Peruvian Plantcutter

A large solid pigeon with a unique waved crest on the back of the head. Almost entirely gray with darker wing feathers. Tail is dark gray with a broad pale band. Typically seen feeding on fruit high in rainforest canopy trees. Also, often observed flying in large flocks at high altitudes over other habitats – look for the banded tail in flight.

A medium-sized pallid and delicately-patterned sandgrouse. Pale and sandy overall. Note male’s silver-gray eyebrow and orange cheek and throat. Female has a paler version of the male’s pattern, as well as a speckled nape and chest. Lacks breast bands, unlike Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse. Very similar to Crowned Sandgrouse, but note the present species’ tail filaments and different facial pattern. Note the strong contrast in two-toned underwings when in flight. Flight call is a characteristic “Waka! Waka!” Favors sandy or stony desert plains where it breeds on the ground. Congregates to drink in waterholes in the morning, often flying back and forth over long distances in large flocks.

A plump, small-headed, pigeon-like bird. At close range the male is identified by a combination of black-and-white bands just above bill and by a strong yellow eye-ring; the female is mottled with black, brown, and white. It prefers using patches of recently-burnt grassland near rocky areas in savanna. Largely inactive by day; large numbers synchronously gather at waterholes to drink, call, and socialize briefly at dusk before dispersing to forage throughout the night. Its distinctive calls are squeaky and bubbling: “oh NO, he’s gone and done it AGAIN!”.