Mountain Wren-Babbler
Gypsophila crassa
This small mouse-like undergrowth inhabitant can be difficult to spot in the tangled, well-shaded montane forest ravines, gullies, and streams it favors. Listen for its song, a series of high, distinct piping whistles: “hi-hee-hu-huh-hi” or variants thereof. Can be quite inquisitive, allowing close approach; look for a small chunky brown bird with elegant pale eyebrows, an overall brown body with strong streaking, and a contrasting pale throat. Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler overlaps marginally in range but averages lower in elevational preference; it also has white spots on the wings and a different song.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Gypsophila crassa
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1888)
- Order
- Not a bird
- Family
- Not a bird
- Genus
- Gypsophila
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds

Utcubamba Tapaculo
Scytalopus intermedius
Small, plain bird found at high elevations in the eastern Andes in northern Peru. Adult male is dark gray, often looking black in the field. Females and young birds are browner, especially on the lower underparts. Similar to Large-footed Tapaculo, but smaller and has a different voice. Gives low-pitched, froglike notes either in a steady series or in shorter, faster bursts. Inhabits understory of elfin cloud forest, often near tree line, and stays low where it is hard to see.

Waved Albatross
Phoebastria irrorata
Large and gangly seabird that nests only in Galápagos and on Isla de la Plata (a small island near Ecuador’s central coast). When not breeding, it disperses over the eastern Pacific Ocean as far south as Chile. The only albatross likely to be seen in and near Galápagos. Adult is brown with a white head and neck and a large, yellow bill. Head and neck have a slight yellow tinge. Young birds are almost all brown and gradually develop the white head. Can be seen on land only at nesting sites, where pairs engage in elaborate courtship displays. Outside of the breeding season, it is usually only encountered far out to sea.

Scaly Laughingthrush
Trochalopteron subunicolor
Dark golden-brown laughingthrush with extensive black-edged scaling all over its body. Wings are paler, brighter yellow, with slight blue-gray highlights toward the tip. Somewhat similar to Blue-winged Laughingthrush, but that species is browner, with a much broader blue wing panel and a narrow black eyebrow. Scaly Laughingthrush forages on the ground and in undergrowth, often in pairs.
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