Plain White-eye

A fairly large bird of forest canopy and more open wooded areas from the lowlands to low elevations in the mountains. Often seen on exposed snags. Pale gray from the back of the neck down the back to the rump and the sides. The rest of the underparts and wings are black. Head mostly covered with bare pink skin. Unmistakable. Voice includes a mixture of clicks, squeals, metallic warbling, and piping notes.

Tiny, plump gray-and-brown bird that looks almost tailless. Males are ashy gray with warm reddish brown on their back half; females are similar, with the warm reddish brown extending farther up the back to the crown. Forages singly or in pairs low in dense vegetation in stunted elfin forest and humid shrubby grassland at high elevations, at and above the treeline; often found in Polylepis groves. A bit less shy than most tapaculos, but still heard far more often than seen. Its song is a single squeaky “tcheur” note, repeated at a steady pace of about 1-2 notes per second in a long series.

A medium-sized woodpecker with spotted rather than streaked or barred underparts. The male has unmarked white cheeks and throat, and red moustachial streaks and crown, while the female has a distinctive brown throat, cheek, and eye-stripes. Pairs and small groups avoid drier scrub, preferring mature broadleaved woodland, foraging for ants, termites and their larvae, mostly on the ground. The similar Reichenow’s Woodpecker differs from Bennett’s Woodpecker by being smaller, having a diagnostic speckled throat and less bold facial pattern.