Sierra Nevada Antpitta
Grallaria spatiator
Rotund bird with long legs and a short tail restricted to Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains. It is mostly brown with a tawny breast, pale belly, and short mustache stripe. Similar to Rusty-breasted Antpitta, but larger, longer-legged, and found at higher elevations. Usually stays on the ground inside cloud forest where it is hard to see, but sometimes perches higher to sing and may venture out into the open just before dawn. Gives a short, burry whistle every few seconds as well as a longer, descending trill. Formerly considered to be a subspecies of what used to be called Rufous Antpitta.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Grallaria spatiator
- Authority
- Bangs, 1898
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Grallariidae
- Genus
- Grallaria
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker
Dendrocopos hyperythrus
A beautiful woodpecker with three disjunct populations: an eastern one which breeds in northeastern China and Russia and winters in southeastern China, a western one in the Himalayas, and a southern one in southern mainland Southeast Asia. In all populations, note bright orange neck and belly, as well as black-and-white spotted wings. Bright red crown is found only on the male; the female has a patchy black and white one. Can be found in a wide range of foothill and lowland forest; favors mixed evergreen forests in the Himalayas, and open dry forest in Southeast Asia. Gives a range of rapid chattering calls and has a short, rapid drum which trails off towards the end.
Wattled Ploughbill
Eulacestoma nigropectus
A fairly small, plump bird with a unique bill shape of montane forest. Male is yellow-green with black wing, chest, and two large, pink, fleshy wattles beside the bill. The female is olive-green with paler underparts. Forages low and especially likes climbing bamboo. Uses its strong bill to strip wood and dig into branches. Male plumage is unique, but even with the female’s non-descript plumage, the bill shape should be a give-away. Voice, a single, long, high-pitch note.
Chestnut-capped Blackbird
Chrysomus ruficapillus
Medium-sized blackbird found in marshes, wet grasslands, and occasionally agricultural areas. Males are mostly black with a chestnut forehead, crown and throat. Females are dark brown above with faint streaks and olive-brown below with a buff throat. Highly gregarious, may gather in huge groups of up to 1000 individuals.
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