Greater Black Coucal

A gregarious, cartoon-like, mostly black-and-brown helmetshrike with a piercing orange eye, red legs and eye-wattles, and an orange-tipped red bill. Flocks of 2 to 15 birds inhabit mature broadleaf woodland and riverine and coastal forest, avoiding arid habitats. When not breeding, flock size may increase to 30 and groups may join other species, including White Helmetshrike, in mixed-species flocks. Calls are complex and include grating, whistling, and nasal notes.

Unobtrusive small bird of brushy woodland and forest understory in tropical lowlands, mainly in drier habitats. Usually seen as singles or pairs, low in weedy growth. Male blue-black overall; with good views, note the blue forehead, ‘jowls,’ and rump. Female in West Mexico gray-brown overall, in East Mexico rich brown overall. Similar female Varied Bunting has a smaller bill and different call note: a wet plik; Blue Bunting call is a high tsik in West Mexico, a metallic chink in East Mexico.

A large, crested woodpecker with a golden back found in wet tropical and subtropical forests across South and Southeast Asia. Separated from Common Flameback and other “small-billed” flamebacks by a much larger bill, a mottled black-and-white nape instead of a black nape, and a divided black horizontal stripe below the cheek. Separated from the similarly large-billed White-naped Woodpecker by a red rump, the lack of a clean white nape, and a preference for wetter habitat. Greater Flameback is a loose participant in mixed-species foraging flocks, often detected by its loud, high-pitched trill similar to that of Common Flameback.