Fulvous-vented Euphonia

Unusual, chunky, short-tailed, crested, yellow-eyed member of the vanga family. Males are strikingly black-and-white, with a small white patch at the front of the wing. Females have a chestnut back, blackish head, and pale underparts. The wings are short and rounded, and the flight is weak. Found in the canopy of humid forest, at low and middle elevations, often along forest edge and clearings. The variable song consists of slurred whistles. Calls include rasps and clearer bulbul-like notes.

Striking tanager of open woodland, consisting of two relatively distinctive subspecies. Distinguished from other warbling-finches in range by its black breast band. Nominate torquatus is a resident of the southern Bolivian Andes, especially open scrub and cactus forest of the dry valleys. Migratory pectoralis shows a thicker breast band and darker undertail coverts, and breeds in the Pampas, Monte, and northern Chaco dry forests in north central Argentina, dispersing north to lowlands of W Paraguay and SE Bolivia.

Plump, chickenlike bird of far northern climes; an adaptable species, residing in open tundra, forest clearings and edges, bogs, moorlands, and willow stands, sometimes even straying into farmland. Plumage changes dramatically throughout the year. In winter, both sexes are pure white with black outer tail feathers. As summer progresses, male develops rich rufous head and neck and brownish back; in winter, lacks black eyeline shown by Rock Ptarmigan. Summer female is paler golden-brown with intricate black and white markings. Female nearly identical to Rock Ptarmigan; look for slightly thicker bill. In western North America, compare with female White-tailed Ptarmigan, which lacks black outer tail feathers, has a colder summer plumage, and favors different habitats. Vocalizations include a comical nasal chuckle and various clucking notes. Subspecies on Great Britain and Ireland is known as “Red Grouse.”