Xenornis

Michael Gaston Harvey sent in the following report: I'm not sure if anyone still recieves these reports, but I thought some sightings from the last few months in El Valle/Altos del Maria would be of interest. I, along with Danilo Rodriguez and various other people, have found several unexpected species to be present and even common in the right habitat in this area. Barred Hawk, Black Guan, Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, White-tipped Sicklebill, Green Thorntail, Rufous-crested Coquette, White-tailed Emerald, Snowcap, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, Orange-bellied Trogon, Tody Motmot, Blue-throated Toucanet, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, White-throated Spadebill, White-thighed Swallow, Ochraceous Wren, Pale-vented Thrush, and Blue Seedeater all seem to be present fairly reliably, many of them in numbers. Other species seen on occasion include Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Black-crowned Antpitta, and Rufous-browed Tyrannulet. The Mountain-Gem, Snowcap, Spinetail, Barbtail, and Wre...

On the first official day of the PAS fieldtrip to Santa Fe, Satuday, July 15th, 2000, we were joined by the rest of the group: Amalia Herrera, Cora Herrera and José Tejada. Early in the morning we saw a female Bare-necked Umbrellabird on one of the small trails that enter the forest from the road to the left after the Alto de Piedra school. It perched on a stick right next to the trail allowing for close inspection by the group. It was black overall, with a short bushy crest that gave its head a flat-topped appearance. It did not utter a sound, or do much apart from changing perches twice before disappearing into the foliage. Following the same trail we had a mixed flock with both Three-striped and Golden-crowned Warblers, and further in Rosabel saw a female Black-and-white Becard on another flock. On Satuday, July 15th, 2000, the PAS group on Santa Fe walked down the main road towards the continental divide in search of a Harpy Eagle [sic] nest. Apparently the road was cut in the dry ...