Bulletin 269 - Ecuador 2016 #3 - Tanagers, cardinals and warblers

I have been asked to provide the location where the birds were found. I will try to provide proximity information, at least to the lodge where we stayed, when we saw the bird.

Shiripuno Lodge in Amazon  (SH)
Archidona a town on the east slope  (AR)
San Isidro Lodge at a higher elevation on east slope (SI)
Guango Lodge even higher on east slope (GU)
Puembo - a suburb of Quito at a B&B for birders (PU)
Antisana reserve on the paramo    (AN)
Yanacocha reserve   (YA)
Mindo area on west slope has several close reserves that we visited (MI)

At the end of each bird description, I will give the 2 letter code where the photo was taken.

We saw the beautiful tangara tanagers in Bulletin 267. Here are some other colorful tanagers. The 7" Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus igniventris) is mostly black and red with a blue wing patch and rump.  YA

Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager

The 7" Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus somptuosus) is black and yellow with blue wings and tail.    MI

Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager

The dacnis genus are a group of small tanagers. The 4.5" male Yellow-tufted Dacnis (Dacnis egregia) is black and turquoise with a yellow eye and yellow wing patch.   MI

Yellow-tufted Dacnis - male

A similar bird is the male 4.5" Black-faced Dacnis (Dacnis lineata) It is black and blue with a yellow eye.    SH

Black-faced Dacnis - male

The largest tanager I have encountered is the spectacular 9" White-capped Tanager (Sericossypha albocristata). This was perhaps the most exciting bird for my guide on the trip as this scarce bird was found only 30 feet off the road and stayed in the open for several minutes. It is black with a snow white cap. The male has a red throat and it is duller in the female. A short time later we saw a flock of 1/2 dozen birds at a distance.     SI

White-capped Tanager - female

The 7" male Red-hooded Tanager (Piranga rubriceps) is now in the cardinal family. It is yellow with dark wings and a red head and breast. The female has less red on the breast.  GU

Red-hooded Tanager - male

Another cardinal family member is the 8" Golden Grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysogaster). The female shown here is yellow with black wings and dusky cheeks, head and back. The male would be bright yellow and lacks the dusky markings.    YA

Golden Grosbeak - female

I photographed 1 new warbler species on the trip, the 5" Three-striped Warbler (Basileuterus tristriatus). It is olive above, yellow below and a black and white striped face.   SI

Three-striped Warbler

The last bird is the 5" Spectacled Redstart (Myioborus melanocephalus). It is a an easy ID with charcoal upper, bright yellow below and yellow spectacles. Note also the red cap.  GU

Spectacled Redstart

You can see more of these families of birds, as I have updated the families with the new photos.

I have photos of 80 of the 370 tanagers here.

29 of the 65 cardinal species can be viewed here.

And 69 of the 120 New World warblers can be seem here.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald

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Bulletin 238 - Ecuador #2 - Warblers and Vireos

The parulidae family of birds is the New World warblers. These are favorites of many birders around the world who come to see the spectacle of spring migration on the Gulf Coast and other inland locations as millions of these small birds make their way north to breed.

The IOU currently lists 120 species of warbler, but 2 species are likely extinct. The number of species has grown in the last 20 years through splits. The Yellow-rumped Warbler and Adelaide's Warbler were both split into 3 species and the Yellow-throated Warbler into 2 species. Several species have been removed and reclassified as well. Currently the Sibley's Guide lists 50 species that occur in North America and there are a few vagrants that pop up along the Mexican border from time to time.

I have photographed 64 of them. On the Ecuador trip, I got 7 new species and 6 were lifers.

The Olive-crowned Yellowthroat (Geothlypis semiflava) is olive above, yellow below and the male has the typical black mask.

Olive-crowned Yellowthroat - male

The Myiothlypis genus has 17 species of warblers. All but one are confined to South America. I photographed 4 of them. The Buff-rumped Warbler (Myiothlypis fulvicaada) also lives as far north as Honduras and this is the one that I had seen before but never photographed.

Buff-rumped Warbler

The Citrine Warbler (Myiothlypis luteoviridis) is olive above, yellowish below and has a bright yellow arc over the eye. This one was a surprise as I didn't know I had the photo until I got home. Anyone who has birded in the tropics will have seen these mixed flocks that suddenly show up and there may be a dozen active birds of 8 or more species. When that happens, I just try to get several photos of the birds while the guide is also trying to ID them. We didn't have this on the checklist at the end of the day, so he didn't see it.

Citrine Warbler

The Black-crested Warbler  (Myiothlypis nigrocristata) is olive above, streaked yellow below and has a black crown. He also has a black line through the eye.

Black-crested Warbler

The Gray-and-gold Warbler (Myiothlypis fraseri) is easily recognized by his name. He has a gray head and back and bright yellow underparts. This bird along with the Buff-rumped Warbler above were right outside the lodge at Buenaventura.

Gray-and-gold Warbler

The Spectacled Redstart (Myioborus melanocephalus) was in the mist in the cloud forest at Tapichalaca. He has a black head with rufous crown, gray back, and yellow underparts and spectacles.

Spectacled Redstart

The final species was the Three-banded Warbler (Basileuterus trifasciatus). It is olive above, yellow below and has a striped head and face

Three-banded Warbler

To see all of the warblers I have photographed, go to the Warbler family section with this link.

The vireo family has 63 species all but 10 of which are in the New World. Most of them are rather drab. I photographed 2 new ones on the Ecuador trip.

The first is the Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis). I first saw this bird in my initial visit to the tropics in Belize in 1993 and the name always stuck in my head. I was pleased to finally get a photo of it. It is colorful with olive back, yellow throat and rufous above the eye. He has a very thick bill as well.

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

The Olivaceous Greenlet (Hylophilus olivaceus) is olive above, yellow below and a bright orange eye.

Olivaceous Greenlet

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2015 David McDonald

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