Sombre Nightjar

Small, slender, and incredibly cute sparrow. Plain grayish breast, rusty cap, and black eyeline in breeding season. Not as bright in winter, but still shows a brown cap and dark eyeline. Juveniles are extensively streaky. Common and widespread throughout most of North America. Usually found in open woodlands, scrubby areas, or even in suburban settings. Often gathers in flocks in fall and winter. Visits feeders. Frequently heard singing a fairly dry trill. Compare with similar Clay-colored, American Tree, and Brewer's sparrows, but look for Chipping Sparrow's gray rump and dark eyeline.

Small screech-owl with a scattered distribution in the Andes. It inhabits cloud forest in southeastern Ecuador and northern Peru, as well as a few locations in Colombia and Venezuela. Most birds have bright cinnamon-buff plumage, but some are brown and tan. Distinguished from the similar Rufescent Screech-Owl by the lack of any white marks on the shoulders, and by voice. Song is a fast, rising and falling series of soft “pu” notes. The speed at which the notes are given is quite variable.

A small widowbird. The breeding male is jet black, with a crimson band across the breast, and a 20-centimeter floppy graduated tail. All-black birds and birds with a reduced crimson band, also occur. The female and non-breeding male have dark streaked upperparts, pale unstreaked or faintly streaked underparts, and a yellowish eyebrow and face, and lack the long tail. Pairs breed in open grassland, savanna, scrub, and cultivated areas. The species may flock, often with other seedeaters, and move locally when breeding is over. Breeding males are distinctive, but non-breeding males and females can be confused with many other species. Can be tentatively identified by lack of red or yellow in the wing, along with a buffy breast that is unstreaked or only lightly streaked.