Equatorial Antpitta

Fairly large Curruca warbler. Male is distinctive with a black bib and blackish head separated by prominent white moustache. Female has a pale or slightly darker throat. Wing coverts are well-patterned with dark centers and pale fringes. Note rather long bill. Breeds in Mediterranean scrub habitats, usually on rocky mountain sides covered with dense bushes. Non-breeding habitat is likewise scrubby and dry. Song is a scratchy whistle, usually starts with a quick metallic trill. Calls are a metallic "trrrrr" or "chak."

Chunky brown songbird with a weak crest, typically found on the ground in open fields and meadows. Darker above than below, with fine black streaking on the chest and light chestnut ear coverts with dark border. Very similar to Eurasian Skylark, with which it shares much of its range, but Oriental has buffy, not white, outer tail edges and trailing edge of wing. Breeding males “skylark,” singing a series of variable notes while hovering high above the territory.

Rather local but sometimes numerous in the high Andes. Favors puna grasslands, stony plains with shrubby bushes, villages, and bogs. Often in flocks, sometimes mixed with other species, and feeds mainly on the ground. Both sexes rather uniform bright greenish yellow overall (female averages duller) with a relatively stout, grayish bill. Greenish Yellow-Finch of usually lower elevations is duller (especially the female), with a smaller and more pointed bill. Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch sometimes occurs with Puna, but has grayish cheeks, back, and flanks.