Michael´s Third Year

[michael-ibk]

518/C211.) Silver-Throated Tanager (Tangara icterocephala) / Silberkehltangare

 

San Gerardo, 26/7. A common highlands species. Eats a variety of fruits as well as insects.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

519/C212.) Emerald Tanager (Tangara florida) / Smaragdtangare

 

Silent Valley (Rancho Naturalista area), 25/7. One sighting only of this cool-looking species.

 

[michael-ibk]

520/C213.) Golden-Hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata) / Purpurmaskentangare

 

Rancho Naturalista, 25/7. A few scattered sightings of this species throughout the trip in low and middle elevations.

 

[michael-ibk]

521/C214.) Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) / Kappennaschvogel

 

Sarapiqui, 19/7. Not closely related to the other Honeycreepers.

 

 

Male

 

 

Female

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

522/C215.) Bay-Headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola) / Grüntangare

 

Bosque del Cabo, 1/8. Only seen twice. This species has nine subspecies, so it´s one of the "most phenotypically diverse" of the Tanagers - whatever that means.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

523/C216.) Blue Dacnis (Dacnis cayana) / Blaukopfpitpit

 

Bosque del Cabo, 1/8. One short glimpse of this one only. Sexually dimorphic, the male (which I unfortunately did not see) is a bright turquoise whereas the female is mostly green with a bluish head.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

524/C217.) Scarlet-Thighed Dacnis (Dacnis venusta) / Rotschenkelpitpit

 

Bosque del Tolomuco, 28/7. Took me a while to figure out this one even though it is distinctive. Only one bird seen - a female.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

525/C218.) Red-Legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyanerpes) / Türkisnaschvogel

 

Sarapiqui, 19/7. The most common of the Honeycreepers.

 

 

Male

 

 

Female

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

526/C219.) Dusky-Faced Tanager (Mitrospingus cassinii) / Rußgesichttangare

 

Sarapiqui, 19/7. They strongly prefer streamside areas, but can be found in other edge zones with shrubby undergrowth.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

527/C220.) Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) / Zuckervogel

 

Bosque del Cabo, 31/7. Much smaller than all the other Tanagers presented so far, with only 10 cm it does not even reach the size of most Hummingbirds.

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

528/C221.) Slaty Flowerpiercer (Diglossa plumbea) / Einfarb-Hakenschnabel

 

San Gerardo, 26/7. We´ve moved to the Seedeatery section of Tanagers, CR´s best offer for LBJs. Note the unique billshape of this one, an adaptation used to feed on nectar by piercing the corolla, gaining access to the nectar without pollinating the flower

 

[michael-ibk]

529/C222.) Blue-Black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) / Jacariniammer

 

Arenal, 16/7. Not easy to tell apart from the very similar Variable Seedeater, especially in the rainy weather but bluer than that bird. Huge range, from Mexico to Argentina.

 

[michael-ibk]

530/C223.) Thick-Billed Seed-Finch (Oryzoborus funereus) / Dickschnabel-Reisknacker

 

Arenal, 17/7. Bigger and blacker than the Blue-Black Grassquit. Also has a hint of white in the plumage.

 

[michael-ibk]

531/C224.) White-Collared Seedeater (Sporophila torqueola) / Braunbürzelpfäffchen

 

Isla Dama 4/8. Similar to the Pacific variant of the Variable Seedeater but the throat is white in this one.

 

[michael-ibk]

532/C225.) Variable Seedeater (Sporophila corvina) / Mohrenpfäffchen

 

Bosque del Cabo, 30/7. Like the name says this one comes in many different variant forms. I agonised over many pictures of this kind of bird and mostly ended up just deleting them before totally despairing.

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

533/C226.) Yellow-Bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) / Gelbbauchpfäffchen

 

Bosque del Cabo, 31/7. Possibly just another Variable Seedeater but everything looks good for female YB Seedeater. Bill is not as blackish and belly is not whitish.

 

[michael-ibk]

534/C227.) Ruddy-Breasted Seedeater (Sporophila minuta) / Zwergpfäffchen

 

Bosque del Cabo, 31/7. Fortunately more distinctive than all its cousins. An uncommon bird.

 

[michael-ibk]

535/C228.) Yellow-Faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivaceus) / Goldbrauen-Gimpelfink

 

Arenal, 16/7. Abundant in middle elevations, mostly so in Arenal.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

536/C229.) Greyish Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) / Grausaltator

 

Bogarin Trail, 17/7. Saltators are new arrivals to the Tanager family they used to be placed with the Cardinals. Their exact status still is controversial apparently.

 

[michael-ibk]

537/C230.) Buff-Throated Saltator (Saltator maximus) / Buntkehlsaltator

 

Bogarin Trail, 17/7. The most common Saltator.

 

[michael-ibk]

538/C231.) Black-Headed Saltator (Saltator atriceps) / Schwarzkappensaltator

 

Silent Valley (Rancho Naturalista area), 25/7. The largest of the genus.

 

 

And that´s the last proper Tanager - there are some more birds with that name coming up but they are part of Grosbeaks & allies.

[TonyQ]

An amazing selection of Tanagers, and they are indeed very varied. I would never have thought they all belonged in the same group.

[Galana]

More birds of great interest along with helpful explanations. Excellent photography.

Happy to help out with Redstart. I honestly thought 'everybody' knew as it is often referred to in fieldguides.

Is it not the same in German? Rotschwanze?

[Zim Girl]

And now congratulations on the 500 - didn't think that would take long.  Beautiful Quetzal!

[michael-ibk]

18 hours ago, Galana said:

Happy to help out with Redstart. I honestly thought 'everybody' knew as it is often referred to in fieldguides.

Is it not the same in German? Rotschwanze?

 

It is, Rotschwanz for the Redstarts, yes. But I really thought "start" just refers to where the bird "begins", and that could be either head or tail, so the Redstart as previous name for the now Collared Whitestart made perfect sense to me.

 

Next group, I´m hellbent on finally finishing Costa Rica tonight - Finches!

 

539/C232.) Yellow-Thighed Finch (Pselliophorus tibialis) / Gelbschenkel-Buschammer

 

San Gerardo, 26/7. A quite common highlands bird. For once, a self-explanatory name. It is a generalist and opportunistic frugivore, nectarivore and insectivore.