Bearded Guan

A rather long-tailed and long-winged bird with a short stubby head, similar in proportions to a small cuckooshrike. Plumage distinctively clean-cut in black and white, with mostly black upperside and white underside, broad white wing panels, and a white rump barred black. Belly often tinged with chestnut. Appears dependent on primary undisturbed forest. Often quiet, but voice reportedly includes a nasal “tchow-tchow-de-weet.”

Male unmistakable: golden-yellow with black wings and tail; female and immature greenish yellow overall with dusky wings and variable, fine dark streaking below; note powerful-looking reddish-pink bill in all plumages (dullest in immature). Favors deciduous and mixed woodland and parks, especially with tall leafy trees; can wind up in more open habitats on migration. Shy and difficult to see well, despite bright colors. Tends to remain well hidden in foliage, and flies quickly and easily over long distances. Listen for beautiful, fluid, musical song and rough, corvid-like calls.

Large, rather ungainly cuckoo; clambers about in the middle and upper levels of lowland forests and edges as it forages. Glossy green above, gray below and on head, with neon-orange skin around the eye, chestnut-orange belly and undertail coverts, greenish-yellow bill, and white-tipped green tail. Black-bellied Malkoha similar but paler overall, with a dark belly, and Green-billed Malkoha even paler, with dark red facial skin bordered in white. Gives multiple hollow-sounding notes, reminiscent of knocks on wood.