Many-colored Rush Tyrant

This wee little grebe is dark gray overall with paler fluffy bum. The face is dark in breeding plumage; paler with a whitish throat in nonbreeding plumage. Also note piercing yellow eye and thin, sharply pointed bill. Compare with Pied-billed Grebe, which is larger, browner, and thicker-billed. Widespread throughout Middle and South America; very limited range in the U.S. Found in marshy ponds, often with extensive vegetation. Usually seen singly or in pairs, sometimes in small groups. Frequently dives underwater.

A very small flycatcher with a long bill for its size and a yellow eye. It is olive-brown above with whitish wingbars and indistinct streaking on white underparts. Considerable variation exists among subspecies in the color of the belly (gray or yellow) and the color of the back (dark gray or brown). Occurs in woodlands, shrubby habitats, and pastures with shrubs where it can be found foraging in the lower and middle levels; mostly in pairs. The song is sharp and descending series of trills “tick-tick-tr’r’r’r’r’r’r’r.”

Small, recalling a beige chiffchaff or other Phylloscopus warbler. Rather nondescript: gray brown above, paler below, with a short, dark-tipped bill and conspicuous pale eyebrow. Pot-bellied with short wings and a square-tipped tail. Can be extremely difficult to identify; compare carefully with small Acrocephalus warblers and other Iduna warblers, especially Sykes’s Warbler. Found in low bushes in steppes and meadows; also bushy areas in migration and in winter. Usually forages low down, and occasionally on the ground. Song starts out with a few dry chitters, then launches into a rapidfire burst of high-pitched chattering that almost stumbles over itself. Also gives dry “tchak” and rattle calls.