Bulletin 394 - Colombia 2021 #11 - Tanagers Pt 1

 I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.

Tanagers are a large New World family of mostly colorful birds. They include seedeaters, conebills, tanagers, flowerpiercers etc. Any birding trip to the tropics will find a large number of them.

The 5" Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola) is a fairly common bird from Costa Rica south into northern Amazonia. They usually have an aqua underside, but the Santa Marta range toddi subspecies is green. This is a likely future split.

Bay-headed Tanager
toddi ssp in Santa Marta range

The 7" Santa Marta Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus melanogenys) is a Santa Marta endemic and an easy ID with the blue back, yellow underside and black face.

Santa Marta Mountain Tanager

But the most exciting tanager we found in Santa Marta was the skulking 5.5" Plushcap (Catamblyrhynchus diadema). This is not an endemic to Santa Marta - but the only pair we saw and they flew across the trail and landed at eye level 8 feet away. The ID is easy if you are fortunate to see this bird.

Plushcap

Saltators are a group of tanagers that used to be in the cardinal family. The 8" Blue-grey Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) is a mostly grey bird with a white eye stripe.

Blue-grey Saltator

The 8" Olivaceous Saltator (Saltator olivascens) is similar and was split form the above species - but is a lighter grey and lacks the stripe over the eye.

Olivaceous Saltator

The 8" Orinocan Saltator (Saltator orenocensis) is dark above with a black face and rusty flanks and bright white stripe over the eye.

Orinocan Saltator

The 6" male Plumbeous Sierra Finch (Phrygilus unicolor) is a cute little bird of the paramo. The female is brown and streaky like a sparrow.

Plumbeous Sierra Finch - male

The 4.5" Grey Pileated Finch (Coryphospingus pileatus) is a rather dull greyish bird with  a pink bill.

Grey Pileated Finch

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 114 of the 385 species of tanagers

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2022 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 393 - Colombia 2021 #10 - Hummingbirds - Pt 2

  I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.

There are over 160 species of hummingbirds in Colombia! We saw many species with some rare and endemic ones.

The 4.25" male Blue-throated Starfrontlet (Coeligena helianthea) is a 'fancy one' to quote our guide Pablo. He has a pink belly and blue rump.

Blue-throated Starfrontlet - male

The female is duller with a spotted breast and belly. She has on orange throat.

Blue-throated Starfrontlet - female

Their cousin, the 4.5" White-tailed Starfrontlet (Coeligena phalerata) is endemic to the the Santa Marta mountains. He is green with a conspicuous white tail - an easy ID in that range.

White-tailed Starfrontlet

Woodstars are tiny hummingbirds. The 2.25" male Santa Marta Woodstar (Chaetocercus astreans) is the only woodstar in the Santa Marta range. They sit on top of the trees, so difficult to get a good photo. But he is a green hummer with a red throat and forked tail.

Santa Marta Woodstar - male

The female is buffy below with a square tail.

Santa Marta Woodstar - female

The 2.75" female White-bellied Woodstar (Chaetocercus mulsant) is green backed, mostly white below and rusaty flanks. The male has a purple throat.

White-bellied Woodstar - female

The 3.5" Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) is dull brown with the characteristic purple cheek feathers. The sexes are similar.

Brown Violetear

His cousin the 4.75" Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans) is a stunning bird as all his feathers truly sparkle. The sexes are similar. I always enjoy seeing this hummer.

Sparkling Violetear

The 3" male Tyrial Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina) is green with a bluish throat and reddish tail. 

Tyrial Metaltail - male

The female is paler with an orange throat. However, this is the Santa Marta subspecies (districta).It is a likely split.

Tyrial Metaltail - female Santa Marta ssp

The 3.5" male Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica)  has a green throat and chest and blue crown, belly and back. A real stunner!.

Crowned Woodnymph - male

The 4.5" male Lazuline Sabrewing (Campylopterus fulcatus) is a green hummer with a blue throat. He has a curved bill.

Lazuline Sabrewing - male

Lastly was a treat - the 3" male Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird (Chyrsolampis mosquitus). This bird has a red head and nape of neck along with  an orange throat. This was a lifer for me.

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird - male

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 136 of the 359 species of hummingbirds.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2021 David McDonald

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