Black-faced Pitta

Bizarre and unmistakable small gray woodpecker. Note broad black stripe down middle of crown and back. Cryptic plumage and sluggish habits make it easily overlooked. Favors open country with scattered trees, orchards, farmland; nests in tree cavities. Feeds mostly on the ground, probing with its long tongue for ants; hops with deliberate, rather jerky motions, often twitching its tail and turning its head. Song is a rising series of high, piercing notes, similar to that of a falcon.

A medium-sized, mostly dark vulture with an angular, naked, pale pink head and bulky coral-colored beak. In flight, the adult’s white “armpits” extend out as a stripe along the middle of the underwing; the larger females differ from males by having all-white innermost flight feathers. Widespread in open country but declining rapidly outside of protected areas. Often one of the first vultures to arrive at a carcass but also scavenges the kills of eagles; sometimes hunts and kills small mammals, birds, and reptiles.

Large black bird found inside forest, usually at middle levels. Reminiscent of a crow with a funky hairdo; unlike any other species in its range. Male’s bare red throat sac is usually visible, even when not inflated. Female lacks the throat sac and the puffy umbrella-like crest, but she is still distinctively large and all-black. Rare and local.