Violet-headed Hummingbird

Violet-crowned Hummingbirds fed in the Arenal Observatory Lodge’s gardens on 10 July 2017. These small birds have an odd range. They are found at low elevations from Honduras through Panama. Others are found in humid mountain forests in the Andes, from Columbia to Bolivia. Still others are found in northern Venezuela. Forest interiors are reported to be their favored habitat. They feed on small flowers and also flycatch for insects.

Passerini’s and Crimson-collared Tanagers

I have already posted about the look-alike birds, Cherrie’s and Passerini’s tanagers. The first two birds in this post are Passerini’s Tanagers, a female and a male, from the Arenal Observatory on 10 July 2017.

Another flamboyant tanager visited the Arenal bird feeders—the Crimson-collared. This tanager ranges from southern Mexico to Panama. Unlike the other tanagers mentioned in this post, male and female look similar.

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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

We saw Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds in many locations across Costa Rica. The top photo was from Monteverde, the bottom from the Arenal Observatory. The Cornell Neotropical Bird Website writes, "The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is perhaps the most common species of hummingbird at forest edge and in gardens and cultivated areas from southern Mexico south to northwestern South America.”

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Orange-chinned Parakeets are common from southern Mexico into northern South America. They form flocks and are easy to see. They either excavate their own nest holes or use cavities abandoned by other birds, such as woodpeckers. We found this bird in a flock at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 10 July 2017. Later during our trip we found a parakeet in a woodpecker hole—see the bottom photo. The nesting bird appeared to be giving finishing touches to its cavity.

Crested Guan

Crested Guans visited the bird feeders at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 10 July 2017. They are found from Mexico to northern South America. Curiously, DNA research suggests that guans are most closely related to Australian megapodes (Handbook of Birds of the World). 

Where hunted, Crested Guans can be elusive and hard to see. Where protected, like in Costa Rican national parks, these large birds can become quite tame. These arboreal birds visited the lodge bird feeders. They also travel in flocks as they search for fruits.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers breed from southern Arizona south to Costa Rica. They winter south to northern South America. This flycatcher nests in natural cavities or old nests of woodpeckers or quetzals. In Arizona, nesting usually takes place in the rainy season (Lowther and Stotz 1999). Overall, remarkably little is known about this bird’s biology. We found this bird near the Great Kiskadee and Social Flycatchers at the Arenal Observation Lodge on 10 July 2017.

Blue-gray Tanager

Blue-gray Tanagers are common from Southern Mexico to the northern half of South America. They prefer secondary habitats, gardens, and even vegetation in cities. They eat fruit and arthropods and often visit bird feeders like those at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 10 July 2017.

Social Flycatcher

Social Flycatchers are small, Kiskadee-like birds that are often found in pairs or in small groups. They range from northern Argentina to Mexico. This photo is one of a pair at the Arenal Obsrvatory Lodge in Costa Rica on 10 July 2017.

My friend Ricard Hoeg reminds me that he posted a fine collection of birds of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Check it out at: http://www.365daysofbirds.com/birds-of-las-catalinas-guanacaste-costa-rica/

Great Kiskadee

Noisy Great Kiskadees abounded almost everywhere we traveled in Costa Rica. This one patrolled the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 10 July 2017. Kiskadees are found from southern Texas through South America. Kiskadees are flycatchers, but they also take fish, amphibians, fruit, and even dog food. They consume a wider variety of food than does any other New World flycatcher. Several superficially similar species inhabit the tropics. One thought is that the black masks on these flycatchers may reduce glare and thus help the bird capture prey (Brush and Fitzpatrick 2002).

Black-striped Sparrow

Black-striped Sparrows range from southern Central America into northern South America. The species is common, if inconspicuous and shy, in shrubby woodland. This sparrow feeds near to the ground. Black-striped Sparrows foraged amongst the garden plants at the Arenal Observatory Lodge in Costa Rica on 10 July 2017.