Beautiful Jay

Cyanolyca pulchra

Blue and gray jay with a black mask and white crown. It’s restricted to Andean cloud forest in northwestern Ecuador and western Colombia. Similar to both Turquoise and Black-collared Jays, but lacks the black breast band and has a dark gray back and breast. Noisy groups roam widely through the forest, giving a fun variety of strange calls, some of which sound like they came straight from an 80’s arcade game.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Cyanolyca pulchra
Authority
(Lawrence, 1876)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Corvidae
Genus
Cyanolyca

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Canary Islands Chaffinch

Canary Islands Chaffinch

Fringilla canariensis

Dapper little finch endemic to the Canarias, where it inhabits a range of habitats, from forests to farmlands. Handsome, brightly colored male has a blue-grayish cowl, pale orangish face and breast, and a black-and-white wing pattern (colors muted in winter). Female much drabber but shares male pattern; especially note the complex wing pattern. Both sexes have white outer tail feathers, often striking in flight such as when flushed. Song is a somewhat buzzy series of up-and-down notes; calls include a somewhat sparrow-like “dwee!”

Southern Cassowary

Southern Cassowary

Casuarius casuarius

Enormous flightless bird with dark glossy plumage and large, horn-like plate on colorful head with two red neck wattles. Unlikely to be confused with other species. Hatchlings are brown and strongly striped. Juvenile and Immature birds are similar to adults but browner and with an absent or developing head-plate. Found in dense tropical rainforest, where it can be seen crossing roads, or along roadsides.

Bluish-slate Antshrike

Bluish-slate Antshrike

Thamnomanes schistogynus

Medium-sized, fairly long-tailed antshrike of lowland rainforest. Perches upright in the under and midstory of mature rainforest, bamboo, and occasionally forest edges. The male is slaty gray overall while the more distinctive female has a red-orange belly. Often joins mixed-species flocks, where it typically forages slightly higher in vegetation than the similar Dusky-throated Antshrike. Males are best separated from other plain gray antshrikes by more upright posture, slightly longer tail, cleaner gray throat, and voice. Listen for a short series of rising whistles that accelerate into a trill.

Start Your Bird Watching Journey

Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.