Nutting's Flycatcher

Beautiful small bunting of lowlands and foothills; endemic to west Mexico. Occurs in brushy woodland and edge, adjacent weedy fields, and open grassy areas. Often in small groups, feeding on roadside grasses and flushing up with brilliant blue flashes. Also feeds at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. Male unmistakable: electric turquoise blue and green above; rich yellow below with a burnished orange breast. Female duller overall: greenish above and yellow below, with a bluish tail. Female brighter yellowish below than slightly larger female Painted Bunting.

Thrush-sized, plump bird of open habitats, especially near water. Particularly fond of riverside woodland but also around human settlements, clearings, and roadsides. Builds an impressive dome-shaped mud nest. Rich rufous above and pale tan below, with a whiter throat and eyebrow. Dark reddish-brown eye. Most often seen strutting confidently on the ground, and also perches up quite high to sing: listen for a long, loud, descending series of rough chip notes. Occurs in lowlands across much of South America, from the base of the Andes in Peru to far eastern Brazil.

A rather small, secretive, variable ground-thrush with mostly orange-rufous underparts, a rusty-brown back, double white wingbars, and a distinctive pair of vertical stripes on the face. Western races are more richly colored than eastern ones. Rare, found in pairs in scattered locations in lowland and hill forest throughout the Congo Basin. Song is undescribed; alarm is a typical high-pitched thrush “ssreee.” All other ground-thrushes have a single vertical face stripe except the larger Gray Ground-Thrush, which is paler and more washed out on the face and breast than Black-eared.