Green-capped Tanager

Dark hawk found in deserts and scrubby open woodland. Brown overall with bright rufous shoulders and thighs. Tail black with white tip and white base. Immatures have variable white markings on underparts. Unique among raptors for its social behavior; nests and hunts in groups. Feeds on mammals.

A small, skulking warbler. Appears three-toned: grayish below, chestnut brown above, with a pale rufous head and a slightly darker eye-stripe. Prefers dense undergrowth and tangles in forest or on forest edge above 600 meters of elevation, but locally lower. Common call is a rising whistle followed by a falling whistle.

Male is stunning, with a metallic blue back, a black mask extending down to the shoulder, and a burning flame-orange throat and breast. Female is plain brown and very difficult to distinguish from female Indian Blue Robin (which generally breeds at lower altitudes than Firethroat) and Siberian Blue Robin (which overlaps with Firethroat only on migration); look out for the female Firethroat’s relatively brighter white throat, darker underparts, and lack of scaling on the breast. The species is shy, keeping to the undergrowth, but will emerge into the open to sing; song is repetitive and pleasant, with imitations and deeper notes thrown in. Breeds in dense, low montane vegetation; winters in similar habitat in lower foothills.