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 198 - Panama #6 - Toucans, barbets, saltators and sloths

Time for some more cool tropical birds. And what could be more typical of the neotropics than toucans. There are 47 species of toucans and all are in the Americas. They go by 3 names, toucans, aracaris and the little ones are toucanets.

Every child in the USA and Canada (maybe Europe as well) is familiar with the Fruit Loops bird. This is the Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus). The black body, yellow face and throat and multicolored bill are an easy ID. The bird is 19" long.

Keel-billed Toucan

The third species we found was the Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus). Aracaris have thinner more pointed bills and tend to be a little smaller. This bird is 16" long and has a 2 tone bill.

Collared Aracari

Closely related to the Toucans are the barbets. These birds have stout bills. There are 3 species in Panama and we saw just one, the Spot-crowned Barbet (Capito maculicoronatus). These small birds (6.5") are black above with black streaked flanks. The males shown here have white throats and a yellow breast band.

Spot-crowned Barbet - male

Here is a pair in a Cecropia tree. One has his head down showing the white spots on top of his head.




Spot-crowned Barbet - males

Saltators are heavy billed songbirds that formerly were in the Grosbeak and Cardinal family. But now their relationship is uncertain. We saw 2 of the 3 species in Panama. The Streaked Saltator (Saltator striatapectus) is 7" in length. The back is olive and the breast is streaked olive. The thick bill is black.
The sexes are similar.

Streaked Saltator

The Buff-throated Saltator (Saltator maximus) has an olive back, buff throat and gray breast.

Buff-throated Saltator

Sloths are mammals confined to the New World. There are 6 species. They are related to armadillos and anteaters. We saw only one, the Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni). Needless to say, if you find them, they are easy to photograph. Sloths are the main food for the Harpy Eagle.

Sloths have some peculiarities, compared to most mammals. Firstly, they have an unusual number of neck vertebrae. Almost all mammals have 7 cervical vertebrae from elephants and whales to giraffes. The few exception are manatees and two-toed sloths with only 6, and the three-toed sloths with 9. Additionally, on most mammals, the fur on their limbs grows towards the feet. Because sloths hang upside down in trees most of the time, their fur grows away from the feet to shed the rain. This can be seen in the first photo as well as the 2 toes.

Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth

Here is another photo showing his cute face.

Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2014 David McDonald

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