Yellow-billed Cardinal

A unique dumpy green flycatcher-like broadbill with a buffy crown, a black eye-stripe, and a powder-blue throat and vent. Juvenile duller. A scarce resident found singly and in pairs in the lower canopy and at middle levels of primary Albertine Rift Forest between 1760 and 2500 meters of elevation, preferring the edges of clearings. Highly localized, occurring in two isolated populations in Bwindi (Uganda) and Itombwe/Kahuzi (Democratic Republic of Congo), and inexplicably absent from ideal intervening habitat. May join flocks, but inconspicuous unless calling its soft high-pitched tinny “tsit-tsit,” repeated multiple times, and a rapid “tseet-tsit-tsit-sit-sit-it-it” in flight. 

Slender shorebird known for spinning frantically on water to stir up small invertebrates. Note needle-thin bill, longer and thinner than other phalaropes. Breeding females are brighter and more contrasting than males: note gray cap, peachy-orange neck with broad black stripe, and gray-and-rufous back. Males are duller with plainer grayish-brown upperparts and a less distinct dark neck stripe. Nonbreeding birds are very pale gray above and white below with a rather plain face and yellowish legs. Juveniles show crisp buffy edges on wing feathers. Prefers shallow ponds, marshes, and lakes, sometimes in large flocks. Can mix with Red-necked Phalarope; Wilson’s is larger, lankier, and longer-billed. Feeds frantically, more often on land than other phalaropes. Never on the open ocean. Most common in western North America; uncommon to rare in the east. Winters as far south as Tierra del Fuego.

Plump chickenlike bird found in grasslands. Body and wings entirely barred brown with paler buffy throat. In spring, males gather at display site and perform dance to attract females: look for them hunched over with ear-like feathers protruding from atop head and darker reddish-orange skin exposed on the neck. Inconspicuous and difficult to find away from display sites. Very similar to Greater Prairie-Chicken but no range overlap. Averages slightly paler and smaller than Greater.