Northern Hawk-Cuckoo

A short-tailed understory robin with a bright yellow-orange throat. Also shows a dark-green back, buff belly, and a white spot in front of the eye. Most often encountered by its song: a duet, in which the male gives high-pitched whistles and the female makes an accompanying chatter. Similar to Orange-breasted Forest Robin (potentially very limited overlap in range), but underparts more extensively yellowish-orange. Otherwise most likely to be confused with Lowland Akalat, but can always be distinguished by the white spot in front of the eye, as well as the dark-green rather than rufous-brown back, and the buff rather than white belly.

Large green parakeet, locally distributed in high-elevation forests near treeline. The thin yellow stripe extending behind the eye is distinctive, but can be difficult to see. Has less red in the head than other large parakeets in range; also note the yellow feathering on the belly. Found in high-quality forest with Podocarpus trees for feeding and wax palms for nesting. Note also its distinctive voice, lower-pitched and less harsh than other parakeets.

Very small grayish-brown flycatcher, with brighter orangey color on the face and forehead. Occurs in dry areas and pastures with scattered trees and bushes where it mostly forages near the ground and is typically difficult to spot. It is very noisy, emitting squeaky “plee-plit-irick” calls, sometimes in a duet. Occurs in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.