Common Tody-Flycatcher

We occasionally observed Common Tody-Flycatchers during our Costa Rican travels. This individual posed for us at the Hotel de Campo on 11 July 2017. Although this species is absent from much of the Amazon Basin, it is common in disturbed forests from southern Mexico to Argentina. These flycatchers often forage in pairs near the ground or low in trees (Cornell).

Automeris metzii

This is the caterpillar of Automeris metzii. I bet it would be a bad idea to pick it up. When he found this creature, our intrepid guide, Dennis Paulson, let out a delighted expletive. The caterpillar crawled in a bush at the Hotel de Campo on 12 July 2017 (in northern Costa Rica).

White-tipped Dove

Elsewhere I have posted notes on White-tipped Doves that Erika and I photographed in southern Texas. The species is also found south to South America. The dove in this picture in the undergrowth in the campus of the Hotel de Campo in northern Costa Rica on 11 July 2017.

Despite being common across their wide range, this dove is little studied by ornithologists. This lack is particularly troubling since it is an important game bird in many countries (Hogan 1999).

One-spotted Prepona

One-spotted Preponas are found in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and northern portions of South America. Two records exist from southern Texas. We found them on the grounds of the Hotel de Campo in Northern Costa Rica on 11 July 2017.

Tropical Pewee

On 12 July 2017, several Tropical Pewees foraged for insects from low perches in the garden at the Hotel de Campo in northern Costa Rica. This pewee is found from southern Mexico south across much of South America. In many respects, the bird is similar to North American pewees (and may be closely related to them). This flycatcher is found in a variety of wooded habitats and feeds on insects.

Flame-tailed Pondhawk

I took this photograph of a Flame-tailed Pondhawk in the grassy marshland behind the Hotel de Campo near Caño Negro, Costa Rica, on 12 July 2017. This habitat is typical for the species, which perches in and patrols low over heavy marsh grasses. The species is found from Mexico south to Argentina. It is also known from Jamaica and there is one record from southwestern Texas.

Black-cowled Oriole

The Hotel de Campo in northern Costa Rica supported a rich diversity of birds. One reason for this diversity was the feeders the owners maintained in front of many of the cabanas on the campus. On 11 July, we photographed this Black-cowled Oriole. A cowl is the large hood warn by some monks. The name seems appropriate for this oriole.

Black-cowled Orioles are common along the Caribbean slope from southeastern Mexico to western Panama. They eat fruits and arthropods and favor secondary forest edges other other disturbed habitats. 

Red-mantled Dragonet

I am aware of only one United States recond of the Red-mantled Dragonlet—one from the National Butterfly Garden in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, on 18 December 2012. Normally the species ranges from Mexico and the West Indies south to Brazil and Bolivia. Erika and I found them to be common in a grassy lake edge at the Hotel de Campo, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica on 12 July 2017. Abbott (2015) reports this habitat is typical for the species. Males (lower photo) and females (first photo) perch low in grass near and over water. Males defend small territories. Females lay eggs in dense vegetation.

Tropical Kingbird

We saw Tropical Kingbirds across most of Costa Rica. This flycatcher is common from central Argentina north into southern Arizona and Texas.  Northern populations appear to be expanding. This bird is often encountered in gardens, towns, and other human-modified habitats. This image, my best for the species, was taken at the Hotel de Campo on 12 July 2017. 

Tropical Kingbirds tend to perch in the open, often perching on roadside power-lines. They specialize on large, flying insects. Similar kingbirds use other feeding techniques and consume a wider variety of prey. Like other kingbirds, however, Tropical Kingbirds also eat fruit (Stouffer and Chesser 1998).

Cracker Butterflies

Crackers are butterflies found from Arizona and southern Texas south across most of Central and South America. Nine species are found in Costa Rica. We found two species at the Hotel de Campo on 11 July. Both perched on tree trunks. Crackers always perch with their heads pointed downward. They feed on fruit and tree sap.

The first is a Starry Cracker, the second is a Gray Cracker. Males make a loud crackling sounds when the fly from their perches. The sound comes by their “twanging a pair of spiny rods at the tip of the abdomen against bristles on the anal claspers” (Dennis Paulson, pers. com,). They make these noises as part of their territorial displays and also when predators approach. Just how these butterflies hear their noises is not well understood, and they may have more than one kind of hearing organ located in their wings. They can hear each other and also hear bats’ sonic calls.