Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Tiny, stumpy bird of dense undergrowth. Male is dark slate-blue with broad white eyebrows that give him the appearance of a furious little old man. Female is warm pale brown all over. In areas of overlap with Chinese and Lesser Shortwings, look out for the all-dark lower belly, which is white in those species. Inhabits hill and montane forest, where it forages in dense undergrowth, frequently in proximity to streams. Song is composed of high thin whistles with short bursts of clicking chattering mixed in.

This typical “Scytalopus” tapaculo is found only in Colombia’s western Andes. Plumage is gray with a brown tinge to the rump and faint, rusty barring on the lower underparts. Similar to Nariño Tapaculo, Spillmann’s Tapaculo, and Choco Tapaculo, and is best identified by its distinctive voice. Song is a long, pulsating series of frog-like calls that gradually increases in volume and pitch. Inhabits understory of cloud forest and is normally quite hard to see.

Very large, but rather local coot; rare except at a few lakes in the high Andes set amid barren and rocky surroundings. Often far out on deep-water lakes, where it looks rather uneventful: black overall with a pale yellowish bill. Seen up close, note the bizarre, erectile black “horn” appendage covering the bill base. Juvenile is dark sooty gray with a whitish throat. Builds remarkable nest mounds of stones topped with weeds that look like the tips of huge underwater volcanoes and take months, if not years, to complete.