Bulletin 259 - Costa Rica #4 - Raptors and other large birds

I had been surprised that I had seen so few raptors on previous tropical trips, but this trip made up for it.

The adult 22" Common Black-Hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) is an all black robust hawkwith a white band on the tail.

Common Black-Hawk - adult

The juvenile is brown and the breast heavily streaked.

Common Black-Hawk - juvenile

His opposite is the 23" White Hawk (Pseudaster albicollis). He is all white except a few black stripes on his wings and tail

White Hawk

The 15" Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) is a very common hawk in the Americas with a range from Mexico to Argentina. I was surprised that I had not a photo previously except a very distant one. This trip there was one beside the road and I took photos out the window of the car. The bird is IDed by the gray head and brown streaked chest and belly.

Roadside Hawk

The tiny 9" Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) has been expanding its range from Amazonia recently and was first reported in Costa Rica in the mid 1990s and now is into Nicaragua.

Pearl Kite

This 16" Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima) was sitting in the road and just flew up to a fence post beside the road. I took this photo out the window and just got a head shot as I was so close. 

Yellow-headed Caracara

I got 1 new toucan on this trip, the 17" Fiery-billed Aracari (Pteroglossus frantzii). The red and black bill IDs this bird.

Fiery-billed Aracari

A pair of 22" Black-mandibled Toucans (Ramphastos ambiguus) were in a tree and decided to get into a disagreement and locked bills in the dispute.

Black-mandibled Toucans

And another photo

Black-mandibled Toucans

I got better photos of 2 cracids this trip as well. The 24" Black Guan (Chamaepetes unicolor) came to the feeder at the first lodge.

Black Guan

The 20" Gray-headed Chachalaca (Ortalis cinereiceps) also showed up at a feeder at another location. It is brown with a gray head and neck and rufous on the wings.

Gray-headed Chachalaca

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald


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Bulletin 203 - Panama #11 - Raptors and Owl

I was disappointed at how few numbers of raptors that we saw on the 1 week Panama trip. We saw several different species, but usually only 1 or 2 individuals. Several of the really cool looking ones that I had seen on previous tropical trips were not seen at all.

We photographed 3 species of the falcon and caracara family. The smallest (9") was our familiar American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). This species is IDed by the 2 vertical black lines on the head. This is a male as he has gray wings. This is my best photo ever of this species, so I always take their photo even if I have already some good ones.


American Kestrel - male

The Northern Caracara (Caracara cheriway) is a large (23") raptor. It occurs throughout Central America as well as the southern USA (FL, AZ, TX). There was an old turtle shell on the ground that got his attention. I don't think there was much nutrition in it. LOL

Northern Caracara - juvenile

The last was the Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima). It is smaller at 17" and is IDed by the beige head and breast with brown wings and back.

Yellow-headed Caracara - adult

Some of our hawks are migrants through Central America. We saw a couple of these. On the last day as we were driving down a mountain road, this juvenile Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) was on a bare branch at eye level not 25 feet from us. We rolled down the windows of the vehicle and took photos.

Broad-winged Hawk - juvenile

The last hawk we photographed was the beautiful Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis). This 22" hawk is cinnamon colored.

Savanna Hawk

We did not see any new vultures, but we did see this downy baby Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) who fell out of the nest. He was on the ground and being protected and presumably fed by the parents.

Black Vulture - downy young

I love owls. I have only seen a single owl in my 4 previous trips to the tropics. Nocturnal birds are so difficult to find. So when the guide told us he was taking us to a house where owls roosted, it was the highlight of the trip. The Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) at 19" is the largest owl in Panama. The pair were sitting in the open several feet apart on a branch. Here is the male.

Spectacled Owl - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2014 David McDonald

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