Bulletin 387 - Colombia 2021 #4 - Warblers, Donacobius, Cardinal

  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.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northeast Colombia is the tallest coastal mountain range in the world and the tallest peak in Colombia. It is the most important area of endemism in the world with about 27 endemic species of birds. There are 3 warblers, 4 hummingbirds, and 2 sparrows among others. Naming them often leads to a Santa Marta species and another one Sierra Nevada same species. If a bird has either of these names, it is in the Santa Marta mountain range and endemic.

We saw all 3 endemic warblers, but I was unable to photo the Santa Marta Warbler as it is a skulker. The next 2 photos are Santa Marta endemics. The 5.5" White-lored Warbler (Myiothlypis conspicillatus) has an olive back, yellow breast and gray head with white eye-ring.

White-lored Warbler

The 5" Yellow-crowned Whitestart (Myioborus flavivertex) has a black face, all yellow below and yellow cap with white under the tail.

Yellow-crowned Whitestart

The 5" Slate-throated Whitestart (Myioborus miniatus) has a gray head, back and throat and a yellow belly. It is a potential split as the birds in northern Central America have a rusty belly.

Slate-throated Whitestart

Another potential split is the 5" Golden-fronted Whitestart (Myioborus ornatus). This bird is gray above, has a yellow cap and underparts and a white face. The birds in the western Andes, I photographed on my previous Colombia trip, have a yellow face.

Golden-fronted Whitestart

A new warbler name for many of you is the 5" Chestnut-capped Warbler (Basileuterus delattrii). This was split from the Rufous-capped Warbler in July 2021 - just before my trip.

Chestnut-capped Warbler

The 8" Black-capped Donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) is a bird that resembles a large wren and used to be included in the wren family. But now it is the only member of its own family. It is described as a skulker - more often heard than seen, but this bird landed right beside our boat, to give me my best ever photo of the species. It is an easy ID with the bright yellow eye.

Black-capped Donacobius

The 7.5" male Vermilion Cardinal (Cardinalis phoenicius) looks like our Northern Cardinal but with a taller crest and a white bill.

Vermilion Cardinal - male

The female is also similar to our female Northern Cardinal - but paler and with a white bill.

Vermilion Cardinal - female

We also saw the Rose-breasted Chat, another member in the cardinal family, in the Amazon portion of the trip - but I was unable to gat a photo.

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

I have photos of 77 of the 120 species of New world warblers.

I have photos of 30 of the 53 species of cardinals.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2021 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.