Taiwan Whistling-Thrush

Handsome blue-and-black jay of tropical forests, woodlands, and gardens endemic to west Mexico. Usually in small groups, which can be noisy and conspicuous or very quiet and easily overlooked; often with Yellow-winged Caciques. Around the town of San Blas (in Nayarit, Mexico), appreciably larger Purplish-backed Jay occurs at southern end of its range (and northern end of San Blas Jay’s range). Purplish-backed is deep purplish blue on back and tail, not strikingly two-toned blue-and-black like San Blas Jay, and has bright yellow legs. Voices also very different. Purplish-backed occurs in mangroves and adjacent woodlands in and around town while San Blas Jay occurs in foothill forest of coffee plantations south of town.

Small brown flycatcher found in humid forest from southern Peru to central Bolivia. Very plain; adults have a faint rusty tinge on the head, but this is lacking in young birds. Similar to juvenile Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant, but lacks rusty wings and tail. It does not overlap with Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant. Stays quite low in the understory; sometimes gives thin, high-pitched whistles and trills as well as soft snaps.

A fruit-loving inhabitant of woodlands and gardens. Adult is yellow (often tinged green or orange), sports a black beard, and has very large white wing patches covering half of the otherwise black wing. Immatures look similar, but they have two broad white wingbars instead of a white patch. Immature male Orchard Oriole looks somewhat similar, but it is smaller and lacks the bold white wing markings seen on Jamaican Orioles. Songs include a rapid series of rich, whistled, and mostly down-slurred phrases and “cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat-you, cheat.”