Michael´s Third Year

[michael-ibk]

368/C60.) Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy) / Grüner Schattenkolibri

 

Bosque del Tolomuco, 28/7. Green upperparts and long white-tipped central feathers are the diagnostic fieldmarks here. A very shy bird, buzzed off as soon as we came into sight.

 

[michael-ibk]

369/C61.) Green-Crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) / Grünstirn-Brilliantkolibri

 

Bosque del Tolomuco, 28/7. AFAIR the only place where we saw this species. Unlike many hummingbirds, this one almost always perches to feed.

 

 

Male

 

 

Female

[michael-ibk]

370/C62.) Talamanca aka Admirable Hummingbird (Eugenes spectabilis) / Violettkron-Brilliantkolibri

 

San Gerardo, 24/7 & 25/7. This used to be the "Magnificent" Hummingbird but this species was split into the Rivoli´s Hummingbird (Mexico to Nicaragua) and this one (Costa Rica and Panama only). The split is not acknowledged by all authorities. Abundant in the Talamanca highlands, impossible to miss.

 

 

The Male

 

 

Female

 

 

A couple

 

We were lucky enough to see a very, very rare leucistic form of this species.

 

 

I´m sure the owner of the small soda where it frequents the feeders will pray for its health - photographers from all over the country come to see it.

 

 

 

And I have to add in this one since it was so exemplaric for our trip - if it rains make the best of it.

 

Edited September 24, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

371/C63.) Fiery-Throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis) / Feuerkehlkolibri

 

San Gerardo, 24/7, 25/7 & 26/7. The second uber-common Hummer of the highlands. The spectacular throat colours are not often displayed, far often they appear rather blackish. The brilliant iridescent colours of Hummingbird are the result of feather structure (not pigmentation) and are only visible from certain angles.

 

 

Pretty dull here (with a Talamanca in the background)...

 

 

... and a shining little beacon of colours at other times.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

372/C64.) Scaly-Breasted Hummingbird (Phaeochroa cuvierii) / Schuppenbrustkolibri

 

Esquipulas (Manuel Antonio area), 3/8. Not a feeder bird, only seen twice from a distance. Also feeds on insects.

 

[michael-ibk]

373/C65.) Purple-Crowned Fairy (Heliothryx barroti) / Purpurkron-Schmuckkolibri

 

Bosque del Cabo, 30/7. Only one split-second sighting of this bird. The only Hummer in the country with entirely white underparts.

 

Edited September 24, 2018 by michael-ibk

[Dave Williams]

Oh, I'm so envious.Photographing Hummers is as good as it gets although as you say it can lead to extreme frustration too! I haven't a lot of experience of them hence the wish to return to CR.

[michael-ibk]

374/C66.) Blue-Chested Hummingbird (Amazilia amabilis) / Blaubrustamazilie

 

Sarapiqui, 19/7. This one had me puzzled for quite a while but (again) the good birdnet people voted for juvenile Blue-Chested. An uncommon bird, this was the only sighting.

 

[offshorebirder]

On 9/23/2018 at 10:40 AM, michael-ibk said:

I first had it down as Collared Plover but, oddly enough, one of the distinguishing fieldmarks of Collared Plover is that it does NOT have a complete collar. That leaves Wilson´s and Semipalmated Plover. The bill does not look quite strong enough for a Wilson´s and the breast band is very small but the leg colour goes against Semipalmated which should not be arrive before August.

 

Happy to share my thoughts @michael-ibk.

 

Your instincts were correct - the bill is not stout / thick enough for Wilson's Plover.  And it is too long for Semipalmated Plover.

 

Wilson's Plovers also have light gray or grayish-tan legs, rather than the tan-pink or orange-tan shown by the birds in your photo.

 

Nothing in the photos looks wrong for collared Plover.   If you do some Internet searches, you will find web pages and images showing Charadrius collaris with an unbroken collar. 

For example:  https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/colplo1/overview

 

Looks like you had some really good birding on your Mexico trip.   Did you make it to San Blas?

[michael-ibk]

375/C67.) White-Necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) / Weißnackenkolibri

 

Rancho Naturalista, 24/7 & 25/7. The default Hummingbird at that lodge. Widespread, occurs from Mexico down to Bolivia.

 

 

 

The male

 

 

Female

[michael-ibk]

16 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Oh, I'm so envious.Photographing Hummers is as good as it gets although as you say it can lead to extreme frustration too! I haven't a lot of experience of them hence the wish to return to CR.

 

It is a lot of fun, at times almost strenous. The tricky thing was to get a hang of the IDs, to realize when one of the not so common ones had popped up. Since they almost never stay still not easy. And it´s fascinating how different they can look from different angles. The book often shows their splendid displays but it´s hard to really make that, especially in the less-than-perfect weather we often had. Bright colours in the book like blue, violet, even red, in reality all of them just looked darkish. The conditions were a challenge, in order to keep the ISO down I kept shutter speeds and aperture lower (see Fiery-Throated) than I would have liked. Worked often enough but also resulted in many unsalvagable ones.

Edited September 24, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

13 minutes ago, offshorebirder said:

Looks like you had some really good birding on your Mexico trip.   Did you make it to San Blas?

 

Thanks so much for stepping in, @offshorebirder. Ah damn, I thought so, but since both books state the lack of nuchal colour is an important fieldmark I thought my initial call could not be correct. No San Blas - this was a Costa Rica trip.

Edited September 24, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

376/C68.) Canivet´s Emerald (Chlorostilbon canivetii) / Gabelschwanz-Smaragdkolibri

 

Arenal, 18/7. Only seen here in the garden. Some authorities treat the Pacific Coast sub-species as a good one, the "Salvin´s Emerald". A juvenile here.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

377/C69.) Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) / Violettkronennymphe

 

Rancho Naturalista, 24/7. A much scarcer guest at the feeders than its cousins. Eight subspecies are recognized, this one would be venusta.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

378/C70.) Stripe-Tailed Hummingbird (Eupherusa eximia) / Streifenschwanzkolibri

 

San Gerardo, 27/7. We only saw three individuals of this species - in line with the book which calls it "uncommon".

 

 

Male

 

 

Female (top left)

[michael-ibk]

379/C71.) Blue-Throated Sapphire aka Goldentail (Hylocharis eliciae) / Goldschwanz-Saphirkolibri

 

Bosque del Cabo, 31/7. Well, photohunting Hummers will produce some splendid ebcs indeed! But even here the straight red bill with a dark tip is recognizable.

 

[michael-ibk]

380/C72.) Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) / Braunschwanzamazilie

 

Anytime, anywhere. The most common Hummingbird in Costa Rica, and very often we´d disappointedly go "Oh, just a Rufous Tailed".

 

[xelas]

2 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

"Oh, just a Rufous Tailed".

 

And yet, it is such a beauty!

[michael-ibk]

381/C73.) Green-Breasted Mango (Anthracothorax prevostii) / Grünbrust-Mangokolibri

 

Rancho Naturalista, 24/7 & 26/7. Not a frequent guest at the feeders, much harder to get than many others (hence shown here on a feeder).

 

 

Male

 

 

Female

[michael-ibk]

382/C74.) Mangrove Hummingbird (Amazilia boucardi) / Mangrovenamazilie

 

Manuel Antonio, 3/8. A very special bird to get (and not even with a feeder anywhere close), extremely important for serious tickers. Why? It´s one of only three Costa Rica mainland endemics (the other two are Coppery-Headed Emerald and Black-Cheeked Ant-Tanager). Blame Panama for the low number of endemics, there are about 70plus CR-Panama endemics.

 

[offshorebirder]

29 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

No San Blas - this was a Costa Rica trip.

 

Duh - sorry about that.  I saw Manzanillo and thought it was Manzanillo Mexico.   

 

But I should have noted the Caribbean comment, which would have made me realize - since Manzanillo, Mexico is on the Pacific coast...

 

[michael-ibk]

383/C75.) Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) / Brauner Veilchenohrkolibri

 

Rancho Naturalista, 25/7. Only seen here as I recall. Although not particularly territorial, this species is highly aggressive, and at feeders seems to spend far more time attacking other hummingbirds than actually feeding.

 

[michael-ibk]

384/C76.) Lesser Violetear (Colibri cyonatus) / Kleiner Veilchenohrkolibri

 

San Gerardo, 26/7. This used to be the Green Violetear but it was split into the Mexican and the Lesser Violetear. A pretty common highlands Hummer.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

385/C77.) Long-Billed Starthroat (Heliomaster longirostris) / Rosenkehlkolibri

 

Esquipulas, 3/8. Only one distant sighting of this species.

 

[michael-ibk]

386/C78.) Grey-Tailed Mountain-Gem (Lampornis cinereicauda) / Grauschwanznymphe

 

San Gerardo, 26/7 & 27/7. A fairly common highlands Hummer. This used to be the White-Throated Mountain-Gem but was recently split off from that species (which only occurs in Panama now). Which also means I lied about the Mangrove Hummingbird being one of only three endemics - with this one there are at least four.

 

 

Male

 

 

Female