Humaita Antbird

A robust, chocolate-backed forest skulker with clean-cut pale underparts washed gray, and a distinctive white throat and outer tail tips. Singles and pairs are shy and inconspicuous residents in the dense under-story of mid-altitude forest, between 700–1900m. May follow army-ant swarms, where it loses its fear of humans. Calls a loud downslurred quavering “tiiyuuu” and harsh chitter in alarm. Similar White-chested Alethe differs from Cholo by having gray (not brown) face and rufous tail lacking white.

Large raptor with broad wings and short tail. Fairly common and widespread in South America, from high elevations in the Andes of Colombia to the lowlands in Tierra del Fuego. Adults have a dark gray head and breast contrasting with a white belly. Wings are silvery-gray from above; from below, the coverts are white contrasting with dark flight feathers. Note the shape in flight with bulging secondaries, tapered wingtips, and a very short tail. Young birds are brown and streaky, tricky to distinguish from Variable Hawk. Look for bulkier shape and shorter, more graduated tail.

A little rufous songbird with a long broad tail, often held cocked and habitually fanned. Rufous above with a darker pale-tipped tail. Head is brown with two prominent white markings near the eye; conspicuous white throat is bordered with bold black streaking below. Belly pale and unstreaked. Confined to foothill and montane forests on Seram, where pairs and singles often accompany mixed-species flocks. Unmistakable, as it is the only brown-backed fantail on Seram. Song is a sequence of high-pitched, squeaky descending whistles. Also gives a short, sharp buzzing “zjit” call note.