Little Weaver

A stunning antshrike, fairly common in open woodland and scrub in northern South America. Male has black head with white hind collar, white belly, brown back, and obvious white spotting on wing. Female is buffy overall with black tail, rufous crown, and buffy wingbars. Both sexes have a bushy crest, which is usually obvious. Some geographic variation across range: males in northern Colombia have grizzled white speckling on face; males in southern Venezuela and northern Brazil are much darker overall. Typically seen in pairs moving through the lower and middle levels; not particularly skulky.

Small, slender, and long-tailed bird found in dry caatinga scrub in eastern Brazil. It has grayish brown upperparts, buffy-yellow underparts and eyebrow, and conspicuous white patches in the wings and tail. Very similar to Greater Wagtail-Tyrant, but slightly smaller and tends to have duller yellow underparts and browner upperparts. Even their voices are similar, with both species giving rollicking series of rattling trills, often as a duet. Bahia Wagtail-Tyrant’s song sounds less dry and buzzy and includes more clear, whistled notes. Recently split from Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, which is restricted to river islands in the Amazon basin.

Handsome small thrush. Male has a black head, gray back, and orange belly. Female is brown above and orange below, with a heavily black-streaked throat and upper breast; yellow bill and heavier streaking separate her from female Gray-backed Thrush, which may overlap with Black-breasted in winter. Black-breasted breeds in mid- to high-elevation forests and descends into foothills and upper lowlands in the winter. Song is typical of a thrush: highly varied phrases of fluidly melodic notes.