Gray-sided Bush Warbler
Cettia brunnifrons
Small brown bush warbler with a bright rufous crown, gray belly, and striking pale eyebrow. Frosty-pale throat contrasts with darker neck and breast. Paler gray upperparts, cleaner-looking white eyebrow, and smaller size distinguish this species from Chestnut-crowned Bush Warbler. Other brown bush warblers are smaller or duller, lacking the rufous crown. Gray-sided is generally fairly skulking, foraging in or on the ground in dense vegetation, but occasionally emerges out into the open, particularly to sing. Breeds in forest edges, clearings, and open shrubby areas in montane areas up to the treeline; winters in bushy edge areas in lower foothills. Song is a brief spurt of tinkling high-pitched notes followed by a buzzy whine. Call notes are high-pitched “tseep” and “tzzi” notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cettia brunnifrons
- Authority
- (Hodgson, 1845)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cettiidae
- Genus
- Cettia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Blue-capped Cordonbleu
Uraeginthus cyanocephalus
A slim, long-tailed, pretty waxbill. The upperparts are pale brown, the underparts and tail blue, and the bill pink. Males have an almost completely blue head, while females have a brown crown and back of the neck. Found in dry thorn savanna and thorn scrub, often in small flocks, sometimes with other waxbills, including other cordonbleus. In the areas of overlap, females are easily confused with Southern and Red-cheeked Cordonbleus, but separated by their brighter pinkish bill. The common call is a high-pitched “tzee-tzee.”
Black-breasted Gnateater
Conopophaga snethlageae
Small, chunky bird with a short tail endemic to the Brazilian Amazon. Male has black extending from face to chest and a bright white tuft. Female lacks those features and has a chestnut breast and a long, white line over the eye. Note its limited range south of the Amazon River and between the Tapajós and Tocatins Rivers, which helps separate it from Chestnut-belted Gnateater. Male Black-breasted has more extensive black on the underparts extending to the chest. Female looks almost identical. Stays low inside the rainforest, and usually seen sitting quietly on a low perch, where it may suggest a small antpitta. Song is a descending, stuttering trill; also gives abrupt buzzing and wheezing calls. Formerly treated as a subspecies group of Chestnut-belted Gnateater.
Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet
Phylloscartes ventralis
Small olive-yellow flycatcher with a long slender tail, which is often held cocked. Olive above and yellow below with a pale eyebrow, a white chin, and two pale wingbars. Found in montane forests including Araucaria forests, where it forages actively in the middle and upper layers of the forest often with mixed-species flocks. The song is short and high-pitched.
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