Golden-fronted Redstart

A mid-sized coucal of lowland and mid-hill forest. Black plumage with purplish sheen, dark rufous wings, and pale, greenish bill. Found in the dense undergrowth of humid forest where it is very skulking and difficult to see. Heard more often than seen. Similar to Greater Coucal, but Green-billed Coucal is smaller in size with pale bill. Call a series of deep, double “boop-boop” notes, or a regular, upslurred “ker-chuip” or “chuip” rather like a stone dropping into water.

A tiny, short-billed sunbird with a metallic-green back and a yellow belly. The male has a green throat and a narrow purplish breast band; the female is duller, with a yellow throat and no breast band. Pairs frequent forest edge, woodland, and savanna, where they join mixed-species flocks to glean leaves and hover to catch insect prey. But they will also feed on fruit and nectar, often by piercing the base of a flower and sucking out nectar without pollinating. The “yellow-bellied” races of Variable Sunbird differ from Collared Sunbird by being larger, with a longer bill and broader purple-blue breast band.

Endangered hummingbird with a small range in the northern part of Colombia’s eastern Andes and in the San Lucas Mountains. Note the reddish-orange belly and bright rusty tail. Females and younger birds are duller than adult males and might be confused with Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, but lack green on the flanks. Inhabits lighter woodland and forest edge, and generally avoids dense forest.