Banggai Cicadabird

Medium-sized plover with a long hefty bill. Breeding adults have a dark mask and orangish chest, neck, and forehead; females duller than males. Non-breeding birds and immatures are sandy brown above and white below, with a white throat and “eyebrows.” Often confused with Lesser Sand-Plover, and best distinguished when both present; look for larger size, heavier and longer bill, paler legs, and larger-headed appearance. Additionally, unlike some Lesser Sand-Plovers, Greater never has a black boundary around the throat. Breeds in high-elevation areas, where it favors arid, open habitats, sometimes near water. Winters on coastal mudflats and estuaries.

Large, boisterous, striking tanager unlikely to be mistaken. Mostly dark blackish, but look for satin-red throat and iridescent steely-bluish wings. Most distinctive is the namesake white cap that shines like sunlit snow. Sexes similar; females and immatures have slightly duller throat. Never common; found in small flocks that move quickly through the canopy of the subtropical and temperate zones in the Andes, sometimes perching conspicuously. Behavior and voice recall a jay and they sound quite similar especially at a distance. Sometimes travels with flocks of Turquoise Jays.

A shy but loud bird of forests and forest edges that usually stays within cover. Shaped like a greenbul, but has a thicker, more robust bill. Shows grayish underparts, greenish upperparts, yellow spots on the tips of the flight feathers and upperwing coverts, a yellow throat, and yellow lores. Similar to the larger Western Nicator, but note Yellow-throated’s smaller size, yellow throat and lores, and distinctive song, which often betrays its presence: a sputtering series of notes that can be surprisingly resonant and loud, a “p-p-p-po-keer-ko-wheeeer-pop” and other variations. Call is a growling trill, “prrrrrr.”