Resplendent Quetzal

I have many photographs that are candidates for The World’s Worst Bird Photography Club. The bad news is that this image is one of them. The good new is that I DID get a picture of a Resplendent Quetzal. We were boarding our bus at the curassow/trogon stop. Our driver, Ramon Vargas Monge, suddenly froze and whispered, “I hear a quetzal!” He pointed into the treetops. I fumbled with my camera and snapped the shutter just as the quetzal flew.

You can almost see how impressive is the quetzal’s tail. In the breeding season, earlier in the year, the tail is almost two meters long. Now, after the season, the tail is broken and worn down from the bird’s entering and leaving its tree-cavity nest.

Pre-Columbian people prized quetzal feathers. The birds fare poorly in captivity. Early people may have trapped and, after harvesting feathers, released the birds. Other birds may have been hunted. With the advent of Europeans, many quetzals were collected, The birds survive now due to their wild, mountainous habitat. Deforestation threatens the species. Quetzals are now found from southernmost Mexico to northern Costa Rica.

Orange-bellied Trogon

While we were watching the curassow in the last post, an Orange-bellied Trogon flew into the trees high above us. Known only from mountainous areas of Costa Rica and western Panama, this trogon is  a mystery bird. This species was formerly thought to be a color morph of the red-bellied Collared Trogon, also found in Costa Rica. The two populations are known to interbreed, so they may be variations of the same species.

Whatever its taxonomic status, not much is known about Orange-bellied Trogons. They eat fruits and insects and inhabit humid, tropical forests. Despite its restricted range and threats of deforestation, this species is not included in lists of threatened species (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

Great Curassow 1

Leaving Monteverde, Costa Rica, on the morning of 7 July, we made a quick trip back to the Monteverde National Park. All but the most die-hard dragonfliers wished to see a Resplendent Quetzal. But we struck out at the park, The quetzals were not breeding and are silent, making them hard to find in the rainy season. On the way back to town, we came to a screeching stop for this Great Curassow.

I never expected to see a curassow. Elsewhere in the tropics, these turkey-sized birds are heavily hunted and elusive. Despite being protected in Costa Rica, curassows are common only in a few locations. This female fed nonchalantly along the roadside. We were to see more curassows during our tour, and, later, I will have more to write about them.  

Frosted Flasher

On our last morning at the Hotel de Montana Monteverde, 7 July 2017, while waiting for our bus to load, I noticed an azure skipper in a hedge row. I had no idea that skippers came in such a stunning color. I assume, with a little help from Liam O’Brien, that this butterfly is a Frosted Flasher, Astraptes alardus. This species is found from Argentina to Mexico and Cuba. It strays to the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Green Spiny Lizard

On the morning of 7 July 2017, a Green Spiny Lizard greeted us at the Hotel Montana Monteverde. Another name is Emerald Swift. They spend the early moring foraging for insects, but bask in the sun during the rest of the day. If they get too hot, they retire to burrows or under rocks or logs. Unlike most lizards, they are ovoviviparous—their eggs hatch inside the females, which give birth to fully formed young (Wikipedia). Look for Green Spiny Lizards from southern Mexico to Panama.

Minnesota Birds

Over the past two months, I have posted a bunch of Costa Rican images. But I have also photographed a number of common Minnesota birds that I will quickly share with you now. I have linked each species to my previous posts with more information. The first image is of the yellow-shafted race of the Northern Flicker. I have written about how, out West, the flickers have red or orange shafts to their feathers. Winter is a good time to look for these western birds in Minnesota.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are fairly common in our back woods, although we hear them more often than see them. In the second Red-bellied photo, you can actually make out the bird’s red belly.

Earlier this fall, on 12 November, Erika and I strolled in the Carleton College Arboretum. We happened upon a large flock of American Tree Sparrows. On this late afternoon, the setting winter sun cast a pretty yellowish light across the prairie.

 

Beginning birders are often surprised by winter records of American Robins. But robins are always possible anywhere sufficient berries remain on bushes or trees. From banding, my hypothesis is that our winter birds breed much further north and west of us. Winter robins tend to be much darker than our breeding birds. This robin, however, is relatively pale. Perhaps, on 27 November, it is just a slow migrant. Or my hypothesis is wrong.

Finally, on 28 November, I discovered a Greater White-fronted Goose among the larger Canada Geese in a suburban pond here in Northfield. White-fronts are common enough in eastern Minnesota, although nowhere near as abundant as migrant through the Dakotas.

Grayish Saltator

Grayish Saltators are yet another Costa Rican species that has ornithologists confused. First, scientists do not really know what family belong to—are they cardinals or tanagers? DNA studies suggest they are large tanagers. Next we are unsure how many species of Grayish Saltators exist across their range from Mexico through much of tropical South America. Genetic research and song analysis suggest that the Grayish Saltators from Mexico south through Central America differ from those in South America. By whatever name, Grayish Saltators are fairly common in Costa Rican fields and gardens. We found this individual at the Hotel de Montana Monteverde on 6 July.

Mountain Elaenia

Elaenias are difficult to identify neotropical flycatchers. The relatively large size and mountain habitat of this one at the Hotel Montana Monteverde indicate that this individual is a Mountain Elaenia. It is found from Guatemala south to Panama and northwestern South America. It prefers open woodlands and shrubby areas. 

Hoffmann’s Woodpecker

Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers range from Honduras and Nicaragua to Costa Rica. DNA research suggests that these woodpeckers are not as closely related to Golden-fronted Woodpeckers as once thought. They enjoy a wide variety of arthropod prey, many fruits, and even the nectar from large flowers. They are primarily arboreal (Winkler and Christe 2017).

Especially in Costa Rica, these woodpeckers are often abundant. They readily adapt to human altered habitats. We listed them often during our travels, even within greater San Jose. These photos are from the Hotel Montana Monteverde.

Bronzed Cowbird

Bronzed Cowbirds range from the southwestern United States and southern Texas south to Colombia. Like our common Brown-headed Cowbird, this species is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in host birds’ nests. Bronzed Cowbirds are slightly larger than Brown-headed Cowbirds. Their host species are likewise slightly larger. Bronzed Cowbirds may be more particular in its selection of hosts, but the species is not well studied (Ellison and Lowther 2009). Judging by the ruffed nape of the male in this photo, their courtship displays may be similar. Little is known about the interaction between the two cowbirds or how the presence of both species is affected as the Bronzed Cowbird expands its range across the southern United States.