Bulletin 316 - Guatemala 2018 #2 - Thrushes, Tanagers, Warblers

I went for a third visit to Guatemala in May. Once again, I used the wonderful local guide Knut Eisermann of Cayaya Birding. On this visit, we went to new locations to get different species.

Thrushes are one of my favorite family of songbirds as many are amazing singers and some are colorful. Growing up in Canada, it was always a treat to see the first American Robins as they announce spring.

On this trip I picked up the last 3 thrushes to be found in Guatemala. The 6" Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus mexicanus). It is a brown backed bird with black head and red bill, eye ring and legs.

Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush

The 9" male Black Thrush (Turdus infuscatus) is a plump black bird with yellow bill and orange legs.

Black Thrush - male

The female is brownish.

Black Thrush - female

The solitaires are generally the most difficult of the thrushes to see and photo. However I lucked in with this 8" Slate-colored Solitaire (Myadestes unicolor) as he sat and sang incessantly. he is an easy ID as he is uniformly gray with a broken white eye ring.

Slate-colored Solitaire

I got 2 amazing tanagers on the trip. The first is the beautiful 7" Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata). This is a yellow bird with all gray head. This bird follows army ant swarms and unless you have some ants, you will never see it. I saw it first in Costa Rica but did not get a photo. This time he hung around the ants and I got him!

Gray-headed Tanager

The 8" male Black-throated Shrike-Tanager (Lanio aurantius) is a black and yellow bird similar to our orioles. I did not see a female, but she is brownish.

Black-throated Shrike-Tanager - male

The saltators, which were in the cardinal family, have been moved to the tanager family. The 9" Grayish Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) is gray overall with a white eye strip and throat, and rufous belly and undertail.

Grayish Saltator

There were also a couple of warblers for the trip. The 4.5" Crescent-chested Warbler (Oreothlypis superciliosa) is gray with greenish back, yellow underparts, dark red chest spot and gray head with white eye stripe. This is my best photo of this bird.

Crescent-chested Warbler

This was my most difficult warbler ever to photograph.On my trip last year, we spent an entire day from dawn to dusk trying to photograph this species. Despite seeing several of them, none would sit still in the open long enough for me to get a pic. My guide Knut knew how frustrated I was and he told me he found a new location where the birds were a little more cooperative. Bingo success. Here is the 6" Fan-tailed Warbler (Basileuterus lachrymosus), If his Latin species name means tears, then he is well named.

Fan-tailed Warbler

And another photo, I was so excited to finally take this one off my bucket list.

Fan-tailed Warbler

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

I have photos of 42 of the 167 species of thrushes

I have photos of 103 of the 384 species of tanagers

I have photos of 74 of the 120 species of new world warblers

Happy birding and photography,


David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 296 - Guatemala 2017 #2 - Warblers and Vireos

I went for a second visit to Guatemala at the end of May. Once again, I used the wonderful local guide Knut Eisermann of Cayaya Birding. On this visit, we concentrated on the western highlands and Pacific lowlands along the Mexican border, as several Mexican species just make it into Guatemala here. I had a list of 10 species in particular I wanted to see and we got 9 of the 10 and saw the other, but I was not able to get a photo of the bird.

There were 3 target warbler species for the trip. The first was the absolutely stunning 5" Golden-browed Warbler (Basileuterus belli). It is hands down the most beautiful warbler I have seen so far.

Golden-browed Warbler

The second was the 5.5" Goldman's Warbler (Setophaga goldmani). If you are not familiar with this bird yet, it is part of the split of Yellow-rumped Warbler, but the AOU hasn't accepted it yet, although the IOU has. It is shown in current guide books. It has a black head, back and breast with a yellow throat.

Goldman's Warbler - male

The female is streaked below rather than solid black.

Goldman's Warbler - female

The third was the Fan-tailed Warbler. But despite chasing it for an entire day and seeing it flying around, it never alighted long enough to get a photo.

We also saw several other warblers. The 4.5" Crescent-chested Warbler (Oreothylpis superciliosa) is olive with a white eye stripe, yellow breast and rufous spot in yellow.

Crescent-chested Warbler

We again saw the fabulous 5" Pink-headed Warbler (Cardellina versicolor). It has a pink head and bright red body.

Pink-headed Warbler

The last was the 5" Grace's Warbler (Setophaga graciae). This bird is a target bird for southeast  Arizona, but its range extends south to Nicaragua

Grace's Warbler

We also found 3 vireo species, 2 of which I had seen and but had poor photos. The 5" Mangrove Vireo (Vireo pallens) is similar to our White-eyed Vireo with yellow spectacles and wing bars, As his name suggests, he inhabits mangroves on both coasts in Middle America from Mexico to Costa Rica.

Mangrove Vireo

And another photo of the same bird.

Mangrove Vireo

The 5" Brown-capped Vireo (Vireo leucophyrs) has a light brown back and dark brown cap. His range is Mexico to Bolivia.

Brown-capped Vireo

We also saw a 7" Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo (Vireolanius melitophrys). .This bird is very distinctive with a yellow green back, gray cap, black line through the eye and yellow stripe above the eye. He also has a chestnut collar and streaking on his flanks. He stays in the canopy of the trees. His range is in mountains from central Mexico to Guatemala. He was a lifer for me. The first shows his head pattern.

Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo

And this shows his back.

Chestnut-sided Shrike-Vireo

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy perusal.

I have photos of 73 of the 120 New World warblers.

And I have photos of 23 of the 63 worldwide vireos.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2017 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 251 - Guatemala #2 - warblers and tanagers; 2 Houston Owls

First I have to apologize to my guide Knut Eisermann, as I called him Kurt in last weeks newsletter. 

I photographed 4 new warblers, 2 of which are vagrants to the USA. The Pink-headed Warbler (Cardellina versicolor) has a red body and pinkish head. It is found at high elevations. It was one of my target birds for the trip. It just so happened that the sunrise pink sky was behind the bird and I didn't notice that until looking at my photos in the evening.

Pink-headed Warbler

The Crescent-chested Warbler (Oreothlypis superciliosa) was a tough bird to photograph as he stayed in the canopy almost directly overhead. The gray back, yellow breast and brown crescent on the yellow are the ID marks.

Crescent-chested Warbler

The Golden-crowned Warbler (Basileuterus culicivorus) is a vagrant to south Texas. It is gray above and yellow below with a striped head with a central gold stripe.

Golden-crowned Warbler

Lastly is the other vagrant to south Texas, the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat (Geothlypis poliocephala). It is olive above, bright yellow below, with a gray head and small black mask.

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat

I also got a nice photo of a Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus). This bird is gray above with a red crown and red below. Of interest is the color variation in different parts of the range. The northern birds in Mexico and Guatemala have a red belly, while further south in Costa Rica the birds have a yellow belly. Click this link to see the difference.

Slate-throated Redstart

I also got a few new tanagers. The 4.25" White-collared Seedeater (Sporophila torqueola) is a vagrant to Texas as well. The male is black and white and the female brownish.

White-collared Seedeater - male

We have met flowerpiercers before. Theses tanagers have a hooked beak to tear open the base of flowers to get the nectar directly. The Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer (Diglossa baritula) is found in Mexico and northern Central America and is the most northerly species of flowerpiercers. The male is gray with cinnamon below. the female is brownish. This is a juvenile male who has not quite molted to full adult plumage.

Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer - juvenile male

The 7" Yellow-winged Tanager (Thraupis abbas) is bluish purple with a bright yellow patch on black wings.

Yellow-winged Tanager

The last is the 6" Azure-rumped Tanager (Tangara cabanisi). This bird is endangered as it is only found in Chiapas Mexico and the Pacific slope in Guatemala. Much of its habitat has been converted to coffee plantations.

Azure-rumped Tanager

Lastly of local interest to Texas, there is a Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) at Anahuac NWR that is readily seen. This is only the third of this species I have seen here in 25 years. He is 30 feet away from the road and thus easy to see. Here are the directions in case the Visitor's Center isn't open.

Proceed down the main road towards Frozen Point. Once you come to the
bay, there are several pullouts for parking for fishing. At the third
one, park by the handicapped marked spot. Just across the road beyond
the fence is a 3x5 slab of concrete with the right front corner
broken. He is roosting under the slab and can be seen at that corner.

Here are 2 photos of this neat little (9.5") owl.

Burrowing Owl
Anahuac NWR

And here he is standing up.

Burrowing Owl
Anahuac NWR

I also got photos of a Barred Owl (Strix varia) in my back yard last night.

Barred Owl

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.