Bulletin 410 - Colombia 2022 #7 - Puffbirds, Barbets, and Toucans

I was planning to go to Peru in 2022 but there were riots and road closures in the areas we were planning to go. So at the last minute I went back to Colombia and saw some other places. 

Unfortunately, there was a lot of overlap, so I did not get a lot of new birds on the trip. However, many areas now have set up feeding stations and several were built for photography. I used the same guide Pablo Florez and I had my daughter with me on the trip this year.

However on the bright side, the setups for photography and the number of places that had feeders allowed me to get many improved photos of birds I had not so good photos before.

Puffbirds, barbets and toucans are closely related families of birds - all in the order piciformes.

We saw 2 puffbirds - both in the Choco region of Colombia. The Choco is the Pacific slope of Colombia and northern Ecuador. 

The 5" Lanceolated Monklet (Micromonacha lanceolata) is probably the smallest puffbird. It has a range from Costa Rica to Bolivia - but is described as uncommon and inconspicuous. I had seen it at least once before, but it was well hidden and far away, so I was unable to get a photo. Well this time I hit the jackpot. We were on the main street of the little village and the guide heard it calling. He played the tape and the bird flew and landed on powerlines right beside us. My amazing luck was working today. He is sooo cute. The guide book says he takes very large prey for such a tiny bird, including lizards and snakes! This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Lanceolated Monklet

The 8" Black-breasted Puffbird (Notharchus pectoralis) IDed by the location and the wide breast band. This was a lifer for me.

Black-breasted Puffbird

The 7" female Five-colored Barbet (Capito quinticolor) was another target bird as it is endemic to the Choco region of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. I did not see a male with the 5 colors, but at least I photographed a female. This was, of course, a lifer.

Five-colored Barbet - female

The 6" male Red-headed Barbet (Eubucco bourcierii) is a beautiful bird and an easy ID. I had seen it many times but not so close as at this location.

Red-headed Barbet - male

The 9" Toucan Barbet (Semnornis ramphastinus) is in a 2 species family between the barbets and toucans as the name implies. It is an easy ID with all the colors.

Toucan Barbet

At this location, the birds were being fed and they were excavating a nest in a tree 3 feet above where we were standing. Here is a photo the bird has with a mouth full of the wood from the nest hole.

Toucan Barbet

So now we come to the toucans, which are a favorite of many people - birders and non-birders alike due to their huge size and gaudy colors. All these were at places where they were being fed - so have amazing close-up pics.

The 13" White-throated Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta) is a green toucan with a white throat. It is one of the multiple splits of the 'Emerald Toucanet'.

White-throated Toucanet

The 14" Crimson-rumped Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus hematopygus) is green with a dark red bill.

Crimson-rumped Toucanet

And here he is showing his field mark.

Crimson-rumped Toucanet

The big toucans have been trained to come and eat grapes! Wow what a treat to see these birds almost within arms length.

The 18" Black-billed Mountain Toucan (Andigena nigrirostris) I had seen at long distance before, but this was amazing! These are my favorite photos, when I can see the individual feather detail.

Black-billed Mountain Toucan

His cousin, the 18" Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan (Andigena hypoglauca) was a lifer and we were watching, as they were being hand fed grapes by the staff.

Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan

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

I have photos of 13 of the 38 species of Puffbirds.

I have photos of 5 of the 15 species of New World Barbets

I have photos of 2 of the 2 species of Toucan Barbets

I have photos of 18 of the 43 species of Toucans

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 409 - Colombia 2022 #6 - Warblers, Cardinals, Thrushes, Wren

 I was planning to go to Peru in 2022 but there were riots and road closures in the areas we were planning to go. So at the last minute I went back to Colombia and saw some other places. 

Unfortunately, there was a lot of overlap, so I did not get a lot of new birds on the trip. However, many areas now have set up feeding stations and several were built for photography. I used the same guide Pablo Florez and I had my daughter with me on the trip this year.

However on the bright side, the setups for photography and the number of places that had feeders allowed me to get many improved photos of birds I had not so good photos before.

I only saw 3 warblers on the trip and none were new to me. The 5.3" Black-crested Warbler (Myiothlypis nigrocristatus) is an all yellow-olive warbler with a black cap.

Black-crested Warbler

His cousin is the 5.5" Russet-crowned Warbler (Myiothlypis coronatus). He is yellow with a gray head and orange central stripe.

Russet-crowned Warbler

The last one is the beautiful 5" Golden-fronted Whitestart (Myioborus ornatus). He is gray backed and a bright yellow face and underparts. And as he is a whitestart, he has white edges on his tail.

Golden-fronted Whitestart

There were 2 cardinal species for the trip. Both of these were formerly in the tanager  family. The 7" male Crested Ant Tanager (Habia cristata) sure looks like our Northern Cardinal.

Crested Ant Tanager - male

The other is the 7" Tooth-billed Tanager (Piranga lutea). It it looks familiar to you, it is not surprising as the Hepatic Tanager complex was split into 3 species - this is one of them and I did not know the name when the guide told me this bird. There is still some controversy about this 3 way split, but IOC has done it. So if the split is upheld - it is a lifer for me.

Tooth-billed Tanager - male

There were also 2 thrushes for the trip. Both I had seen previously. The 9" Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) is a brown backed thrush with gray underparts.

Pale-breasted Thrush

His cousin the 8.5" Black-billed Thrush (Turdus ignobilis) is similar but white below and a black bill.

Black-billed Thrush

Lastly is the cute 4" Grass Wren (Cistothorus platensis). Again, this is a split from the Sedge Wren complex and many more splits are proposed as the 'Sedge Wren' had many subspecies from Canada to Argentina and the Falkland Islands.

Grass Wren

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

I have photos of 77 of the 120 species of Warblers

I have photos of 31 of the 53 species of Cardinals

I have photos of 53 of the 170 species of Thrushes

I have photos of 38 of the 86 species of Wrens

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald

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