Head appears black with a greenish sheen in good lighting, never purplish. Females are brown overall, grayer on body in winter, with white patch at base of bill and yellow eye. Very similar to Lesser Scaup; note smoothly rounded head without tall peak, puffier cheeks, more extensive white stripe on wing in flight, and larger, broader bill. Can be similar to immature male and female Tufted Duck, but note smoothly rounded head and more extensive white bill base patch in females. Often in flocks with other Aythya ducks. Tends to prefer saltwater bays and coves, but also found in freshwater.