Black-faced Grosbeak

This enormous heron stands 1.5 meters tall and has a robust, dagger-like bill. The immature has rustier upperwings than the adult. Its flight is ponderous and labored. Goliath Heron inhabits large rivers, marshes, estuaries, and mangroves, hunting for large fish and other animals, stabbing them with an open bill. It has a distinct, barking “kowoork” call that can be heard from up to 2 km away. Purple Heron has similar plumage, but Goliath Heron is twice the size, has a much larger bill, and has a rufous (not blackish) top of the head.

Distinctive large, graceful raptor with a fairly long, forked, rusty-orange tail. Flies with easy languid wingbeats and lazy glides, circling gracefully over fields and roadsides. Can be confused with Black Kite; note overall more reddish coloration, paler face, larger white patches on the underwings, and more deeply forked tail. Inhabits varied semiopen habitats, from woodland to farmland and moorland with hedges and wooded patches; locally in urban areas. Often scavenges with crows.

Small flycatcher most often seen high in rainforest canopy, often with mixed species flocks. Its bill is very wide at the base and wing feathers are conspicuously edged with yellow. Confusingly similar to several other species. Dark eye helps to separate it from Gray-crowned Flycatcher, and usually shows brighter wings with less well defined wingbars than Yellow-olive Flycatcher. Whitish (not yellow) throat distinguishes it from Olive-faced Flycatcher and Ochre-lored Flycatcher. Voice is often the best clue. Yellow-margined Flycatcher gives a rising series of clear or buzzy whistles. Song has a very nasal quality in some parts of its range. Birds found west and north of the Andes are now considered a separate species, Yellow-winged Flycatcher.