Green-striped Brushfinch

A fairly small parrot of high elevation cloud forest. Green with mustard-brown crown, barred back and rump, and red in the base of the tail. Males have a yellow collar and females a barred chest. Visually distinctive races are sometimes treated as separate species. Western birds have a bluish throat, whereas eastern males have a brown cheek and blue chest, and females have a blue cheek. Similar to Brehm’s but Painted is smaller, with red rump in the east and green cheek in the west. Call, a nasal “coo-wee!” which can be given upslurred or downslurred.

Breeding males are stunning with ornate, colorful patterns visible up close; appears dark overall at a distance. Females gray-brown with thin white eyering. Crest on head. Found in wetlands and flooded woods. Flies through trees with exceptional maneuverability, thanks to its long tail. Often shy and quick to flush. Call is a loud, screeching whistle.

A fruit-loving inhabitant of woodlands and gardens. Adult is yellow (often tinged green or orange), sports a black beard, and has very large white wing patches covering half of the otherwise black wing. Immatures look similar, but they have two broad white wingbars instead of a white patch. Immature male Orchard Oriole looks somewhat similar, but it is smaller and lacks the bold white wing markings seen on Jamaican Orioles. Songs include a rapid series of rich, whistled, and mostly down-slurred phrases and “cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat.”