Sunday, March 20, 2016

Costa Rica Birds

Although we didn’t see a lot of birds in the forest at Monteverde, we were lucky enough to get good views of the Resplendent Quetzal.

Resplendent Quetzal

They have such long tail feathers that when they went inside their nest hole the feathers still stuck out.

Resplendent Quetzal

We saw Blue-crowned Motmots several times. Although not quite as showy as the Quetzals, they are also colourful with long fancy tails. (Although the tail is not as noticeable since it’s black.)

Blue-crowned Motmot

At the end of our hike we had lunch at the cafe next to all the hummingbird feeders. There were so many hummingbirds I had a hard time putting down my camera long enough to eat! I’d prefer to see (and photograph) birds in more natural settings, but the feeders definitely helped to attract them. And with so many birds, they were also perching on branches around the feeders.

hummingbird

hummingbird

hummingbird

I also liked the feisty little Bananaquits who were also hanging around the feeders.

Bananaquit & hummingbird

If you're in Monteverde, don't miss the garden behind the bakery - a surprisingly good spot for birdwatching, again partly because they have feeders.

Blue=gray Tanager with a mouthful of banana

We saw a number of small woodpeckers, including this one, which I think is a Hoffman’s.

Hoffmann's woodpecker

Although we didn’t spend a lot of time actually bird-watching, we saw quite a few birds everywhere we went. While paragliding we saw Crested and Yellow-headed Caracaras, Black, Turkey, and King Vultures, and Swallow-tailed Kites. I also flew past a group of Wood Storks and several groups of Brown Pelicans - fun to be in the air with the birds.

Yellow-headed Caracara

Black vulture

Great-tailed grackles and their noisy calls were common.

Great-tailed Grackle

When we were waiting to catch the boat from Sierpe to Drakes Bay a couple of Scarlet Macaws landed in a tree beside us and stayed for quite a while feeding on the fruit. It was tricky to get clear shots of them as they were constantly hopping around among the branches. For such brilliantly coloured birds, they actually blend in to the greenery quite well.

Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaw

For more photos see all 51 as a slideshow or overview

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