Lucy's Warbler

Small, retiring quail of forest understory. Rarely seen, but can be located by listening for noisy rustling in the leaf litter as birds scratch like chickens. Prefers to run away rather than flush. Loud song often reveals its presence, given mainly early and late in the day: first few notes similar to Little Tinamou song, but then breaks into rollicking choruses that can be almost deafening if close by. Male has rusty face and gray body, female colors reversed, with gray face and rusty body.

Medium-sized brownish bird of the lower subtropical zone in the western Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Plain dark brown with much less streaking than other treehunters; only shows a slightly paler eyebrow and some streaking on the throat. Typically found at lower elevations than other treehunters in range, but some overlap. Western Woodhaunter is found at similar elevations but has a longer, narrower bill and a paler buffy throat. Singles or pairs follow mixed-species flocks through the understory, where they can be skulky and difficult to see. Listen for the song: a slow series of 5-10 squeaky notes.

The male is a striking, medium-sized, mostly dark bustard with a bold white cheek patch and a reddish bill. The female has a black belly and is elsewhere finely barred. In flight it has a conspicuous white window on both the upper and lower sides of the wing. Scattered individuals, sometimes associated in small groups, inhabit arid savanna and Karoo scrub. It singscalls a strident, ratcheting “kraak-kraak-kraak” which leads into a maniacal “raa-cha-ka-ka-ka....cha-ka-ka-ka” display as the male flies around 20–30 m above the ground, with legs dangling. In flight, Black Bustard’s lack of large white wing patches separates it from the similar White-quilled Bustard.