Desert Cisticola

Large antpitta of the temperate zone in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Typical antpitta shape: plump with short tail and long legs. Size alone helps separate from most other antpittas, as does boldly scalloped underparts. Often occurs at higher elevations than other antpittas of similar size such as Giant and Great, but plenty of overlap; note Undulated’s slaty gray (not brown) back and dark mustache stripe. Like most antpittas, very difficult to see; occasionally hops along a forest trail, especially in the morning and evening. Listen for its fast, hollow-sounding triling song.

A bulbul-sized olive-brown bird that sports a diagnostic all-red bill and a red eye surrounded by a fleshy yellow wattle. The juvenile lacks the bright bill and eye coloration. Small groups occur in savanna and farmland, where they require large wild ungulates and domestic stock to forage on; they clamber agilely over host mammals, gleaning ticks, mites, and other ectoparasites, and occasionally drinking host blood. As they fly between large mammals, they give a distinctive “tsik-tsik” call. The similar Yellow-billed Oxpecker differs from Red-billed Oxpecker by having a yellow bill base and pale rump and lacking an eye-wattle.

A small, dull babbler with a short tail. Brown with a gray head and pale underparts. Dark gray crown, faintly streaked breast, and brighter buffy wash on the flanks eliminate similar-looking Abbott’s Babbler. Similarly drab White-chested and Sooty-capped babblers have longer tails and bills. Found in lowland and foothill forests. Typical song is a sharp chip followed by a whistled note or two: “chi puh-weee!”; Javan birds add a longer, ascending whistle to the end.