Yellow-billed Nuthatch

Tiny, mouse-like bird of tepui forest understory. Entirely dark rufous-brown with a stubby tail. Found only in humid, mossy forest on tepui slopes, mostly above 1000 meters, where it is difficult to see, staying close to the ground as it crawls over roots, rocks, and large branches. Usually encountered alone and does not follow mixed-species flocks. Most easily detected by its extraordinary song: a variable series of short, pure whistles, rising and falling but usually ending with several notes on the same pitch; humanlike and easily imitated. May pop into view in response to imitation or playback, bobbing nervously before disappearing. Could be confused with Tepui Wren, but is darker brown overall and lacks buffy eyebrow.

A large and relatively colorful greenbul of humid forests. The back is rusty-brown, the underparts buffy, the tail brick red, the head mostly gray, and the throat white. Found in rainforest, swamp forest, and gallery forest, mostly in wet areas near water, usually in small groups that vocalize frequently. The vocalizations, often given in chorus, are a series of gabbling “chowp” notes and a faster, babbler-like series. The voice can be very similar to those of Yellow-throated and Swamp Greenbuls. 

A very small nondescript sunbird with a short orange-based bill that curves uniformly along its length; easily mistaken for females of other sunbirds. The only features on the olive upperparts are indistinct paler eyebrows and lines running under the eyes, and yellow edging to the wings. Although often hidden, the male has yellow or whitish (not red) tufts at the shoulders. Singles are local and inconspicuous at the edges of lowland and riverine forest, sometimes entering secondary growth; it joins mixed-flocks and is frequently attracted to epiphytes in mossy clumps. Calls a high-pitched “tseeep” and trills. Little Green and Fraser’s sunbirds are similar to Bates’s but brighter, with straighter bills and more distinct yellowish eye-rings; Ursula’s Sunbird has a long decurved bill and grayish face and underparts.