Boyd's Shearwater

Large seabird of inshore waters, often seen from beaches but not usually up close. Adult has streaky brown-and-white neck and bright blue feet. Immature has dusky brownish head and neck and grayish feet. All plumages told from Brown Booby by white at the base and tip of the tail. Typically flies and soars fairly high up. Feeds by spectacular, steep-angle plunge-dives. Breeds locally in colonies on offshore islands, nesting on the ground. Most well-known from the Galapagos but occurs extensively along the Pacific coast of Middle and South America, especially in the Gulf of California.

Active and attractive warbler of highlands and foothills. Sexes look alike: head and upperparts slaty gray with blacker face and small rusty cap. Belly is red in Mexico, orange-red in northern Central America, and yellow from Costa Rica to South America. White-tipped tail is usually fanned and flapped side-to-side. Favors evergreen and pine-oak forest and edge, and cloud forest in the Andes. Usually in pairs, foraging mainly at low to middle levels, at times even on the ground. Frequently joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

This large swallow has rusty-red underparts, a pale buff throat, and a white leading edge to the underwing that is obvious only in flight. It is mostly resident, although it is also a wet season migrant to the north of its range. Pairs prefer wooded savanna, nesting in banks, termite mounds, and often holes in trees, particularly baobabs. The Mosque Swallow may be confused with the juvenile Rufous-chested Swallow, but it lacks the latter species’ dark “ear-flaps” and buffy forward part of the underwing.