Gray-collared Becard
Pachyramphus major
Scarce bird of tropical forest and woodland, from lowlands to highlands. Usually seen as singles or pairs at middle to upper levels, especially at fruiting trees; often travels with mixed-species feeding flocks of tanagers, orioles, warblers, etc. Tends to perch rather upright and quietly, easily overlooked. Male striking: gray, black, and white; no similar species in Mexico. Female is smaller than female Rose-throated Becard, with short pale eyebrow, contrasting wing and tail patterns (note graduated tail feathers). West Mexican female has rusty cap; elsewhere cap is blackish.
Identification
Scarce bird of tropical forest and woodland, from lowlands to highlands. Usually seen as singles or pairs at middle to upper levels, especially at fruiting trees; often travels with mixed-species feeding flocks of tanagers, orioles, warblers, etc. Tends to perch rather upright and quietly, easily overlooked. Male striking: gray, black, and white; no similar species in Mexico. Female is smaller than female Rose-throated Becard, with short pale eyebrow, contrasting wing and tail patterns (note graduated tail feathers). West Mexican female has rusty cap; elsewhere cap is blackish.
Taxonomy
Genus: Pachyramphus; Family: Tityridae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Pachyramphus major
- Authority
- (Cabanis, 1847)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tityridae
- Genus
- Pachyramphus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
Migration pattern: Vertical migration.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Banded Kestrel
Falco zoniventris
Atypical kestrel that is marked more like a small hawk, with a gray back and a barred belly. Uncommon to rare Madagascar endemic that is found patchily across the island in and adjacent to forest. Absent from most of the east and center of the island. Sits motionless on prominent perches for long periods. Flights are short, low, and infrequent. Call is a quick rolling “tr-r-r-r.” Larger and chunkier than Madagascar Kestrel, gray rather than rufous, and with broad bars on the belly. Separated from sparrowhawks by big-headed kestrel shape and upright posture.
Cinnamon Ground Dove
Gallicolumba rufigula
A medium-sized ground dove of lowland and foothill forest. Reddish back and wings interspersed with pale blue-gray, diagonal bars. White from throat to belly, edged with black and a messy yellow-orange smudge in the center of the chest. Bobs its head as it walks actively on the ground foraging for seeds and sometimes invertebrates, including worms. Flutters wings when alarmed. Pale, diagonal bars in the wing differentiate it from any other ground-dove. Call, a deep, warbling trill, getting lower and softer at the end.
Cauca Guan
Penelope perspicax
Large, turkeylike bird found only in western and southwestern Colombia, mostly in the Cauca Valley. Distinguished from Andean Guan by bright cinnamon (not brown) wings and tail and much larger skin patch on throat; it is also typically found at lower elevations. Also similar to Crested Guan (limited overlap), but wings are brighter cinnamon. Cauca Guan inhabits cloud forest and usually stays up in the trees, but occasionally feeds on the ground. It is rare in most of its range, but is easy to see in certain protected areas such as the Otún Quimbaya Sanctuary.
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