Bulletin 299 - Guatemala 2017 #5 - Guan, Motmots, Quetzal and others

I went for a second visit to Guatemala at the end of May. Once again, I used the wonderful local guide Knut Eisermann of Cayaya Birding. On this visit, we concentrated on the western highlands and Pacific lowlands along the Mexican border, as several Mexican species just make it into Guatemala here. 

One of my target birds for this trip was the 33" Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus). It is resident in mountains in Chiapas Mexico and adjacent Guatemala at elevations 5,000 to 7,500 feet. In Guatemala it is listed as rare and local. But wherever you look for it, usually involves hiking up mountain trails a considerable distance. However, there is one place where you can drive up the mountain and only have a 150 elevation hike to get to see the bird. It is black with a white chest and a red horn on his head. What the use of the horn is I have no idea except a decorative feature. The sexes are similar and it was a lifer. We saw 3 or 4 different birds over 2 days.

Horned Guan

And a frontal view. He also has a whitish eye and yellow beak.

Horned Guan

We saw 2 motmots on the trip. The 10.5" Blue-throated Motmot (Aspatha gularis) is green with a blue throat and black spot behind eye and on chest. It does not have a racquet tail. This was my second time to see this bird. It is a resident of southern Mexico to Honduras.

Blue-throated Motmot

The other was a lifer, the 13" Russet-crowned Motmot (Momotus mexicanus) He is mostly bluish-green with a brown crown and a black spot on the chest. He does have a raquet tail. It is a resident of western Mexico to western Guatemala.  There are 14 species of motmot and he was the tenth that I have photographed.

Russet-crowned Motmot

The beautiful Resplendat Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a mythical bird of central America that even non birders want to see. It was sacred to the Mayan people and the Guatemala currency is called the quetzal. The male has very long tail feathers, but the female lacks them. We visited a quetzal reserve where they tracked a couple of nests. One pair had left already and at the second nest, the male had left a day before with the first baby to fledge, while the female stayed with the second baby. We watched her bringing food to the nest hole and feed the baby.

Resplendant Quetzal - female

Here she is by the nest hole.

Resplendant Quetzal - female

And here is the baby.

Resplendant Quetzal - baby

The only toucan we saw was the 14" Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorynchus prasinus). The Emerald Toucanet complex was a confusing group of birds as they were split into 7 species and then several were lumped back together after DNA analysis, so there are 4 species now from the original Emerald Toucanet of 20 years ago. This is the bird retaining the name and is a resident from eastern Mexico to Nicaragua. I had seen this bird in Belize on my first trip to the tropics.

Emerald Toucanet

The last bird was a cuckoo. We are all familiar with the cartoons of the coyote and the Greater Roadrunner. Many of us have seen the Greater Roadrunner in the southwestern USA. Well if there is a Greater Roadrunner, there has to be a Lesser Roadrunner (Geococcyx velus). He is very similar, but only 18" in length compared to 23" for his cousin. He is resident from Mexico to Nicaragua. He was another life bird for me.

Lesser Roadrunner

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing.

I have photos of 15 of the 55 chacalacas and guans

And I have photos of 10 of the 14 motmots.

And I have photos of 14 of the 43 trogons and quetzals.

And I have photos of 15 of the 47 toucans.

And I have photos of 13 of the 147 cuckoos.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2017 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.