White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant

Small green toucan with bluish ocular area and pale bluish-gray throat. Tail tip tinged blue; bill blackish with dark red (Venezuelan Coastal Cordillera) or yellow (Santa Marta and Andes region). Usually in pairs or small groups, moving or feeding in the canopy. Occurs in humid tropical forests in foothills and highlands. Song a repetitive, raspy croak. Distinguished from Emerald Toucanet and Crimson-rumped Toucanet mainly by green undertail coverts and rump and bluish tail tip.

Spectacular male shows diagnostic maroon sides to head and collar, iridescent metallic blue-green forehead and crown, blue shoulder, moss-green back, and yellow rump. Underside is uniform bright yellow in both sexes, although female is entirely olive above. Juvenile resembles female but with pale legs. Singles and pairs inhabit forest, shrubbery, and plantations in lowlands and lower hills, often joining mixed-species flocks. Female can be separated from female Black and Brown-throated Sunbirds by bright yellow underparts and lack of yellow eyebrow. Gives high-pitched “tzeeet” calls. Song is an undulating trill.

Small flycatcher, common and widespread from Costa Rica to Argentina. Plumage is nondescript (and quite variable across range), but note bushy crest, active behavior, short bill, and plain face. Singles, pairs, or small groups can be found in a variety of wooded habitats, from dry scrub to the edge of mature rainforest, but often prefers second growth. Voice varies across range, with different populations probably representing separate species. Northern birds give plaintive whistled “teew, teew, teew” notes. Southern birds can give much different descending sputtering trill in addition to plaintive whistles.