Bronzed Cowbird

Molothrus aeneus

Dark brown to matte black; males with iridescent bluish wings. Thick neck and heavy bill. Look for vampire-like staring red eye. Males have an incredible display where they puff out a mane of neck feathers and hover in a circle above the female. Found in a variety of open or semi-open areas, including pastures, forest edge, yards, and agricultural areas. Visits feeders. Often in flocks, sometimes with other blackbirds.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Molothrus aeneus
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Icteridae
Genus
Molothrus

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Rook

Rook

Corvus frugilegus

Large, glossy black crow. Adult is easily passed off as another crow species unless you see the diagnostic pale patch at the base of the bill. Juvenile lacks a pale bill base and is very similar to Carrion Crow, but bill is a little more tapered; pale bill base develops late in its first winter. Inhabits farmland and other semiopen areas with hedges and groups of tall trees, where nests in rookeries. Forages on ground, usually in flocks, and associates readily with crows and jackdaws. Rook calls are higher pitched and less rolling than other crow calls.

Rondonia Bushbird

Rondonia Bushbird

Clytoctantes atrogularis

Large antbird with a very distinctive, robust upturned bill. Males are all black and females are chestnut with a black throat patch. An apparently naturally rare inhabitant of the dense understory of humid forests, where it forages at lower levels, favoring areas with Lepidocaryum palms. The song is a series of musical whistles “tree-tree-tree,” repeated for long periods.

Galapagos Petrel

Galapagos Petrel

Pterodroma phaeopygia

Endangered seabird that nests only in Galápagos. Outside the breeding season, it disperses over the eastern Pacific and usually stays far from land. Note distinctive black-and-white pattern on underwing, mostly white underparts, and dark upperparts that extend down through its face to sides of neck; no other seabird found in and near Galápagos shares these features. When seen from above, it appears all dark except for some white around the base of the bill. Almost always encountered at sea, since it travels to and from its highland nesting sites only at night.

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