Worstbird

A medium-sized cuckoo, with a warm buff colored chest and belly. Bright yellow eyering and heavily barred tail. Take care to identify from Brush Cuckoo (which has a gray eyering), and from Pallid Cuckoo (which is paler and lacks the warm breast tones). Often detected by sound since this species calls frequently with a descending trill. Perches in the midstory on exposed branches, and flushes easily to a nearby perch.

Distinctive and attractive “finch” (actually a tanager); common in lowlands and foothills of central Chile and Argentina, uncommon south into Patagonia. Feeds on ground and often seen on gravel roadsides, lawns, and stony slopes, where it moves with a distinctive shuffling gait. Often in small flocks, associating readily with other seed-eating birds. Big white tail corners show in flight and when flushed off roadsides. Song of fairly loud, bright chips is given from perch such as atop a bush or wire.

A small bird of tangled undergrowth in lowland and foothill forest. White below with pale orange legs. Male has dark gray upperparts and a short white stripe behind each eye. Upperparts are dark brown in female with no head stripes. Female similar to Chestnut-tailed Jungle-Flycatcher, but has orange legs and a dark brown rather than chestnut tail. Song consists of short, varied whistled notes, often in a rising or falling series. Also gives single thin high downslurred whistles.

Ornate medium-sized woodpecker. Moss-green with blood-red wings and neck. Back edge of head and neck are brightened by a sunny yellow crest. Black-and-white “checker” throat is not particularly obvious. Prefers mature lowland and hill forests; seldom seen in secondary growth or sparsely-vegetated edge. Typically forages at mid-levels of forest, frequently singly but also in mixed flocks or pairs. Gives loud, insistent “nyeh” notes and a strident “choo-yik!”

Plain yellowish bird with a weak crest and pale brow; doesn’t look like any other tit. Darker above than below, but largely lacks eye-catching physical features. Often joins mixed-species flocks in small groups. Inhabits montane evergreen forests, where it sticks to the middle and upper levels of the vegetation. Calls are high and thin with a lisping quality; song is a series of one constantly repeated note.