Golden Cuckooshrike

Very local but fairly common in highland marshes of central Mexico; endemic. Favors extensive reed beds bordering lakes and adjacent bushes near water. Male is distinctive, with black mask blending into dark greenish upperparts (lacks pale border to mask of Common Yellowthroat, which occurs in same areas); also note extensively yellow underparts and dark legs. Female is darker overall than female Common Yellowthroat, with dark (not pinkish) legs. Voice subtly distinctive.

Secretive chickenlike bird that walks on the ground inside forest. Very plump; looks tailless. A relatively small tinamou with a striking pattern: look for bright rufous neck contrasting with blackish upperparts distinctly barred with buff. Fairly common and widespread from western Amazonia to southeast Brazil, although it is rarely seen in dense understory of terra firme forest. Listen for its whistled song, a single long note followed by a pause and then a series of shorter querulous rising notes.

Skulky warbler found in dry and semi-humid scrub, overgrown clearings, and tangles at forest edge. Male is yellow with a conspicuous black mask. Female is plain and unremarkable. Similar to Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, but male has a gray crown and thinner mask, and female usually shows slightly darker upperparts. Female also similar to female Yellow Warbler, but has a thicker bill and darker back. Typical song west of the Andes is a melodious series of notes that speeds up near the end. In the Marañón Valley, it gives a much more complex rising and falling song. Also gives soft churring and buzzing calls. Ranges in western Ecuador and western Peru, with a few records from extreme southwestern Colombia. Formerly considered a subspecies group of Masked Yellowthroat.