Dusky-tailed Flatbill

Subtly attractive tanager, fairly large with striking pale eye. Slaty gray back with olive-yellow crown and belly, dark blackish face. Usually seen in small flocks moving quickly through the understory of forests and edges, seldom sitting still for long. Sometimes joins mixed flocks. Conspicuous call is an explosive chipping, often given repeatedly.

A long-tailed, shy, ground-feeding species of wet broadleaf forests with dense undergrowth, especially near streams from 700 to 2,000 meters elevation. Dark brown, with white throat that fades into gray-brown chest and belly. Primarily feeds in thick leaf litter. Rather similar to the Eastern Chat-Tanager, which is a bit smaller and has a yellow eyering. This species’ full song is a loud, whistled “tsew, tsee-ew, tsee-ew, tsu, tsu, tsu,” or variations thereon, with final notes given rapidly; often sung in fragments. Songs are more clearly whistled than those of Eastern Chat-Tanager. Call is a “chep.”

Black cacique with a creamy white bill. Forages in dense waterside vegetation around oxbow lakes, marshes, and slow-moving rivers. Dark eye distinguishes it from similar Ecuadorian and Yellow-billed Caciques, which have light eyes. Entirely black plumage distinguishes it from other caciques; habitat is another good clue. Larger and lankier with a longer bill than other blackbirds, like Giant Cowbird and Pale-eyed Blackbird.