Chiming Wedgebill

Typical small hawk-eagle. Small upright crest visible when perched. Adult has dark brown wings and a paler face. In flight, look for densely black-barred underparts, two white bands across the tail, and light brown on the inner part of the underwing (compared with the completely black-and-white underwings of Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle). Visibly smaller than both Blyth’s and Mountain hawk-eagles. Juvenile Wallace’s is pale tawny-brown on the head and on the underparts; the similar Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle has tail barring. Jerdon’s Baza can appear similar, but it has horizontal banding across the breast, whereas juvenile Wallace’s has unmarked underparts, pantaloons (fully feathered legs), and a broader black tip to the tail. Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle is often seen in flight over or perched on a snag in lowland forests and forest edges.

Large, bright green parrot of humid evergreen forest in tropical lowlands. Uncommon. Found in rainforest and adjacent clearings, not in open habitats. Most often seen flying overhead early and late in the day, usually in pairs. Best field mark is the big pale eyering on a fairly plain head; with a good view, the bluish crown can be seen. Like other parrots in the same genus, in flight shows a red patch on the flight feathers.

A graceful aerial feeder found over a wide variety of open habitats, especially near water, including marshes and towns. Often chooses exposed perches including power and telephone lines in villages. Commonly found in flocks of up to twenty birds, sometimes mixing with other swallows and martins. The adult male is entirely glossy purple-blue and is inseparable in the field from male Purple Martins. The male Caribbean Martin can be distinguished by its bright white belly. Female and immature Cuban Martins resemble females and immatures of both Purple and Caribbean Martin. Purple Martin in such plumages can be identified by a scaly breast pattern and often fine streaks on the belly, which is lacking on female and immature Cuban Martins. Female Cuban Martins are probably not safely separable from Caribbean Martin, though on average the Cuban Martin has more restricted brown on chest. Note that Caribbean and Purple Martins are not present in this species’ range from March to September, which can help eliminate confusing species. Calls include a harsh “churr,” a buzzy “zwick-zwick,” and a musical buzzy burbling.