San Blas Jay

Medium-sized woodpecker, plain buffy-brown overall with black-and-white barring on the back. Head pattern varies across range but usually shows some combination of yellow and red. Most males on the Caribbean slope of Mexico and into Central America have a solidly red crown and nape. In flight, look for white rump. Common and conspicuous in open woodlands, deciduous forest, and arid scrub from Texas and Oklahoma south to Nicaragua. Often the default woodpecker close to human settlements. Visits backyards and feeders, especially for oranges and jelly. Hybridizes with Red-bellied Woodpecker at the northern limits of its range and with Hoffmann’s Woodpecker at the southern limits. Also compare with the smaller Yucatan Woodpecker.

Beautiful bird with an olive back, red throat and forehead, yellow belly, and black chest band. There is a rare morph in which the red is replaced with yellow. Found in the undergrowth of montane forest. Skulking bird that is most often located by voice: a perky “chuwit-chuwit-chuwit.” Range does not overlap with the similar Four-colored Bushshrike.

A plain, brownish, long-tailed flycatcher-like thrush. The tail is blackish with white corners. Found in the understory and at middle levels of humid forest. Perches upright and feeds like a flycatcher by snatching prey or catching it on the wing. Similar to White-tailed Ant-Thrush, but has a more upright posture and more flycatcher-like behavior, and is not usually found on the ground. The song is a slow, rising series of several mournful whistles. The call is a scolding series of several buzzing “kweee” notes.