Congo Sunbird

Small, crested flycatcher restricted to desert scrub and dry forest in lowlands and foothills of southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It is best identified by its bushy, split crest that shows some white when lifted. The white crest helps separate it from the similar Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet. Actively flits around in bushes and trees, often giving dry, squeaky calls. Quite scarce in Ecuador except on Isla de la Plata, where it is usually easy to find; more common in parts of its Peruvian range.

A small brown dove with a disproportionately long, broad tail. Both sexes have a dark brown back and wings and an orange-brown head and underparts. Female has several large black dots on the chest that the male lacks. Like most cuckoo-doves, elusive and often difficult to see well in the gloom of the undergrowth of the broadleaf evergreen forests this species prefers. Gives a long series of bouncy hoots.

A small barbet of dense, broad-leaved forests in lowland and foothill regions. Adult is bright green with a blue face patterned with a complex mosaic of black, red, orange, and yellow. Juvenile is green with a powder-blue face and no dark markings. Like most other barbets, tends to stick to dense canopy and is seldom seen, but its far-carrying song is often heard: a long steady series of single or doubled chirping notes that somewhat resemble a frog’s. Also gives a series of rising peeps: “weet, weet, weet.”