Nicobar Jungle Flycatcher

Tiny, active songbird with distinctive black-and-white head pattern. Olive above, white below, with yellow wash on sides and rump and white wingbars; adult male’s vivid red-orange crest especially visible when raised. Inhabits montane coniferous forests and more open, scrubby areas with stunted bushes and evergreen growth. Feeds restlessly on small branches, frequently both gleaning and hovering. Song a somewhat strident series of high-pitched thin “tsi” notes; calls similar to song elements.

A plain hummingbird found in dry forest and scrub in southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It is dull green with light gray underparts, a white spot behind the eye, and a thick, slightly curved bill. Some birds show very faint spots on the throat. Similar to Spot-throated Hummingbird, but throat markings are much less conspicuous or entirely absent. Ranges are also different; Tumbes Hummingbird is found only on the Pacific side of the Andes and does not reach the Marañon drainage.

Nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Jameson’s Firefinch. Breeding males are glossy purplish-black, with a pale brownish panel in the wings, while females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown on the back and pale below, with a bold facial pattern. The bill is whitish and the legs very pale pink. Found in forest edge, cultivation, thick woodland, and scrub. Mimics the vocalizations of its host firefinches: a fast trill. Extremely similar to Variable Indigobird. In South Africa, separated by its pale pinkish legs. Elsewhere, breeding males probably slightly more glossy but only separated with certainty by hearing mimicked vocalizations of host species.