Speckled mourner

The speckled mourner (Laniocera rufescens) is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. It has traditionally been placed in the family Cotingidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where it is now placed by the SACC. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

The speckled mourner grows to a length of about 20 cm (8 in). It has a rounded head and a narrow yellow ring round the eye. The upper parts are reddish-brown with some barring on the wings, and the underparts are a similar colour, often with darker scaling. Males have a tuft of yellow feathers on the breast, but this is usually kept concealed. The rufous mourner (Rhytipterna holerythra) has similar colouring but has a differently-shaped head, a narrower-based beak (it is an insect-eater) and lacks the breast and wing markings. Another bird with which it could be confused is the rufous piha (Lipaugus unirufus), but that has a broader-based beak as befits an omnivorous diet, and more uniform colouring, with no yellow pectoral tuft.

This bird is of a retiring nature and seldom seen, but it makes its presence known with its clear, ringing song, a sequence of about a dozen repeated "Tleeyr, tleeyeei, tleeyeei, tleeyeei ...", sung from a low perch.