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

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Bulletin 282 - Colombia #5 - Wrens, Donacobius, and Thrushes

Pablo Florez, the main guide, has co-written a book where to bird in Colombia. In it, he has a list of the Top 30 Most Sought-after Birds by a group of 40 birders visiting Colombia. I saw 12 of them on the trip and got photos of 10. When I show one of these birds,  I will mention its placement on the list.

None of the birds in this bulletin are on the top 30 list, but several are very uncommon. or endangered.

The wrens are a family of small brown, usually secretive, birds with 86 species. All but one are in the New World. The forest wrens of Latin America in general are hard to see and photograph, so I was pleased to photo 4 new species on this trip and 6 overall. The sexes are similar for the wrens.

The first is the common 4" House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). This wren has the greatest range of any wren and can be found from southern Canada, all the way to southern Chile and several Caribbean islands as well. It is rather plain with just a faint eye stripe.

House Wren

The 6" Black-bellied Wren (Pheugopedius fasciatoventris) had his eye hidden by a leaf, but his distinctive white throat and breast and black belly are clearly seen. This bird has a range form Costa Rica to Colombia, but it was a lifer for me.

Black-bellied Wren

The 6" Chestnut-breasted Wren (Cyphorhinus thoracicus) is one of 3 members of this genus with the other 2 being the extremely difficult to see Musician Wren and Song Wren. This bird sang in response to the tape, but stayed very hidden down a slope. Finally, we found a window through the leaves  to get a photo. This was another lifer.

Chestnut-breasted Wren

The 4" Gray-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys) has a range from Mexico to Bolivia with several sub species that may be split in the future. It is rufous above with black streaked face and streaked gray breast.

Gray-breasted Wood Wren

His cousin is the extremely rare, endemic 4" Munchique Wood-Wren (Henicorhina negreti). After doing the research for this bulletin, I was delighted to have obtained a photo of this bird. It was only described as a new species in 2008. It has a tiny range in the cloud forest of the western Andes. There are estimated to be only 300 pairs and so is listed as critically endangered. It is one of only 16 birds in Colombia that have this rarest designation. This photo was taken at the summit of Tatama National Park.

Munchique Wood Wren

15 minutes after this photo, I got another lifer, the 6" Sharpe's Wren (Cinnycerthia olivascsns). This bird has a range from Colombia to Peru. It is plain brown all over.

Sharpe's Wren

The colorful 8" Black-capped Donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) was formerly placed in the wren family, but now it has been moved to its own family. It is described as a vocal and noisy bird, more often heard than seen. I have seen it on a number of birding trips. The black cap, dark brown back and tail, beige underparts and yellow eye, make this bird an easy ID.

Black-capped Donacobius

Thrushes are familiar birds to everyone and in USA and Canada, the American Robin is the classic thrush. There are 165 species worldwide. The 12" Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater) has a range from western Venezuela to western Bolivia. It is dark gray with a bright orange bill and feet. It is large, common and easy to see.

Great Thrush

The 8.5" Black-billed Thrush (Turdus ignobilis) is the most common thrush is Colombia and occurs in open areas, towns etc, so is easily seen. It is brown above and grayish below.

Black-billed Thrush

This 9" Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) was on her nest right beside the road we were walking along. It is gray brown above and gray below with a yellow bill.

Pale-breasted Thrush - on nest

The last bird is the 8" Black Solitaire (Entomodestes coracinus). This bird is black with a distinctive white cheek patch. Its range is Colombia to Ecuador in the western Andes. It is described as shy, solitary and heard more often than seen. In Hilty's 1986 guide book, he states that this bird is 'inordinately wary and difficult to see and usually only is glimpsed as it flies rapidly across small forest openings'. This bird was also at the summit of Tatama National Park. The guide heard one fly close and it landed. There was a window and I got a single photo before it left. The guide still has no photo of this bird. The guide told me that a previous birder spent an entire day looking for this bird and never saw it. So my birding luck continues to be outstanding. Needless to say, this was another lifer.

Black Solitaire

I have updated the thrush family photos and have 35 of the 180 species here.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald

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