birding, photography and living with pet birds
Posted in Costa Rica on Jan 18th, 2013
The Black-hooded Antshrike is a very secretive bird. I saw them all the time in Costa Rica but there were usually inside the forest or in bushes. This is the male. He looks very black, but the male has some black spots on the back of his head. You can [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, grackle on Jan 12th, 2013
If you’re in parts of the country where it recently snowed, then you can take in these pictures from Costa Rica and imagine the warmth. These grackles know how to live right on the ocean. This guy was singing his heart out. I always admire an enthusiastic bird. Even when many people [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, hummingbird on Jan 5th, 2013
One of the more interesting birds in the hummingbird family in Costa Rica is the Band-tailed Barbthroated Hermit. He was always underneath trees, so the pictures are a bit blurry, but you can see how long and curved his beak is. He would get very excited and sing, allowing you to see the [...]
Posted in Costa Rica on Dec 29th, 2012
Some of the best pictures that I got in Costa Rica were of the male and female Blue Dacnis. Here’s the male. It took me awhile to identify him because he has more of a mask than the bird in the field guide. Also, he has more green and the field guide shows [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, manakin on Dec 22nd, 2012
I’ve talked before about the Blue-crowned Manakin that I saw in Costa Rica. Possibly even more impressive is the Red-capped Manakin. Manakins are teeny tiny birds. They’re only four inches long. I don’t have any pictures of the female, but she’s very drab looking so it’s no big loss. He has [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, thrush on Dec 17th, 2012
The Hermit Thrush is a smart species because it winters in Costa Rica. It is unlike those crazy Great-blue Herons that I see here in Utah in the winter trying to get food through the one weak spot in the ice. It was so weird to see this relatively common bird in Costa [...]
Posted in Costa Rica on Dec 16th, 2012
I still haven’t shown you all the pictures from Costa Rica. Costa Rica is filled with different types of woodcreepers. This is a Long-tailed Woodcreeper. I narrowed the identification down based on what looks like an extended white eyebrow and the beak shape. This might also be a Long-tailed Woodcreeper, but I’m less [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, tanager on Aug 19th, 2012
I still have lots of pictures from Costa Rica. I took over 5,000 pictures. I saw two different honeycreepers. This is the Green Honeycreeper. He was always hiding out in the trees. Amazingly, he’s a type of tanager. It felt like 50% of the birds in Costa Rica were tanagers. I also saw [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, macaw on Jun 1st, 2012
Macaws are native to Costa Rica. Their numbers have been severely depleted over the years, however, because of people capturing them to export for being pets. The people at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge participate in a macaw release program. I love this picture because the macaw on the left has a nut. For [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, wren on Apr 22nd, 2012
There are a lot of wrens in the world, but I’m pretty sure the Riverside Wren of Costa Rica is the stripiest of wrens. They’re even stripey on their underparts. This guy was so hard to photograph. The wrens were in every bush, making little kissy noises. But actually getting them [...]