David McDonald Photography: November 2015

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Bulletin 242 - Ecuador #5 - parrots and woodpeckers

This was my first visit to Ecuador. The country was as amazing as I had heard from other birders. The people are friendly and there was no trouble finding people who spoke English, to get directions in the airport etc.

The country is a tourist destination for all things nature. They have done a remarkable job setting aside large areas for national parks and preserves. Also, several private organizations have stepped in to buy up critical habitat to protect endangered species. I was amazed at how clean the countryside was. There was almost no litter along the highways as we drove from place to place.

Parrots as a group have suffered major population declines both from loss of habitat, and also from trapping for the pet trade. One of the critically endangered birds is the El Oro Parakeet (Pyrrhura orcesi). This rare parakeet was only discovered in 1980 and described and named by Robert Ridgely (coauthor of Birds of Ecuador) in 1988. It is named for El Oro province in southwest Ecuador. The Buenaventura Ecological Reserve, where we stayed, was established to protect this species. Apparently there were only 30 birds in 2003 when the reserve was established, but with protection from further deforestation and placing nest boxes, the population has climbed to 500+ according to my guide. It was a treat to see this rare endemic bird. If you look closely, you can see bands on both birds.

El Oro Parakeet
Buenaventura Reserve

Another parrot at Buenaventura is the 13" Red-masked Parakeet (Psittacara erthyrogenys). This bird was in a tree right outside the lodge. It is green with a mostly red head.

Red-masked Parakeet

A third at the same location is the 11" Bronze-winged Parrot (Pionus chalcopterus). It has unmistakable coloration with a dark blue body and bronze wings.

Bronze-winged Parrot

On the first day as we drove south along the Pacific coastal plain, we saw 2 more parrots. Both of them were at the preserve for the Horned Screamer. The first is the 8" Gray-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera). It is green with a gray face.

Gray-cheeked Parakeet

Parrotlets as the name suggests are small parrots the size of sparrows (4.5 - 6"). There are 15 species in 2 genera, touit and forpus. The 5" Pacific Parrotlet (Forpus coelestis) is just so cute. We saw a flock of perhaps 8 birds and I caught this one as he came in to land.

Pacific Parrotlet

The last photo I got was the White-eyed Parakeet (Psittacara leucophthalma). It is green with red spots on side of head and a white orbital ring. This was taken near Copalinga Lodge.

White-eyed Parakeet

Despite being in woods almost all the time, we only saw one woodpecker in the forest and I missed the photo, but it was one I already had. The 2 that I did get photos were in relatively open areas on the last day near Copalinga Lodge. The 7" Yellow-tufted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cruentatus) is black with yellow above the eye. The male has a red crown

Yellow-tufted Woodpecker - male

The female lacks the red crown.

Yellow-tufted Woodpecker - female

Nearby, we also found a 6" female Little Woodpecker (Veniliornis passerinus). She is brown back with striped underparts.

Little Woodpecker - female

Bird Families...I have grouped my photos online by country and/or trip report. I now have a substantial number of photos of birds in several of the families and I know sometimes you would just like to see more of them in 1 place.

Click the link to take you to the gallery. Then you can hit ALL to see all the species or just click on the top left photo to see the first photo and then click NEXT on the top or bottom right to scroll through.

Also, there is a SLIDE SHOW option that you can use that will scroll through all the photos automatically. This option is at the top right. You can select the interval of 1,3,5 or 10 seconds that each photo will be displayed, after you begin the slide show.

I have also put the scientific name and range of the bird below each photo. I will use the most colorful photo I have ...usually a male, but if I don't have that, then a female or juvenile.

Hummingbirds 72 species

Sandpipers 36 species

Plovers 10 species

Gulls, terns, skimmers 33 species

Trogons and Quetzals 7 species

New World Parrots 28 species

Woodpeckers 35 species

Tyrant Flycatchers 75 species

Thrushes 25 species

Tanagers 49 species

Cardinals 23 species

New World Warblers 64 species

Orioles, blackbirds 37 species

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2015 David McDonald

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Sunday, November 8, 2015

Bulletin 241 - Best of 10 years #9 - Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are unique in the bird world in that they can hover, fly backwards and fly upside down and even fly backwards while upside down. The are 345 species and all are in the New World. These sparkling birds are the jewels of the bird world and include the smallest bird. Hummers are favorites of birders and non-birders alike, who often try to attract them to their yards with feeders. I have photographed about 20% of all the hummer species and I have picked 14 for this bulletin.

There are 18 species in the the Sibley North American guide, 4 of which are vagrants from Mexico. The best place to see the many species in the USA is in southeast Arizona during late summer when up to a dozen species can occur. The first 2 here were taken in Arizona.

The Broad-billed Hummingbird has a bright blue throat and red bill.

Broad-billed Hummingbird - male

The Costa's Hummingbird has a bright purple throat and crown.

Costa's Hummingbird - male

My trip to Costa Rica in March 2015 produced several favorites. The first is the Black-crested Coquette. The male has a wispy black crest. Coquettes are target birds for all birders.

Black-crested Coquette - male

The tiny male Snowcap with his reddish-purple body and white top of head is another target bird in Costa Rica.

Snowcap - male

The Fiery-throated Hummingbird has the most amazing multi-colored gorget.

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

The large male Violet Sabrewing is a stunning purple with a contrasting white tail.

Violet Sabrewing - male

Another large hummer is the Magnificent Hummingbird. This photo was taken in Costa Rica, but this bird also can be found in Arizona. The male is a beautiful with his turquoise gorget and purple crown.

Magnificent Hummingbird - male

The Violet-headed Hummingbird produced a beautiful photo as he fed on a heliconia flower.

Violet-headed Hummingbird

The recent Ecuador trip also produced its share of favorites. The Long-tailed Sylph is the first of the hummers with long streamer tails I have found.

Long-tailed Sylph

This Brown Violetear posed right up close so all his feather detail could be seen.

Brown Violetear

The Violet-bellied Hummingbird sat on a leaf.

Violet-bellied Hummingbird - male

The Andean Emerald has snow white underparts. I just like his expression, the way his head is cocked up to the right.

Andean Emerald

Lastly, I have a couple of hummers from my yard. The first is a Buff-bellied Hummingbird that wintered in my yard for 6 years in a row.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

The other is a beautiful male Rufous Hummingbird who sat on a dead hibiscus leaf that matched his coloration.

Rufous Hummingbird - male

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Bulletin 240 - Ecuador #4 - Flycatchers

The tyrannidae family of birds known as tyrant flycatchers is the largest family of birds with about 430 species. All are in the New World. English names for that many species becomes a problem. There are phoebes, pewees, flycatchers, tyrants, and kingbirds. Because some of these are the smallest birds besides the hummingbirds, some are named for their small size. We have tody-flycatchers, tody-tyrants, tyrannulets, pygmy-tyrants, micro-tyrants, and nano-tyrants (just kidding on the last 2).

Any visit to tropical America will produce a dozen or more species of flycatchers. Many of them are rather drab, so I will just show some of the more unusual or colorful of them. The sexes are similar in most species.

The 5" Cinnamon Flycatcher (Pyrrhomyias cinnamomeus) is the sole member of that genus. It has bright cinnamon underparts and wing patches.

Cinnamon Flycatcher

The 4" Sooty-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias griseiceps) has a gray head and bright yellow underparts. There are no wing bars.

Sooty-headed Tyrannulet

The 7" Dusky-capped Flycatcher (Myiarchus tuberculifer) also occurs in the western USA. It is typical of the genus with gray head and throat, brown back and yellow belly. This bird appears to have had some tail feathers chewed off.

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

The 5" Ornate Flycatcher (Myiotriccus ornatus) is another monotypic genus. As its name suggests, it should be attractive. The gray head with white spot in front of the eye is distinctive.

Ornate Flycatcher

The 9" Long-tailed Tyrant (Colonia colonus) is black with a white crown and a couple of extended tail feathers. It is another monotypic genus.

Long-tailed Tyrant

The 4.75" Olive-chested Flycatcher (Myiophobus cryptoxanthus) is a rather dull flycatcher with wing bars. It had streaked brownish olive breast.

Olive-chested Flycatcher

There is a small group of 7 flycatchers called attilas (maybe for Attila the Hun?). The 8" Ochraceous Attila (Attila torridus) is bright rufous with black on the wings. It is listed as uncommon and the guide was excited that we found it.

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The 4" Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant (Lophotriccus pileatus) was a difficult bird to photograph. It kept moving around to the tape, but always landed behind leaves or branches, so that I never got a photo. Finally, when we were looking at another bird, one flew in and perched right in front on the camera. It is a cute little guy with an yellow-olive back, streaked white underparts, orange crest and white eye.

Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant