Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch

Tiny finch with a very limited range in Costa Rica and Panama. Male has typical euphonia plumage: dark steely-blue upperparts with yellow belly and crown and dark throat. Namesake spots on rear end of crown can be very difficult to see in the field. But note yellow is mostly restricted to front half of crown, whereas Yellow-crowned Euphonia has more extensive yellow crown. Scrub Euphonia is very similar, but ranges do not overlap. Female Spot-crowned is actually more distinctive than male; no other euphonia in range has rufous belly and forecrown. Found in pairs or small groups at all levels of lowland forest and edge, up to around 1,300 m.

Large, lanky blackbird with rounded crown and long tail. Males have ridiculously long tails, almost as long as their body, often held in a V-shape like the keel of boat. Males are glossy black. Females are brown, with subtle face pattern. Eye color ranges from brown along western Gulf Coast to yellow on Atlantic Coast. Strictly coastal, except in Florida where they occur inland (often around human development). Overlaps with similar Great-tailed Grackle on Texas coast, but occurs more strictly in coastal saltmarshes and has dark eye (not pale).

Small rufous-brown scops-owl with bright yellow eyes and a whitish “X” on the face. Endemic to the island of Enggano, where it is the only resident scops-owl; migrating Oriental Scops-Owl may stop over on the island, but are readily distinguished by their larger size, more well-defined facial disc, and lack of prominent white facial markings. Inhabits forest and forest edge. Gives a series of deep, throaty, and somewhat frog-like “ghwerr”s.