Chestnut-faced Babbler

Male is slaty-blue with a white eyebrow, dark face, and orange underparts. Female is matte brown with buffy underparts; females in the Chin Hills have a slate-gray back. Furtive and skulky; male sings from deep cover, giving a series of sharp whistles devolving into a burst of trilling and chattering notes. Prefers dense, damp undergrowth in wet forests, often in proximity to streams and gullies.

Unobtrusive small bird of brushy woodland and forest understory in tropical lowlands, mainly in drier habitats. Usually seen as singles or pairs, low in weedy growth. Male blue-black overall; with good views, note the blue forehead, ‘jowls,’ and rump. Female in West Mexico gray-brown overall, in East Mexico rich brown overall. Similar female Varied Bunting has a smaller bill and different call note: a wet plik; Blue Bunting call is a high tsik in West Mexico, a metallic chink in East Mexico.

Large dark pigeon of forest interior. Overall purplish-gray, slightly darker and browner on wings. Pale eye. Sexes alike. Note plainer appearance and longer tail than many other doves and pigeons. Most similar to Ruddy Pigeon but plumage grayer (not reddish) and eye paler. Usually quite secretive, staying in the canopy where singles or pairs feed on fruits. Found from lowlands into subtropical zone, up to 2,300 m (7,500 ft). More often heard than seen; listen for the cooing “who-cooks-for-you” song with the last two notes drawn out.