Northern White-faced Owl

Pale brown laughingthrush with a pale face, black barring on the back, and a blue-gray wing panel. Handsome but shy and inconspicuous, foraging quietly on the ground and in shrubbery and thickets. Very similar in appearance to the rarer, more range-restricted, and dark-throated White-necklaced Laughingthrush. Note Barred’s pale, relatively unmarked throat.

A large pied flycatcher that is most commonly mistaken for Southern Fiscal. However, the upright stance and slender unhooked bill are distinctive flycatcher traits, and the pattern of white in the flight feathers and basal windows of the tail is diagnostic. The female is duller than the male. Singles and pairs frequent a variety of open country habitats, including gardens, parks, shrubland, and woodland, where they perch conspicuously and hawk insect prey from the ground or aerially. The species is mostly silent but occasionally it utters a thin high-pitched song. The similar Southern Fiscal is more robust than the Fiscal Flycatcher, with a chunky hook-tipped bill, a white V-pattern on the shoulders, and a long tail with white outer feathers.

Endangered songbird restricted to the western slopes of the northern part of Colombia’s eastern Andes. Note the white spectacles, striped face, and barred wings and tail. Very similar to the widespread Rufous-and-white Wren, but duller brown, lacking rich chestnut tones in the plumage, and its song tends to be faster and higher in pitch. Range is also helpful for ID, since the two species have limited, if any, overlap. Skulks in the understory of dry to semi-humid forest as well as in shady coffee and cacao plantations.