Dusky Tetraka

Dainty blue flycatcher with a habit of flicking and spreading its tail. Sky-blue male’s pale belly distinguishes him from male Nilgiri Flycatcher. Brown female has a gray head, an orange throat and chest, and a rufous tail; pale lores and dark irises give her a large-eyed appearance. Similar female Blue-throated Flycatcher lacks pale lores and instead has a paler orange chest, smaller bill, and weaker contrast between the head and back. White-bellied inhabits dense foothill forests, joining mixed-species flocks in the winter. Song is a high and quiet series of whistled and slurred notes, often given irregularly. Calls are hard rattling bursts of notes.

Woodstars are tiny hummingbirds that fly like bumblebees. Purple-throated is restricted to the west slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador, where it inhabits cloud forest, edges, and second growth from 800–2,000 m. Males have a glittering purple throat, white chest band, fairly long forked tail, and white patches on the sides of the rump. Unlikely to be confused within range. Females are trickier; note the orangey belly with a variable amount of smudgy white in the center (never as extensive as on female White-bellied Woodstar) and the thin whitish line that extends behind the eye and wraps around the neck (not as wide or buffy as on Little Woodstar). Often seen singly feeding in the canopy; visits feeders.

Rather large, blue-and-gray jay of highland pine and pine-oak forest endemic to highlands of central Mexico; occurs in transvolcanic belt from Volcánes de Colima in the west to Volcán Orizaba in the east. Typically travels in wide-ranging flocks of 5–25 birds, mainly at middle to upper levels in trees. Appreciably larger and broader-winged than Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, with plainer plumage (lacks dark mask, whitish eyebrow, and partial dark collar of Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay). Noisy calls carry well.