Puna Tinamou

Large dark pigeon. Body and wings mostly bluish-gray with maroon-colored neck and shoulders. Note red bill with pale yellowish tip. Immature paler grayish without maroon tones. Common from Mexico to Costa Rica, mainly in lowlands and foothills. Barely enters the U.S. in Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. Typically seen in pairs or small flocks, often perched conspicuously in a variety of habitats, including open forests, patchy farmland, and mangroves. Tends to be fairly shy. Separated from other pigeons in Middle America by large size, bill pattern, and dark tail and undertail coverts. Listen for low cooing song: “whoo, whoop-a-whoo.”

An unmistakable and fairly uncommon large nuthatch: combination of orange belly, white face, and dazzling blue banding on the wings is unique in its family. Forages in primary forests, probing beneath bark, leaves, and treetop vegetation. Joins mixed-species flocks.

A medium-sized bird, brownish above and pale buff below, with a bright rufous rump and tail and a distinctive buffy line behind the eye. Found in tall rainforest, where it occurs mainly in the midstory and canopy, but occasionally in the understory. Will follow mixed species flocks at all levels. Feeds on insects and forages actively, often investigating dead leaf clusters and other accumulations of detritus. Song is a short, weak series of squeaking notes that fades away; call is a hard doubled note. Most similar to Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner but somewhat larger and more likely to occur at lower levels in the forest; both tail and rump are rufous in Rufous-rumped.