Green-eyed Dancer

Green-eyed Dancers are locally common from central Mexico south through Central America. They are found in forests near water, but persist, despite deforestation, if aquatic plants remain (Paulson 2009). We photographed this dancer on 13 July 2017 along the ponds in front of the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.

Brown-hooded Parrot

Brown-hooded Parrots are adversely affected by deforestation, but are not presently considered to be vulnerable. They are distributed primarily over the Caribbean slope of Central America, from eastern Mexico south to Panama, and extreme northern Colombia (Cornell; Wikipedia).

Brown-hooded Parrots visited the feeders at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge. We saw them on 12 and 13 July 2017.

They inhabit lowlands and foothills in open woodlands and secondary forests. Small flocks often feed on seeds and fruits. Away from feeders, they can be hard to see since they are slow moving and silent.

Peten Dasher

We photographed Peten Dashers, Micrathyria debilis, along the ponds of the Laguna Largarto Lodge on 13 July 2017. I’ve had a hard time learning much about this dark dasher. Abbot (2015) writes that, because this dragonfly is found throughout Central America and Jamaica and is common in Mexico, it is likely to show up in south Texas. Needham et al. (2014) write that steel-blue color of the male and his yellowish white face are keys to identification, but have little else to say about the species.

Masked and Black-crowned Tityras

Tityras are in the same family as becards (see last post). The tityras are larger than most becards, being slightly bigger than robins. We saw the Masked Tityra in San Jose on our first day in Costa Rica. I had hoped to get a good photo, but this first image is the best, and only, one I could do.

The remaining images are of Black-crowned Tityras at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in mid-July 2017. The second and third photos are of females consuming large katydids. Tityras often eat fruit, but may feed their young large arthropods. Clearly, however, the female in the following photo has kept her insect for herself. The last photo is of a male.

Cinnamon Becard

Becards are in the family Tityridae, which consists of about 50 medium-sized New World songbirds. Ornithologists argue about the systematics of these birds, both within the family and relative to other birds. Tityridae are closely related to flycatchers and/or manakins.

Cinnamon Becards are found from southern Mexico south to northwestern South America. Across this range, the species is tolerant to converted habitat, and is therefore common. We only saw one at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge on 13 July 2017. The species is insectivorous and also eats berries (Mobley 2018). 

Tiny Forktail

The Tiny Forktail ranges from northern Mexico to northern South America. Abbott (2011) expects the species to be discovered in southern Texas. This odonate is perhaps the smallest damselfly in the Americas. As yet, official common names do to exist for neotropical dragonflies. In this blog, I have followed names suggested by Dennis Paulson.

By whatever name, this forktail is found in a variety of weedy wetlands. On 13 July 2017, this damselfly was common alongside the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge’s ponds. Due to their small size, photographing any forktail tends to be difficult. I finally sat at the lake shore until one flew up and landed on a nearby weed.

Shinning Honeycreeper

The Shinning Honeycreeper was third species of honeycreeper we photographed at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in northern Costa Rica. The species is common and ranges from southernmost Mexico barely into Colombia. Like the other honeycreepers, these birds feed on fruit, insects, and nectar. The first photo is of a female, the second is a male. Note that rain is falling in both photos. I don’t recall rain, except for one day, in Costa Rica, even though we were traveling in the wet season. I must have been too busy chasing birds and dragonflies.

Andagoya Dragonlet

These photographs are of Andagoya Dragonlets. According to my notes, the first photo, a male, was taken at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge on 14 July 2017. The second is a female, taken the same day a few miles from the lodge. The species ranges from Ecuador, Colombia, to Costa Rica. The IUC Red List states populations are not fragmented, thus, presumably, this dragonlet is also found in Panama. The name Andagoya refers to a Colombian town, which was named after a Spanish conquistador.  The preferred habitat for the species is marshes, ponds, and streams (usually within forests). The larvae are unknown.

Red-legged Honeycreeper

The strikingly plumaged Red-legged Honeycreeper also visited the feeders at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in northern Costa Rica. This small tanager is very common in Cuba, southern Mexico, and much of northern South America. Cornell’s Neotropical bird website assures us that the honeycreeper has a “catholic diet and will feed on fruit, insects, and even nectar in a variety of forest habitats.”

The first photo is of a male Red-legged Honeycreeper. The second is of a female. After they breed, males molt into a dull plumage. This may be the case in the third photo, which is either a non-breeding or immature male. Having a dull, non-breeding plumage is not typical of New World tropical songbirds.

Marsh Firetail

I photographed this Marsh Firetail (Telebasis digiticollis) along the pond at the Laguna Lagarto Lodge on 13 July 2017. Our tour walked along the edge of an incredibly muddy road. The good news was that the road allowed plenty of room for us to see and take pictures of most of the dragonflies we encountered.

Marsh Firetails are found from Mexico south to Venezuela. The species has been recorded since 2010 almost annually in Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, This damselfly is found in ponds and marshes, usually with dense vegetation. Unlike many other firetails, this one is not tied to floating vegetation. Young Marsh Firetails are often found in forest marshes. Deforestation and global warming are both potential threats to the species. Both threats would potentially dry the temporary wetlands where these firetails breed (IUC Red List).