Pale Prinia

A smallish rail of montane forest. Deep chestnut color. Male has a chestnut back with some black wing feathers, while the female has all black wings covered with white dots. Flutters wings when alarmed, flashing white dots. Forages very actively, even frantically, tossing leaves and moss aside to uncover invertebrates. Similar to White-striped and Forbes’s Forest-Rails, but Chestnut is smaller and the male has no white mark’s or fully dark wings, and female has spotted rear flanks. Calls, harsh raspy notes or squeaks.

A medium-sized dusky bird that prefers moist montane forests, but can be also found in most wooded areas with dense vegetation. Feeds in trees and on the ground. Its namesake white eye is distinctive, but its bright broken white throat collar, contrasting so markedly with its dark plumage, is also unique. Shier than the somewhat similar White-chinned Thrush, which has a dark eye, orange bill and legs, and lacks a white collar. The White-eyed Thrush’s song is a long series of highly variable, repeated phrases (phrases most often repeated thrice, but commonly from two to five times). Calls include a plaintive whistled “weee-woooo,” with the first note slightly higher and a quick, almost ducklike “yak.”

Woodstars are tiny hummingbirds that fly like bumblebees. Purple-throated is restricted to the west slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador, where it inhabits cloud forest, edges, and second growth from 800–2,000 m. Males have a glittering purple throat, white chest band, fairly long forked tail, and white patches on the sides of the rump. Unlikely to be confused within range. Females are trickier; note the orangey belly with a variable amount of smudgy white in the center (never as extensive as on female White-bellied Woodstar) and the thin whitish line that extends behind the eye and wraps around the neck (not as wide or buffy as on Little Woodstar). Often seen singly feeding in the canopy; visits feeders.