Yellow-throated Euphonia with watermelon rind.
Hummingbird… rufous-tailed, I believe.
Pop! Hibiscus the color of those Canada mints my grandmother kept in a jar when I was a kid.
Yellow-throated Euphonia with watermelon rind.
Hummingbird… rufous-tailed, I believe.
Pop! Hibiscus the color of those Canada mints my grandmother kept in a jar when I was a kid.
Catching up with Costa Rica photos!
There’s that volcano, out there somewhere.
Raccoon-like coatis just off the deck at Arenal Observatory Lodge.
Chestnut-sided Warblers were in town for the winter.
A common bird of second growth and scrubby forests, the Chestnut-sided Warbler is distinctive in appearance. No other warbler combines a greenish-yellow cap, a white breast, and reddish streaks down the sides.
Capuchin monkey overhead.
The volcano was recently active.
Melodious Blackbirds at the fruit feeder trees at Arenal Observatory Lodge.
The Melodious Blackbird is a rather unique and vociferous all black icterid of Mexico and Central America. It has a relatively thick and long bill, but most noticeable is that the legs and feet look a size too big on this mid-sized blackbird.
Arenal Volcano stayed hidden behind clouds during our visit.
Inside an observation tower we found a small, strikingly-colored bird resting on the floor. It may have flown in an open window and hit another window or couldn’t find its way out. It seemed fine. And what a great close up look!
Figured out later it was a Green Honeycreeper.
Very attractive small tanager of humid tropical lowlands. Found in humid evergreen forest edges, plantations, and gardens; at times with mixed-species feeding flocks of honeycreepers and euphonias. Often in pairs, feeding at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. Note the short, curved bill. Males are a unique green-blue color with black hood and a banana yellow beak. Female resembles female Red-legged Honeycreeper but is larger, brighter, uniform green, with yellow lower bill and grayish legs.
Tiny little thing. It made it out the window and away into the tropical forest before we left.
More Costa Rica birds from our trip in January.
We were at the Arenal Observatory Lodge when we spotted these Golden-hooded Tanagers.
The Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata) is a neotropical species that inhabits humid forest and forest edges.
Gorgeous colors on this petite banana-eater!
The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution. The Thraupidae are the second-largest family of birds and represent about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropical birds.
This little jewel of a bird was in a garden at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, in Costa Rica.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds were all over and easy to see, as they are bold and territorial.
The food of this species is nectar, taken from a variety of flowers, including Heliconias and bananas. Like other hummingbirds, it also takes small insects as an essential source of protein. Rufous-tailed hummingbirds are very aggressive, and defend flowers and shrubs in their feeding territories. They are dominant over most other hummingbirds.