Pink-breasted Lark

A flash of bright white wings over a highland meadow or pasture is usually the look one gets at this dull brown finch. One of the less well-marked snowfinches; male is gray with brown back and wings and female is dull with no head markings. Often found in medium-sized flocks near human habitation where it forages for leftover food and crops.

A bizarre and unique ground-loving bird, large but slender, with long legs, tail, and neck and extensive yellow facial skin with large dark brown patches behind the eyes resembling earmuffs. Resident in lowland forest, hill forest, and secondary scrub where there are large boulders and caves inside the forest for them to use for nesting and roosting. Forages in pairs or groups on the forest floor, bouncing effortlessly through the undergrowth on strong legs and returning to rocks most nights to roost communally. Mostly silent, but makes low clucking and other soft contact calls.

Spectacular large hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands. Favors shady forest understory and edges, especially with patches of Heliconia flowers. Males sit and sing tirelessly from perches in the understory while pumping their tail. When feeding, hovers briefly with long white tail streamers held nearly vertical and shoots off with an explosive squeak. Note the striped face, very long, arched bill, and rather drab plumage. Unlike many hummingbirds, hermits do not defend a patch of flowers but zip between widely scattered flowers, a strategy known as traplining (like it is checking widely scattered nectar traps).