Brown-backed Needletail

Elegant large trogon with a black tail tipped with white below, and lacking a crest. Has golden-tinged green upperparts and breast and bright red belly; bill is yellow. Female has a gray bill, gray-brown lower breast, and white barred undertail with white tips. No overlap with other quetzal species, and larger than other trogons in range. Fairly common in tall mature cloud forest, often alone or in pairs but sometimes in groups at fruiting trees. Perches at medium to high levels in the forest. Song is a loud and melancholic series of “WHOOOou hoo hoou”; call is similar to that of Barred Forest-Falcon.

This scarce thrush is found in forests of the subtropical zone from Venezuela to Bolivia, usually at elevations from 1,000–2,000 m. Males are dark black with a staring pale eye and orange bill and legs. Females are rich dark brown with a dark bill, no eyering, and some pale mottling on the belly. To separate from other similar thrushes, especially note the lack of an eyering on both sexes. Not frequently encountered. Males perch at the top of a tree when singing; listen for the squeaky and complex thrushlike song. Otherwise most likely to be seen at a fruiting tree within the forest.

Rusty above with pale brown underparts, a whitish throat, and a long spiky tail. Occurs on shrubby river islands favoring early successional vegetation. Song is an accelerating and descending series of “tew” notes, ending in a trill. The rather similar Rusty-backed Spinetail has buffy underparts, a less distinct eyebrow, and a different song, and occurs in seasonally flooded forests and gallery forests.