Blue-crowned Laughingthrush

Stout heron with flashing white wings; can be mistaken for a egret in flight, but note darker head in all plumages. Handsome in breeding plumage, with creamy head, dark red breast, and lacy black plumes on the back. Streaky brown nonbreeding plumage is nearly indistinguishable from other pond-herons. Forages in rice paddies, pond and lake edges, and mangroves.

Slender oriole with a long tail and straight bill. Entirely black apart from the shoulders, which can be chestnut or yellow and the thighs, which can be yellow or black depending on the subspecies. Found at the edge of humid forests, in wooded savannas, and in urban parks and gardens. Builds a globe-shaped nest. In the nonbreeding season may accompany mixed-species flocks. The song is fast and variable including songs and calls of other birds.

Medium-sized Myiarchus flycatcher very similar to Ash-throated Flycatcher of western North America but slightly brighter overall, with bushier crest and browner face. Best identified by voice. Ash-throated is a winter migrant throughout much of Nutting’s range. One form of Nutting’s occurs in arid scrub and oak woods of lowlands and foothills; its commonest calls are a loud “wheek” and bickering “kwidik-kwidik.” A second form of Nutting’s (“Ridgway’s Flycatcher”) occurs in hedges and semiopen country in lowlands from Chiapas south to Central America; its commonest calls are “wh’beer” and “dee-dee-dee-dee.”