Bulletin 239 - Ecuador #3 - large non-passerines

This bulletin will look as some large birds that, for the most part, are seldom seen by birders. They are in 4 families, herons, tinamous, cracids and screamers.

The heron is common throughout South America (SA). The Striated Heron (Buteroides striatus) is the counterpart in SA to our Green Heron. He is brownish and not rufous backed like his northern cousin.

Striated Heron

The 36" Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) was a life bird for me. The screamers are a family of just 3 species, all in South America. Despite their chicken-like appearance, they are most closely related to ducks and geese. They have partially webbed feet and nest near water. An unusual feature unique to screamers is the fact that they have air cells under the skin that can be inflated. Wikipedia says these air cells makes the birds unattractive as a food source. However, another source states that this species is hunted for food and is very good eating. Anyway, on the Pacific slope, they are limited to a remnant population in a preserve south of Guayaquil where we saw a pair of them. I was able to get close enough to see and photo the bird and the white horn. The guide book states that the horn can be 'surprisingly hard to see in the field'.

Horned Screamer

The tinamous are another New World family of 47 species of ground dwelling chicken-like birds. Again, these birds are very secretive and hard to see well. I got my first photos of a tinamou in Costa Rica this year. Some places feed, and have blinds to observe, these birds and Copalinga Lodge provided one. It was truly an experience to see 2 different species 20 feet away in the space of 15 minutes.

The 18" Gray Tinamou (Tinamus tao) is found in Amazonia and listed as very rare on the eastern slope. It is unusual in coloration as most tinamous are brown.

Gray Tinamou

The 9" Little Tinamou (Crypturellus soui) is listed as common and has a huge range from Mexico to Brazil. However, despite being common, the guide book states that they are 'exceptionally difficult to see' and are most often heard. For the most part they are all brown, but the birds in northern Peru and southern Ecuador have gray heads as does this bird. I saw this species in Costa Rica, but was unable to get a photo.

Little Tinamou

Lastly, the cracids (not crackheads) are large pheasant like game birds in the New World. There are 55 species and one occurs in south Texas with the rest in the tropics.They have 3 different names chachalacas, guans and currasows. There are about an equal number of each in the family.

The 23" Rufous-headed Chachalaca (Ortalis erythroptera) occurs on the west slope in Ecuador. A pair of birds hung around the lodge at Buenaventura.

Rufous-headed Chachalaca

The 20" Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis guttata) occurs on the east slope in Ecuador. A family group came to the banana feeders at Copalinga Lodge. This one was showing off his tail.

Speckled Chachalaca

The 34" Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens) is found on the west slope in Ecuador. This one was at Buenaventura where the guide says it is rare, despite being in a protected preserve.

Crested Guan

The Sickle-winged Guan (Chamaepetes goudotii) occurs on both slopes with a marked size difference that strikes me as peculiar. The west slope birds are 21" and the eastern slope birds are 25" in length. They occur at 2700 to 8000' elevation. They have a bare blue skin on the face. This bird was at the Copalinga Lodge on the east slope.

Sickle-winged Guan

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.

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.

Bulletin 237 - Best of 10 years - Tanagers

The tanager family (thraupidae) is a large New World family of 368 species. Many of them are brightly colored and most are in the tropics. The famous Darwin's 'finches' of the Galapagos are also tanagers. Unfortunately, except for a couple of vagrants, there are no longer any tanager family birds in North America, as the Scarlet, Summer and Western Tanagers have been reclassified and placed in the cardinal family.

These photos have been taken over the past 2 years in Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Caribbean. The Crimson-collared Tanager is perhaps my favorite of the tanager photos.

Crimson-collared Tanager - male

The Blue-Gray Tanager is found widely in the tropics and most birders have seen it. It is also readily attracted to banana feeders.

Blue-gray Tanager

Another blue one is the Masked Flowerpiercer. He is distinctive with his red eye and black mask.

Masked Flowerpiercer - male

The Red-legged Honeycreeper is an even brighter blue. This is another very common bird in the tropics.

Red-legged Honeycreeper - male

Among yellow birds, the Saffron Finch is a bird of South America, but it has also been introduced in Hawaii where this photo was taken.

Saffron Finch - male

The Golden Tanager is another South American bird. 

Golden Tanager

The Silver-throated Tanager is yellow with a silver throat and black streaking on the back.

Silver-throated Tanager

The male Green Honeycreeper is almost iridescent. The black face and yellow bill confirm the ID. The birds in Ecuador like this one are more a blue-green then green.

Green Honeycreeper - male

The Green-and-gold Tanager is mostly green bodied with black streaking.

Green-and-gold Tanager

The Bay-headed Tanager is a sentimental favorite of mine. On my first trip to Costa Rica in 1994, it was one of the birds on the cover of the Costa Rica bird book, so I was familiar with the colors. On the first morning of the trip, we drove to a national park and the first bird I saw when I stepped out of the van was one of these!

Bay-headed Tanager

Lastly is the Hispaniolan Spindalis. This is one of 4 Caribbean species that was split from what was known as the Stripe-headed Tanager until the split about 15 years ago. I got a nice photo with him eating a berry.

Hispaniolan Spindalis - male

I hope that everyone gets a chance to visit the tropics and see some of these beautiful birds.

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.

Bulletin 236 - Ecuador #1 - Hummingbirds

I just spent 10 days birding southern Ecuador with an amazing guide, Pablo Andrade, who I found on BirdingPal. His preplanned tour takes you to all 3 southern Ecuador provinces with stays at Buenaventura Reserve, Tapichalaca Reserve and Copalinga Lodge in that order. Buenaventura is on the west slope of the Andes at elevations of 1200 to 4200 feet. Tapichalaca is in the cloud forest of the eastern slope at 8000 feet, and Copalinga is also on the east slope adjacent to Podocarpus Nat'l Park at an elevation of 3000 feet. The accommodations were all excellent and the food got better as we went along with the meals at Copalinga like being in a European bistro. The couple who own Copalinga are Belgian, so it was no surprise.

Well what about the birds? Ecuador is a small country on the Pacific Ocean at the equator. It is between Arizona and Nevada is size at just under 110,000 sq miles. But it has a huge bird list with just under 1700 species (130 species hummers!). This was my first trip to Ecuador and it was a blow-out - 2 Tinamous, 35 hummers, 7 antpittas, 4 cotingas. Most were seen, a few heard only and many photographed. Pablo was an excellent guide and worked diligently to locate the birds and try to bring them to good viewing and photo range. The lodges all had hummingbird feeders, banana feeders for tanagers and some had photo blinds with feeders for secretive birds.

Interestingly, many of the birds were confined to one slope or the other. Most of the Central American birds I was familiar with were on the Pacific (west) slope at Buenaventura. The birds on the east slope were mostly all new.

How is this for a hummingbird feeder? This monstrous feeder is actually a 12" flower pot saucer that they have rigged up in a metal ring. This was at Buenaventura.  They had 3 or 4 of these on the balcony and there were probably 100 hummers of various species flitting around and perching on the nearby branches.

Hummingbird Feeder - Buenaventura Reserve Ecuador

The Amazilia genus of midsized hummingbirds has numerous species with 2 in the USA (Buff-bellied and Violet-crowned). They typically have a partially red lower mandible and the sexes are similar. One bird is actually called the Amazilia Hummingbird (Amazilia amazilia). The bird was on the Pacific coast on the drive to Buenaventura the first day.

Amazilia Hummingbird

The cute Andean Emerald (Amazilia franciae) at Buenaventura is bright green above and snow white below.

Andean Emerald

The Glittering-throated Emerald (Amazilia fimbriata) was at Copalinga. He really did have a glittering throat!

Glittering-throated Emerald

The heliangelus genus of larger hummingbirds are called sunangels. They are in montane forests and often have short bills and forked tails. These were all at Tapichalaca. The male Flame-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus micraster) has a bright orange throat.
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Flame-throated Sunangel - male

The Amethyst-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus amethysticollis) obviously has a pink-purplish throat. The female here just has a central purple patch.

Amesthyst-throated Sunangel - female

The Purple-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus viola) has a dark purple throat. But the female here just has a dull striped throat. They also have a blue crown.

Purple-throated Sunangel - female

Thorntails are hummingbirds in which the males have long thin extensions to their tails. I had seen the Green Thorntail (Discosura conversi) in Costa Rica but I needed better photos. There were literally a dozen birds all day long at the feeders at Buenaventura. They also have a white stripe across the lower back.

Green Thorntail - male

His cousin, the Wire-crested Thorntail (Discosura popelairii) was on the east slope at Copalinga. He has a spiky crest as well as a spiky tail.

Wire-crested Thorntail - male

Violetears are hummingbirds in the genus colibri. Colibri is also the Spanish word for hummingbird. The Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) I had seen before but needed better photos.There were several at the feeders at Buenavista. Interestingly, as I studied them, I noticed that the violet feathers on the sides of the neck would be flared out when another hummer approached, I guess as a warning not to come too close.

Brown Violetear

On the other slope at Copalinga was the Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans).

Sparkling Violetear

The  male Golden-tailed Sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone) has a blue head and gold tail. This bird was at Copalinga.

Golden-tailed Sapphire - male

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.

Bulletin 235 - Costa Rica #13 - Hummers part 2

I started the Costa Rica bulletins with the hummingbirds part 1. I will end Costa Rica with hummingbirds part 2. They are certainly on of my favorite bird families.

The 5" White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) is a widespread hummer from Mexico to Amazonia. The male is easily IDed by the blue head, pure white belly and tail and a white collar.

White-necked Jacobin - male

Another common hummer is the 4" Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl). It has a range from Mexico to Ecuador. This is all green with a beige belly and bright rufous tail.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

A Costa Rican endemic is the 3" Coppery-headed Emerald (Elvira cupriceps). Here is the female. She is green with white underparts. The male would have a copper colored crown.

Coppery-headed Emerald

The male 4" Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania columbica) is a beautiful bird with a green gorget, purple belly and green back. It comes in 2 color morphs. This northern one has a purple crown. The southern birds have a green crown. They were considered separate species previously.

Crowned Woodnymph - male

The 5" Green-breasted Mango (Anthracothorax prevostii) is readily IDed like most mangoes by the central black stripe on the underparts. The female has white on either side of the black stripe. The male would be all green on the underparts.

Green-breasted Mango - female

The male 5" Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is all green with a purple throat patch. The female is duller and lacks the purple patch.

Green-crowned Brilliant - male

I also saw the juvenile male of this species. He differs by having a rufous chin and stripe below eye.

Green-crowned Brilliant - juvenile male

There are 2 species of hummers of the selasphorus genus in Costa Rica, both resident in the mountains. This genus is well known in the USA by the Allen's, Rufous, Calliope and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. So one would expect to see some rufous on the birds. The male 3 " Volcano Hummingbird (Selasphorus flammula) ahs a purple-red gorget with the rufous speckling on the flanks.

Volcano Hummingbird - male

The very similar 3" male Scintillant Hummingbird (Selasphorus scintilla) has an orange-red gorget. However, I just saw the female and she has a spotted throat, but the orange spots on the flanks indicate the genus.

Scintillant Hummingbird - female

The Green Thorntail (Discosura conversii) is a green hummer with a white band across the rump. The 4" male (not shown) has a long spiky tail. The female is just 3" and lacks the longer tail. She also has a white malar stripe.

Green Thorntail - female

The 5" male Magnificent Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens) is well named. He has a purple crown, turquoise throat and green overall. Both the crown and gorget are iridescent and it is seldom that the angle is just right that they light up simultaneously, but I got him this time. This bird can also be found in SE Arizona.

Magnificent Hummingbird - male

Coquettes are tiny hummers in the genus lophornis. There are 10 species total and usually they have crests or plumes on the gorget. They are always on the 'wanted' list for birders. The 3" male Black-crested Coquette (Lophornis helenae) has black plumes on his crest and throat. His bill is red. It has a range from Mexico to Costa Rica and is in the mountains.

Black-crested Coquette - male

The last bird is probably the most amazingly colored hummer I have ever seen. The male 4" Fiery-throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis) is an endemic in Costa Rica and western Panama. It is found above 6000' in the mountains. I don't need to tell you how to ID this bird. See for yourself, there is nothing else like it. It is a monotypic genus.

Fiery-throated Hummingbird - male

Bird Families...I have grouped my photos online by country and/or trip report. I now have a substantial number of photos of birds in several of the families and I know sometimes you would just like to see more of them in 1 place.

So I have put together the first of these..the hummingbirds. There are 340+ species and I have now photos of 72. Click this link to take you to the gallery. Then you can hit ALL to see all the species or just click on the top left photo to  see the first photo and then click NEXT on the top or bottom right to scroll through. I have also put the scientific name and range of the bird below each photo. I will use the most colorful photo I have ...usually a male, but if I don't have that, then a female or juvenile.

Others in the works are tanagers, cardinals, woodpeckers, sandpipers etc. If you have a group you really like and and would like to see them, let me know. Currently I only have birds from the New World.

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.