One of the fun parts of birding outside your home patch is observing birds that might be quite different, plumage-wise and even taxonomically, from the birds you see every day, but who are behaving like those more familiar birds. This *Sooty-capped Chlorospingus (Chlorospingus pileatus) reminded me ever so much of the Tufted Titmouses I see every day in my back yard. Noisy, gregarious, curious, and extremely active, this member of the sparrow tribe has a very restricted range in the highlands of Costa Rica and neighboring Panama. Formerly known as bush-tanagers (and the account for this species at the Birds of the World website still uses that name), recent research has resulted in their reclassification in the Passerellidae, the family that includes the sparrows that are familiar to North American birders. So they are not closely related to the titmouse, even though their behavior is very similar. Click here for larger image.

This one, however, is a true tanager. The *Silver-throated Tanager (Tangara icterocephala) has a larger range than the chlorospingus above (extending southward to Ecuador), and also seems to have adapted to forests in both the lowlands and highlands.  Click here for larger image.

Ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Furnariidae) are a species rich group of Neotropical passerines, and some of them can be difficult to ID in the field. Fortunately some of the confusing species have different habitats or elevational ranges, making ID easier in those situations. This is a *Spot-crowned Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes affinis), which picked a treebark background where it was even more cryptic than usual! Click here for larger image.

The cloud forest habitat where the woodcreeper is found is also a hotbed of mushroom diversity. All shapes, sizes, and colors of mushrooms can be found in the upper and moister reaches of the forest, along with many mosses and lichens. I don’t know the species name for this orange one, but is certainly stood out in that dim forest light. Click here for larger image.

I already included a shot of the *Volcano Hummingbird (Selasphorus flammula) in a previous batch, but they are so cute that I had to put in at least one more. You have to get above 6500 ft. in elevation (that’s 2000 m in commie-speak) to see these guys. Click here for larger image.

The Clay-colored Thrush (Turdus grayi) can be found just about anywhere in Central America, and even sometimes in Texas. It is the national bird of Costa Rica, where it is known as  Yigüirro. Robin-sized, it also behaves like an American Robin and sounds like an American Robin and, in fact, was listed in my field guide as a Clay-colored Robin when I saw my first one in Texas in 1981. Click here for larger image.

Another widespread resident of Costa Rica, with a range that extends south to Argentina, is the *Gray-cowled Wood Rail (Aramides cajaneus). Like many of the birds I saw in Costa Rica, it tended to stay in the shade most of the time, which is not ideal for photography. Click here for larger image.

The Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) is common from Mexico south to Tierra del Fuego (avoiding the Amazon rainforest), Indeed, in most of South America a more accurate term for it might be “ubiquitous”. Nonetheless, it is a very handsome species, very photogenic, and sometimes even accommodating enough to perch in the sunshine for a second or two.  Click here for larger image.

Wooded or scrubby areas from Texas to Argentina are good places to find White-tipped Doves (Leptotila verreauxi).  The species is named for the white tips on its outer tail feathers, which is unfortunately a feature of many other doves. The electric-blue orbital ring of this one seemed more extensive than usual; perhaps it could be renamed to the more precise “Crazy-eyed Dove”.  Click here for larger image.

A species with a much more accurate name, the Ruddy Gound Dove (Columbina talpacoti) can be found in southern Arizona or Texas; its range extends into lowland areas all the way south to Argentina. These small doves can produce four broods per year, so they are not in danger of extinction any time soon. Click here for larger image.