Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher

Todirostrum nigriceps

Tiny bird that tends to stay high in canopy; difficult to spot. Mostly black head with white throat, yellow belly, and olive back. Proportionally large head, broad bill, and short tail. Very similar to Common Tody-Flycatcher, but typically found in taller forest. Also note dark eye and white throat. Listen for series of chip notes that could easily be passed off as an insect.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Todirostrum nigriceps
Authority
Sclater, PL, 1855
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Tyrannidae
Genus
Todirostrum

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Red-legged Seriema

Red-legged Seriema

Cariama cristata

Unmistakable large terrestrial raptorial bird. Sandy-colored overall with very long red legs, a long tail, and tufty crest in front of the eyes. Note the strong red bill and large pale eyes with blue eyerings. Strides elegantly through open and lightly wooded savannas but also perches on the top of trees. Usually sings at dawn, an evocative and incredibly loud “kuap-kuap-kuap-kuap” often delivered as a duet for extended periods.

Alpine Thrush

Alpine Thrush

Zoothera mollissima

Chocolate-brown thrush with finely scaled white underparts. Very similar to Himalayan and Sichuan Thrushes, with which it was once considered a single species. Alpine is shorter-billed than the other two species, with a darker brown forehead than Sichuan Thrush; averages longer-legged and longer-winged than Himalayan Thrush. Long-tailed Thrush can also be similar, but lacks Alpine’s intense throat and chest speckling, and has thin but prominent pale wingbars. Alpine Thrush breeds in open rocky alpine areas with scattered shrubbery between 3000 and 4500 meters of elevation, though it descends lower into the foothills during winter. Song is simple but not altogether unmusical, consisting of fluid warbling notes and squeaky grating ones. 

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Picus xanthopygaeus

Lime-green woodpecker with a gray face and finely scaled underparts. Crown is blood red in males and black in females. Streak-breasted Woodpecker is extremely similar, but has pale eyes, denser streaking, and a thinner pale moustache stripe. Laced Woodpecker is also similarly colored, but has less streaking on the underparts and a warm yellowish suffusion to the green on the neck. Compare streaked underparts with clean throat and breast of Scaly-bellied Woodpecker. Streak-throated inhabits open forest from lowlands up into the foothills, usually in drier areas.

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