Bulletin 322 - Guatemala #8 - Cardinals, Manakins, Blackbirds, Wrens

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 different locations to see different species.

The 6.5" Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) is well known to North American birders. It is also a breeding bird in Guatemala. We had a pair feeding beside the road and here is the bright male with his brown wing patch.

Blue Grosbeak - male

Another member of the cardinal family was a life bird. The 5" Gray-throated Chat (Granatellus sallaei) is a gray backed bird with red belly and white flanks.

Gray-throated Chat - male

A pair of manakin species were seen as well. The 4.5" male White-collared Manakin (Manacus candei) is a black and white and yellow bird and an easy ID.

White-collared Manakin - male

The 9.5" male Long-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia linearis) is a black bird with a blue back and red cap. He has 2 long tail feathers. The females of both these manakins are dull olive colored.

Long-tailed Manakin - male

Every family seemed to come in pairs and so it was with blackbirds. The 20" male Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma) is an easy ID with the colorful face and 2 tone bill.

Montezuma Oropendola - male

His nest is parasitized by the 14" Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus). It is a black bird with a red eye. The female is smaller and browner.

Giant Cowbird - male

I also found 2 wren species. The 4.5" Northern Nightingale Wren (Microcerculus philomela) is a dark brown almost tailless wren that stays in dense shadows near the ground. It was a life bird for me to see.

Northern Nightingale Wren

The other was also a lifer. The 4" White-bellied Wren (Uropsila leucogastra) It is brown with white underparts. He never came into the open for a good photo.

White-bellied Wren

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

I have photos of 29 of the 53 species of cardinals

I have photos of 9 of the 52 species of manakins

I have photos of 45 of the 108 species of blackbirds

I have photos of 33 of the 86 species of wrens

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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Bulletin 257 - Costa Rica #2 - Thrushes, Blackbirds, Silky-flycatcher

I photographed 2 species of thrush on this trip. The first was the 6" Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus frantzii). This brown backed thrush has a ruddy crown. I had photographed him on the previous trip, but this time he was on a feeder and the photos were better.

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

 His cousin the 6" Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris) is very similar coloration but has an orange bill and orange eye ring and legs. I was pleased to get this photo as this bird is really secretive. I had spent about an hour each in my first Costa Rica trip and again in Guatemala and never saw the bird, only the bushes moving so never even got any photo. At one of the lodges, the bird comes to the bird bath every night at 5:30 and sure enough he showed up. It is so easy in the right location. Here he is on the lip of the bird bath. Interestingly, the northern birds have a brownish crown and the southern birds like this one have a gray crown.

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush

I also got the last 2 orioles I was missing for Costa Rica. The first is the 8" Black-cowled Oriole (Icterus prosthemelas). It is a yellow oriole with black head, back, tail and chest.

Black-cowled Oriole

The other was the 8" Streak-backed Oriole (Icterus pectoralis). This is an orange oriole with orange back streaked with black. This species showed up one time in the Houston area about a decade ago.

Streak-backed Oriole

I also got better photos of the huge Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma). The males are 20" long and the females 16". The birds have brown bodies, yellow tails, black heads with colorful bare spots on the face.

Montezuma Oropendola

The 10" all black Melodius Blackbird (Dives dives) is a recent colonizer of Coast Rica having expanded south from Nicaragua. It was first reported in Costa Rica in 1987 and is now found throughout the country.

Melodius Blackbird

The 8" Black-and-Yellow Silky-flycatcher (Phainoptila melanoxantha) is the last member of this small (4 species) family of birds that I needed to photograph. The male shown here has a black head, the female is duller with a gray head

Black-and-Yellow Silky-flycatcher - male

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.