Bulletin 400 - Colombia 2021 #17 - Night Birds and Toucans

 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.

Here is another milestone - my 400th bulletin since I started sending a few spring migration photos to a half dozen friends 14 years ago. So I have put a couple of my favorite families of birds in this issue.

Owls are one of my favorite subjects to photograph. We saw 3 owls on the trip and all were lifers. The 17" Stygian Owl (Asio stygius) I had missed on all my previous trips. So I was surprised to see this bird high in the Santa Marta mountains, in the pre-dawn fog, sitting right over the road in our headlights. In reading about this bird, his food is other sleeping birds.

Stygian Owl

Further up the mountain we stopped a couple of time to call in the 10" Santa Marta Screech Owl (Megascops gilesi). This is a newly described species in 2018. Our guide for this portion of the trip specializes in the Santa Marta region and he was the one who discovered a nest and described the species as separate from the Tropical Screech Owl. So it was a treat to see such a new species. This is the first time an owl did not turn to face the camera and the light for me.

Santa Marta Screech Owl

The next day as we left the Santa Marta range and stayed in a village at the bottom, the guide had a friend who took us outside of town after dark and we saw the 9" Tropical Screech Owl (Megascops choliba).

Tropical Screech Owl

Another night bird was the 16" Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus). They sleep during the day, often at the end of s broken branch so they become almost invisible. I had see this bird several times previously, but Martin was excited as it was a new family of birds for him and one he was hoping to see.

Common Potoo

We also saw hundreds of Sand-colored Nighthawks along the Orinco tributaries - all flying in the direction of Inirida - as the only lights in miles of jungle and the lights attracts the insects. We flushed a pair of Rufous Nightjars but I was not able to get a photo.

We also had the pleasure of seeing 5 species of Toucans. These colorful birds are a favorite of many people as kids grow up eating Fruit Loops with a toucan as the mascot for the brand.

The 19" Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) is the fruit loops bird on the cereal box. It is mostly in Central America but gets in Colombia along the northern coast.

Keel-billed Toucan

The 18" Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus) has a black or dark brown bill with a yellow stripe on the upper mandible.

Channel-billed Toucan

The 18" Black-billed Mountain Toucan (Andigena nigrirostris) is brown above and gray below.

Black-billed Mountain Toucan

Aracaris are smaller toucans with narrower, more pointed bills. The 15" Ivory-billed Aracari (Pteroglossus azara) is black above and several stripes below, along with a pale bill color.

Ivory-billed Aracari

Toucanets are smaller still. The 14" Groove-billed Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus sulcatus) is green with a bicolored bill. It is only found in the Santa Marta and adjacent ranges in Colombia.

Groove-billed Toucanet

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

I have photos of 36 of the 226 species of owls

I have photos of 17 of the 43 species of toucans

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2022 David McDonald

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Bulletin 280 - Colombia #3 - Marsh Birds, Cracids, Night Birds

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.

So the next of these most sought after birds is the 35"  Northern Screamer (Chauna chavaria). Screamers are a small family of just 3 species in South America. They are closely related to ducks and geese. We saw 2 pairs way out in a field. But they responded to the tape and flew closer. This bird is only found in Colombia and Venezuela. With the current political situation in Venezuela, Colombia is only place this species can be seen.They have a black body, white throat and red face with a wispy crest. It is #22 out of 30 on the above list.

Northern Screamer

Here is a bird in the air. Notice the spur on the leading edge of the wing.

Northern Screamer

We found a couple of waders. The 21" Bare-faced Ibis (Phimosus infuscatus) is a dark bodied ibis with a bare red face.

Bare-faced Ibis

The 49" Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) is similar to our Great Blue Heron. He is paler and lacks the rusty thighs of the Great Blue Heron

Cocoi Heron

The last of the marsh birds was a treat to see, a rail. The are usually so secretive, but this 12" Blackish Rail (Pardirallus nigricans) walked out of the reeds for his photo. He is brown above, black below with a long yellow bill.

Blackish Rail

The cracids are a new world family of large turkey like game birds with 55 species in 3 broad categories - chachalacas, guans and curassows. The curassows are the largest, most threatened and rarest. I have photos of only 1 curassow so far.

The 20" Colombian Chachalaca (Ortalis columbiana) is brown with a pale belly. It is endemic to Colombia.

Colombian Chachalaca

The 23" Sickle-winged Guan (Chamapetes goudotii) is brown above and rufous below.

Sickle-winged Guan

The 25" Cauca Guan (Penelope perspicax) is another Colombian endemic. It is listed as endangered. It is brown with speckling underneath and a red throat wattle.

Cauca Guan

The 2 nocturnal birds were both spectacular, despite the fact I did not get any owl photos, but not from lack of trying. The owls would just not respond to the tape. 

So here is the 16" Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus). Potoos are a small family of 7 species of birds in Latin America and the Caribbean, closely related to nightjars. What makes them unique is that they perch on top of a broken snag or tree and sit motionless all day sleeping, so as to become almost invisible. Here is a photo of a roosting bird I took in Panama 2 years ago.

So what  was so special about the Common Potoo here. Well, as well as roosting on the broken off tree, they lay their single egg in a depression on top of the snag as well. No nest is built.  We found a Common Potoo with the fluffy white baby both on top of a snag and sitting absolutely motionless. My guide had never seen a baby before, so this was a very rare find. I had to climb up about 100 feet on a 45 degree slope to get these photos.

Common Potoo with baby

Here is a close up of the baby. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Common Potoo - baby

The other nocturnal bird was a lifer, the 18" Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis). Oilbirds are a separate family themselves, but are also related to nightjars and potoos. However, the big difference is that they are fruit eaters. Also, they are unique in that they roost during the day in caves like bats. They also use echolocation similar to bats.. This was the first time in all my travels to be at an oilbird cave. Here is a bird on a ledge on the wall of the cave.

Oilbird

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.