Blue-crowned Racquet-tail

This sparrow-sized rail moves like a ghost through grassy meadows and wetlands. Prefers to run instead of fly, but white wing patches are unmistakable if seen. Flight is weak with dangling legs, drops into cover quickly. Belly is white with brown bars on the sides and upperparts are darker brown with fine white stripes. Voice is the only way to detect this species; its repertoire is varied, with grunts, squeals, and tapping notes.

Subtly marked sparrow with a poor name; "rufous wing" is restricted to a tiny, barely visible patch on the shoulder. Gray head and neck with peaked rufous crown and rufous eyeline. Stout pink bill. Sides are buff and unstreaked on adults. Back and wings are also buffy with fine markings. Paler throat is edged with thin dark lines. Primarily a Mexican species with very limited range in the U.S.; found in pairs or small flocks in brushy grasslands. Variable song usually composed of a few clear tinkling notes and trills.

Streaky canopy foliage-gleaner with a slightly hooked bill tip. Light buffy brown overall with extensive streaking from the head down to the back and breast, with reddish wings and tail. Forages in the midstory and canopy with mixed species flocks, keeping its body horizontal as it clambers along branches. Most common in upland forest, where it can be the most common foliage-gleaner in canopy mixed species flocks, but can also occasionally be found in mature forest in seasonally flooded areas.