Purplish Jay

Large and colorful tanager of Andean cloud forest in western Ecuador and western Colombia. Plumage is golden-yellow with a black head, blue wing patch, and yellow stripe on rear crown. Separated from the more common Blue-winged Mountain-tanager by yellow back, orange tinge to underparts, black chin, smaller crown stripe, and less blue in wing. Usually encountered in pairs or small groups that move through middle levels of the forest, often with mixed-species flocks. Visits feeders in some areas.

Slender and drab songbird of open country. Brownish above with heavy streaking below. Distinguished from similar-looking (unrelated) buntings by thin bill and lanky appearance with long legs. Walks on the ground with jerky motions and frequently bobs tail. Breeds in tundra, while in winter and during migration, found in cultivation, moist grassland, and wetlands. Flocks are often heard as they pass overhead or flush from a barren field; listen for sharp, high-pitched call notes and look for flashing white outer tail feathers.

A large pale waterbird with a hefty pinkish pouched bill marked with diagnostic dark spots on the upper mandible. The head is grizzled with a hint of a shaggy crest and the back of the neck is dark. Rings of bare skin around each eye that make this bird look like it's wearing glasses. In breeding plumage, the rump, sides, and underwing coverts are salmon pink and the breast ochre yellow. Often seen in large lakes and estuaries fishing in groups. Nests in noisy colonies in trees bleached by droppings.