Singing Parrot

Uncommon, rather large woodcreeper of humid tropical forest; infrequently seen away from ant swarms. Found singly or in twos and threes, often with Tawny-winged and Ruddy Woodcreepers at army ant swarms. Perches upright on trunks at all levels; often rather sluggish. Often looks dark and plain overall, with dark mask and pale base to stout bill. Dark barring on head and body visible with good views. Loud whistled song given mainly around dawn, a whistled “too’ih tooh’ih.”

A medium-sized, uniformly black starling with a glossy purplish-bluish sheen and a short tail. Bill is relatively thick and stubby. Arrow-shaped throat feathers are often puffed out. Eye pale orange. Juvenile resembles adult, but dustier in color, with a gray eye. Prefers forest edge; less common inside forest and open areas. Very similar to Singing Starling, but distinguished by pale eye, shorter tail, and lack of dark streaks on belly of juvenile. Song consists of metallic warbling. Common call is a metallic “chink.”

Tiny, short-tailed hummingbird with disjunct range from Venezuela to southeast Ecuador. Spectacular male is mostly green with a bushy orange crest with black spots, a dark throat, a red bill, and a white band across rump. Female is duller overall with a rusty forehead and a whitish throat. Unlikely to be confused within its range, but compare with Rufous-crested Coquette (male lacks black spotting in crest and female has a brighter rusty throat). Generally rare in lowlands and foothills up to around 1,200 m. Most likely to be seen at purple Verbena flowers or in the canopy of a flowering Inga tree.