White-throated Blue Swallow

Adorable inhabitant of subalpine coniferous and mixed forests. Plain white face, extended black cap, and orange underparts are distinctive within its range. Mainly forages along trunks but can often be seen perched out on an exposed branch or treetop. Usually found in pairs or small groups. Follows other species in mixed species feeding flocks. Gives long extended bleats and single crisp notes.

A small green dove with a diagnostic burgundy breast patch, a gray head, a pale gray shoulder patch, and spots on the wings. Some females lack the unique vinous breast patch. Duller juveniles show some yellow fringing on the wings. Typically found singly or in pairs in lowland and hill forest as well as in plantations and some wooded patches. Gray shoulder patch and wing spots of female separates her from female White-breasted Fruit-Dove. Cooing song varies geographically; on mainland New Guinea it is a two-noted “coop-coOW.”

Rare tanager restricted to very wet forest along the base of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Both sexes are deep blue with a brilliant yellow patch on both the breast and the lower underparts. Usually seen in middle to upper forest levels, and it tends to perch more vertically than other tanagers. It does not typically associate with mixed-species flocks.