Oriental Hobby

Scarce tanager found only in wet lowland and foothill rainforest in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Fabulous male is unlike any other South American bird: he has glowing red plumage with white sides and slightly darker wings. Female is rather drab and confusing. She is best identified by her white sides that contrast slightly with her olive back, yellowish belly, and buffy breast. Forages in middle to upper levels of the forest, and sometimes joins mixed-species flocks.

A large, long-billed woodpecker with an olive back, a red rump, a bold facial pattern, and heavily marked underparts with a bright red central belly stripe. The crown and back of the head are black in the female and red in males. Forages alone or in pairs, preferring dead tree trunks where it can excavate for beetle larvae and other insects in lowland rainforest, gallery forest, and plantations. Calls include a sharp “kwip,” a series of similar notes, and a fast whinnying call. Also gives a distinctive drum that lasts about 2 seconds, beginning fast and then slowing. Similar to Bearded and Yellow-crested Woodpeckers, but there is very little overlap in range, and those species lack the red belly patch. 

A large and boldly-marked but secretive babbler of hilly and mountainous regions, where it sticks to dense shrubbery. Note white eyes, streaky brown plumage, and dark chestnut “moustache” stripes on each side of the throat. Pops into the open to sing, but timid and soon disappears back into the undergrowth.