Worstbird

A large, long-legged, long-tailed robin-like bird. The face, breast, wings, and tail are glossy black, while the belly, lower back, and undertail are white. Feeds in the understory and on the ground, frequently raising its tail to reveal reddish-brown vent. Shy and inconspicuous in its wooded habitats, but its presence is often given away by its song, which consists of mellow guttural trills and whistles.

Distinctive and often noisy and conspicuous. The only dark gull in its range in the Humboldt Current. Common over inshore waters and along the coast on sandy beaches, at river mouths, and on adjacent rocky coasts, but breeds inland in remote areas of the Atacama Desert. Breeding adult has a white head while immatures are brown overall; all ages have slender black bill and dark legs. Immatures look like adults in 3 years.

A large owlet-nightjar found very locally in the forests of low hills. Bright rufous with 3 vertical bands on the underparts. Prominent white eyebrows and spiky whiskers. Slender and perches upright in the midstory. Split from the similar Feline Owlet-Nightjar with which it does not co-occur. Starry Owlet-Nightjar is smaller with thinner white bands on the underparts. Voice, a raspy, 3 to 4-note series “gew! gok-gak!” with the first notes lower, the last 2 closer together and almost the same pitch.

A small mosly gray finch with a yellow belly and contrasting pale bluish bill. Rather uncommon and generally restricted to scrub habitats and taller secondary forests on weathered, sandy soils. Sexes are similar. Like other euphonias, feeds on fruit, often in pairs, sometimes traveling long distances between food sources. Most frequently seen perched on high bare branches; may follow mixed-species flocks. Combination of mostly gray plumage and lack of yellow on forehead distinguishes this species from other euphonias. One vocalization is a jumble of notes preceded by a sharp, inflected note; other sounds similar to those of other euphonias.

A big dark barbet of humid forest of low and middle elevations. The back is black with yellow spotting and the underparts are yellow with black striping and spotting. The head pattern varies geographically. The throat can be striped or solid black, and the face can be speckled (central Africa) or black with a white eyebrow and moustache mark (northern and western parts of the range). Somewhat similar to Yellow-spotted Barbet, but larger overall with a bigger bill and a dark cap. Usually detected by voice: a long, slow series of low, hollow hoots. Occasionally also gives a much faster tooting series.