Worstbird

A large silver and black cuckoo-dove that shows obvious contrast between the light silver chest, belly, neck, and head and the much darker gray wings and tail. More confined to primary foothill forest than other cuckoo-doves in its range, which are smaller and less robust, lacking the distinctive silver-gray color scheme of Pied. Often betrays its presence with loud and clear calls, often a clear rising “woooow” followed by a more hoarse “whhhow.”

Small, uncommon tanager of humid tropical lowland forest, sometimes found at army ant swarms. Typically inhabits low to mid-levels of shady understory, as singles or pairs. Sexes look alike, with bushy gray head cleanly cut off from the rich yellow underparts and olive-green upperparts. Song is a rich squeaky warble, at times prolonged.

Small, perky antbird. Males are slate-gray with an often-concealed white patch on their backs and narrow white tail tips (lacking in the western subspecies). Females have an olive-gray back and are tawny-buff below. Found at the forest edge and in second growth, where it forages in pairs in the understory and is not normally associated with mixed-species flocks or army-ant swarms. The similar Dusky Antbird has a white tipped tail in the area of overlap with the western subspecies. The song is easy to recognize, a sharp, high, positively joyful “puh-wéedi-wéedi-wéedi-wéedi.”

Tiny warbler with a long bill and frequently cocked tail. Secretive, tending to stick to the brushy underlayer of hill and submontane forest. Often moves about solitarily, but can sometimes be found with mixed-species flocks, especially with small warblers and fulvettas. Green above and yellow below, with a pale gray throat. Somewhat resembles a Common or Dark-necked tailorbird, but only a fraction of the size, with a proportionally far longer bill, black eye-stripe, and bright orange forehead. Song is an extremely high-pitched tinkling series of whistled notes with an otherworldly quality. Calls include high descending trills and dry chittering.

A rather small woodland flycatcher that is easily overlooked. It is the only flycatcher in its range with a short white eyebrow and no wingbars. Also note the crisp white crescent below its eye and small black bill. Often detected by its song, which consists of several rapid, loud, slightly squeaky, descending notes (typically five): “Tsi-Tsi-Tsi-Tsi-Tsa”. It is most often found feeding high within the forest.