New Hanover Munia

A fairly small parrot of high elevation cloud forest. Green with mustard-brown crown, barred back and rump, and red in the base of the tail. Males have a yellow collar and females a barred chest. Visually distinctive races are sometimes treated as separate species. Western birds have a bluish throat, whereas eastern males have a brown cheek and blue chest, and females have a blue cheek. Similar to Brehm’s but Painted is smaller, with red rump in the east and green cheek in the west. Call, a nasal “coo-wee!” which can be given upslurred or downslurred.

A large, robust rusty lark with a short crest, hefty bill, and prominent rufous wing panel that is obvious in flight. Pairs are resident in open grassland and grassy savanna. It is most conspicuous when it perches up singing a sweet, simple song of 2-3 whistled notes such as “treee-treeloo”. The similar Red-winged Lark is larger than Sentinel Lark and less compact, with a longer tail and blackish patches on the sides of the neck.

Uncommon within restricted range of the Magdalena Valley of central Colombia, from around 200 to 1,000 m. Occurs in open woodlands. Males are dark steely-blue above and rich yellow below, with a yellow forecrown. Note entirely dark throat and dark underside of tail. Female is dull grayish olive above and yellow below. Note yellow forecrown on female. Could be confused with Orange-bellied Euphonia; male Orange-bellied has white underside of tail and females are grayer below.