Olive Oropendola

Small flycatcher with brilliant blue upperparts, a pale orange throat and chest, and a white belly. Slightly paler female has a whitish throat, while male’s is blue; sexes are otherwise quite similar. Head is fairly uniformly blue, without boldly lighter or darker patches, unlike in many other “blue flycatchers”. Pale and restricted orange also serves as a helpful identifying feature. A lowland species, restricted to secluded riverine forests in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, but found in a variety of dry and wet forests on Borneo. Song is a short smooth series of drawn-out piping whistles.

Often heard but rarely seen; a retiring little gray bird of bamboo thickets and other dense shrubbery at forest edges and along streams, mainly in humid areas. Occurs locally in boulders and low scrub, mainly in the Andes. Can move very quickly through bamboo like a mouse. Plumage is slaty gray overall, often with some paler or brownish barring; some birds have a silvery-white cap or a few white head spots. Best told from Dusky Tapaculo, which has a limited range overlap by voice. Also compare with Ochre-flanked Tapaculo.

The largest gull in the world. Huge, bulky, and large-billed. Adults have dark black backs and pale pink legs. Nonbreeding adults have very limited streaking on the head. Takes four years for immatures to reach adult plumage; intermediate plumages are often mottled and messy. Tends to look colder-toned overall, with more checkered upperparts and a whiter head than other immature gulls. Always note large size and thick bill. Most common along the coasts of the northeastern U.S. and Europe, but also occurs on large lakes (especially the Great Lakes). Often gathers in mixed flocks with other large gulls on beaches and mudflats.