Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush

Subtly marked sparrow with a poor name; "rufous wing" is restricted to a tiny, barely visible patch on the shoulder. Gray head and neck with peaked rufous crown and rufous eyeline. Stout pink bill. Sides are buff and unstreaked on adults. Back and wings are also buffy with fine markings. Paler throat is edged with thin dark lines. Primarily a Mexican species with very limited range in the U.S.; found in pairs or small flocks in brushy grasslands. Variable song usually composed of a few clear tinkling notes and trills.

Scarce and often rather local hawk of temperate rainforest and edge, adjacent open and semiopen areas. Looks similar to the Red-tailed Hawk of North America. Hunts from perches, less often in flight. Light morph has dark leading edge to underwing; adult has diagnostic rusty tail with narrow dark bars. Rare dark morph has dark body plumage, adult tail washed grayish; immature has broader, blunter wings than very similar dark-morph immature of Variable Hawk.

Medium-sized antbird of dense understory and riverside vegetation. Males are deep chestnut-brown, with black throat and white wing spots; females are lighter red-brown above, light tan below, with white wing spots as in male. Typically found in dense vegetation along rivers, particularly common in dense cane stands; sometimes also found away from water around forest edges and in tree fall gaps. Listen for an ascending series of high, whiny notes, decelerating then accelerating.