White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant

Anis are bizarre, coal-black cuckoos with long floppy tails and unique, curiously tall, flattened bills. Smooth-billed occurs in a variety of open and semi-open habitats in tropical lowlands and foothills, typically staying low in shrubs and grasses. Gregarious and not particularly graceful; usually seen crashing around awkwardly in small groups. Flies with choppy wingbeats and long glides. Widespread and common throughout much of South America and the Caribbean, extending as far west as the Pacific slope of Costa Rica and north to Florida. Compare with the very similar Groove-billed Ani, which overlaps in some areas of Central and South America. Note especially the bill shape: Smooth-billed often (but not always) has a taller ridge on the top of the bill, and a sharper angle on the lower edge of the bill. The sides are typically smooth, rarely with weak grooves. Voice is also important: listen for a rising, hawklike whistle with an inflection at the end. Dark eye, size, and habitat help separate from Greater Ani in South America and Panama.

Small, slim woodcreeper with a thin slightly decurved bill. Found in humid forests, where it regularly follows mixed-species flocks. The rufous-brown body is heavily marked with drop-shaped spots on the breast, head, and back. Separated from Lesser Woodcreeper by range, blurry streaks on belly, and olive-yellow eyering, eyestripe, and throat.

A large lark with a long, strong bill and a long tail. Back is scaly-looking and underparts pale, with a black mark on the side of the breast. The wings show rufous in flight. Found locally in dry and open savanna. Similar to Red-winged Lark, from which it was recently split, but does not overlap in range. The song is a variable but repetitive mix of whistled notes and imitations of other species, usually given from the top of a bush, but sometimes in flight.