Bates's Swift

Active little bird of shrubbery, hedges, and gardens, mainly in the Andes, but down to coast in northern Chile and Peru. Usually in pairs or family groups and not with mixed-species flocks. Feeds low to high at fruit and flowers, rarely staying still long and often hidden in foliage. Grayish overall with variable buffy wash to underparts. Best identified by white eyebrow, sharply pointed bill, and small white wing flash; no other species in range looks very similar.

Medium-sized warbler with green upperparts, yellow underparts, a bright yellow eyering, and a gray crown bound by two black stripes. Extremely similar to several closely related species; luckily, range prevents much confusion throughout these species’ natural ranges. Primary confusion species is Whistler’s Warbler, from which it may be distinguished visually, albeit with significant difficulty. In Green-crowned, note weak break at rear of eye-ring (while the eyering of Whistler’s is thickest at the back end), longer and more slender bill, shorter tail, more solidly black crown stripes, and slightly brighter green upperparts. As with many physically similar species, using a combination of these field marks is preferable in identification. Active, frequently flitting about in the lower levels of forest, sometimes associating with foraging flocks. Breeds in both evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forest in hilly and montane areas; moves to lowland areas in the winter. Averages lower than Whistler’s Warbler in altitudinal breeding preference, and overlap is fairly minimal. Song is a strung-together series of ringing “witchy-witchy-witchy” or “tzewee-tzewee-tzewee” phrases, and unlike song of Whistler’s, includes jumbled trilling segments. Call is a short, succinct “wit wit!”.

A small, brightly colored inhabitant of thickets in woodlands and scrub. Feeds actively, snatching insects from leaves and twigs. It is passingly similar to the Northern Parula, but the parula has yellow-green on its back and the yellow below does not extend onto the belly as it does on Adelaide’s. Its song is series of rapidly given sweet notes that accelerate as the song progresses before sometimes slowing again towards the end. Call is a sweet “chick” with a slight squeaky quality.