Costa Rica Birds - Post 3
This is a photo of a male Resplendent Quetzal. This stunning species lives in the mountain cloud forests of Central America and were the primary objective of the second half of our Costa Rican trip. We started our Costa Rica trip in the lowland tropical rainforests northeast of San Jose. On day 4, we drove into the mountains southeast of San Jose. As we got close to our destination, we stopped for lunch at a place called Miriam’s Restaurant. The restaurant had a balcony and deck with a beautiful view down the side of the mountain. Numerous different types of feeders meant that there were many birds in the area. My previous post includes some hummingbird photographs from Miriam’s.
The most distinctive bird I photographed was this Northern Emerald Toucanet. At perhaps 12”, it is one of the smallest birds in the toucan family, significantly smaller than the Keel-Billed Toucan or the Collared Aracari I photographed earlier in the trip.
Looking down and out over the valley below the restaurant, this Summer Tanager was quite conspicuous on the end of the branch.
The two photos above are of Flame-Colored Tanagers. The male is the orange while the yellow is the female.
Besides the tanagers, I photographed a pair of woodpeckers. This is an Acorn Woodpecker. Its range extends into the southwestern US where I saw them while visiting Arizona in 2023.
When I saw this woodpecker, I was convinced that I was adding a new species to my life list. However, when I used the Merlin App to help me identify it, I discovered that this is a Costa Rican variant of a Harry Woodpecker which I have photographed here in Massachusetts. The dominant coloring for the Harry Woodpecker has white instead of brown. For those who are familiar with the Downy Woodpecker, the Harry looks very similar but has a significantly larger beak.
Often times, when I look up a new bird, I struggle to understand why the bird has the name it does. However, with this bird, the name seems very fitting: Yellow-Thighed Brushfinch.
I am not a big fan of sparrows. I often find them somewhat drab and struggle to tell them apart. I have heard them referred to as LBJs or Little Brown Jobs. Nonetheless, I do like this Rufous-Collared Sparrow as I find the rufous collar quite dashing.
After departing from Miriam’s, we went to our lodge for the evening. The next day and half of the following, we photograph Resplendent Quetzals. Here is the female of the species.
And here is another photo of the male Resplendent Quetzal for comparison.
Resplendent Quetzals like eating a small native avocado. In this photo, the quetzal is snatching the avocado in flight and plucking it from the tree. It swallows the avocado whole, then digests the fruit before spitting up the pit.
Resplendent Quetzals are not the only birds eating the avocados. This is a Long-Tailed Silky-Flycatcher.
Here is one final photograph to end my Costa Rica bird blog. I like the combination of the apparently cheerful look of the Black-Capped Flycatcher paired with the rain coming down.
On Wednesday, I head to Bend Oregon for two bicycling trips. Consequently, I will shift from my bird blogging to daily cycling blog posts as I spend 9 days riding to Boise Idaho. I will then take a travel day to South Dakota where I will bike for 5 days in the Badlands and Black Hills. I know there will be fabulous scenery, so I look forward to sharing it with you all.