St. Lucia Wren

Large antpitta with a tiny range in southeast Ecuador. Unmistakable. Typical antpitta shape: plump and short-tailed with long legs, like a grapefruit on stilts. Brown above and pale silvery-gray below with a black cap and thick white mustache patch. Rare and local on or near the ground in the upper subtropical zone from around 2,300 to 2,600 m; especially fond of bamboo patches. Essentially never seen away from the Tapichalaca Reserve in Ecuador, where several birds have been trained to eat worms.

Breeding birds show yellow cap, black triangle under eye, streaked back and reddish-brown sides. Looks remarkably different in fall with distinctive lime green above and gray below with bold white eyering. Breeds mainly in secondary forests, especially areas with large shrubs and young trees. Does well in disturbed habitats, particularly power line cuts and areas that have been logged. Forages for insects. Winters in Central America.

A medium-sized creeping bird of montane forest. Mainly a dull, gray-brown color with pale flecks on the flanks, a paler throat. Female has a rufous moustache stripe. The only treecreeper on New Guinea. Climbs up a trunk, then flies down to the base of another trunk. Sometimes followed by a fantail. The only other similar colored birds with this behaviour are the sittellas, which are distinctively smaller and most have a streaked back. Call, a level series of piping notes which increase in volume.