Tricolored Heron

Plump, smooth-plumaged bird with a sleek crest and white and yellow markings on wings. Mostly clean gray with brighter rusty wash on the face. Look for rich rufous undertail. Breeds in open coniferous forests at high latitudes across the Northern Hemisphere. Winter range depends on fruit crops; sometimes descends much further south in large numbers. Often found in flocks feasting on fruiting trees like crabapple and mountain ash. Listen for their ringing trills, often given while flying overhead. Compare with Cedar Waxwing in North America and Japanese Waxwing in Asia; Bohemian is larger and grayer, with a different wing pattern and no yellow on the belly.

A bright and colorful bee-eater; the red throat and white line under the black face mask render it unmistakable. Pairs and groups inhabit woodland adjacent to watercourses, hillsides, and scrub, especially near earthen banks, where nesting colonies are formed by up to 450 individuals burrowing into the dirt. They have one of the most complex of all avian societies, featuring families, clans, and pirates! A nasal rolling “ngyaaau” is the main vocalization.

Small and fairly bright antpitta found in foothills and subtropics from Costa Rica to Bolivia. Typical antpitta shape: plump and short-tailed. Dull brown above. Messy-looking buffy face and eyering. Some geographic variation: breast color varies from buffy to whitish, and some populations show bold dark scaling on breast, while others are nearly unmarked. Sexes similar. Shy and difficult to see; stays on or near the ground in forest, often perching on small limbs a couple meters high (more so than the larger antpittas). Swings its body side to side. Song can be difficult to detect: a simple, extremely high pitched, descending whistle. Occurs from around 500–2,500 m, usually lower than other small antpittas.