The mangroves on the coasts provide protection from erosion of beaches and shorelines. They also provide a unique ecosystem and habitat. There are several Costa Rica birds that use the mangrove habitat and many of them are named for it.
One morning the guide and I took a boat trip on a river on the Pacific coast to look for some of these species.
I had previously photographed the 5" Mangrove Swallow (Tachycineta albalinea) at quite a distance. This time a pair landed on the roof of the boat, so I was 12 feet from the bird! It is a beautiful swallow with snow white underparts, and a blue back. It has a distinctive white rump. Notice the small white line above the eye which gives the bird its scientific name.
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| Mangrove Swallow |
Next is the 5" Mangrove Warbler (Setophaga petechia) has been split from Yellow Warbler by the IOU but the AOU still considers it a subspecies. However, the song is different and the rufous head is really neat. The male has the red streaks on the underparts.
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| Mangrove Warbler - male |
The 4" Mangrove Hummingbird (Amazilia boucardi) is endemic to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. I only saw the female. the male would have a green throat.
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Mangrove Hummingbird - female
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Of course we saw some Kingfishers along the river as well. The 16" Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata) is the largest of the kingfishers in the Americas. It has a blue back and head with a bushy crest. The male has rufous underparts.
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| Ringed Kingfisher - male |
The female has a blue chest band.
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| Ringed Kingfisher - female |
The 5" American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chlorceryle aenea) is the smallest kingfisher in the Americas. It is green with rufous underparts. The female here has a green chest band. The male would be all rufous underneath. The white belly is another field mark of this tiny kingfisher.
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| American Pygmy Kingfisher - female |
The 9" Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) is brown bodied with a black head and neck and yellow bill and a yellow cap. It has long legs and long toes for walking on aquatic vegetation on the waters surface.
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| Northern Jacana |
The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) is dark with a white wing patch. The male is huge at 33" while the female is 25" long. They have that red knobly beak
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| Muscovy Duck |
The last bird is the 30" Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum). The adult is gray bodied with a striped neck and a yellow throat.
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron - adult |
The juvenile has a brown body and wings.
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron - juvenile |
Lastly is the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). It certainly needs no description to ID it.
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| American Crocodile |
Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald
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