Black-chested Jay

 

The Black-chested Jay is a striking jay with mostly black head and throat, deep indigo upperparts, and contrasting white belly. It has a long tail with white tip and pale eyes.

Usually found in small family groups which was the case for us as there was a large presence of these jays around. Occurs in forested habitats, including shrubby second growth and forest edge. Calls include a harsh doubled “chee-chee” and other mechanical and musical notes.

Blue-crowned Motmot

 

Cartagena has a large nature park right near the pier where the cruise ships dock. They have feeders out for the macaws, which we watched fly in as our ship approached dock, and parakeets, however all kinds of species of birds are attracted to this area and can be observed in this natural area. It’s rather a neat idea, giving foreigners a chance to see wild birds in a natural environment while providing a safe haven for the macaws during the daytime.

I and other birders were extremely happy to observe and photograph this Blue-crowned Motmot. We have observed a variety of motmots in our travels however the Blue-crowned was a lifer for us.

The Blue-crowned Motmot is a large motmot of humid forest and edge in tropical lowlands and foothills. They perch at all levels, usually in shady areas.

The name "motmot" comes from the double-hooting call, which can sound like an owl, and is mainly uttered around dawn.

Red-crowned Woodpecker

The Red-crowned Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker found from Costa Rica to northern South America.

Pale buffy overall with a red nape and belly and black-and-white barring on the back. Female has a pale crown with restricted red on the back of the nape; male has red extending to top of crown. Common in open woodlands, second growth, and gardens. Cornell All About Birds

Blue-headed Parrot

Another bird we observed in Cartagena Columbia is the Blue-headed Parrot. The Blue-headed Parrot is a medium-sized parrot with a short square tail. The body is all green with a blue head and red undertail coverts. 

Great-tailed Grackle

 

Male Great-tailed Grackles are long-legged, slender blackbirds with a flat-headed profile and stout, straight bills. The male’s tapered tail is nearly as long as its body and folds into a distinctive V or keel shape.

Male Great-tailed Grackles are iridescent black with pale yellow eyes, black bills and legs. Whereas Boat-tailed Grackles have dark eyes.

Cattle Tyrant

 

While birding in Cartagena Columbia we were able to locate a good variety of birds, many of them lifers. Today’s bird is the Cattle Tyrant.

The Cattle Tyrant is a medium sized flycatcher with fairly widespread range in South America. Superficially resembles a Tropical Kingbird with olive-brown back, yellow belly, and grayish crown. However, Cattle Tyrant is unique for typically being found on or near the ground, where pairs or small flocks follow grazing animals. Found in open habitats including farmland and marshes.

Aruba Burrowing Owl

 

The Burrowing Owl is Aruba’s national symbol. It is an endemic subspecies found only on Aruba and considered critically endangered.

We observed these Burrowing Owls actively hunting Whiptails during the daytime. They prefer mudflats and sandy areas for nesting.

They are very small owls and reach only about 20 cm in height. They are monogamous, remaining with the same partner their entire life with two nesting seasons per year. Up to five eggs every nesting season. There was actually three owlets in this nest.

Like in the United States, the owl nesting sites are all barricaded off with tubing and endangered species signs.

Their top threats, which include lack of viable nesting areas due to construction and urbanization on the island, is being indirectly poisoned by the food they eat due to humans poisoning critters and insects with pesticides. Their top predators are dogs, cats and boas.

Although we have observed Burrowing Owls in Florida, Utah, Colorado and Arizona it was still very cool to watch these little guys hunt.

White-cheeked Pintail

 

The White-cheeked Pintail is a very distinctive duck found throughout the Caribbean and South America.

After first observing them for the first time in Cuba last year we found an abundant number of resident birds in Aruba this year.

While birding in Aruba we observed 62 species in our day trip with 14 new life species

Whimbrel

 

Whimbrel are very commonly seen whenever we travel south in the winter. Whether in Florida, the Caribbean or South America. This one was observed recently in Aruba.

Whimbrels probe with their long bills into mudflats or wet sand for invertebrates such as crabs, walking slowly through areas where water is very shallow.

I found the following article rather interesting and have reposted it here.

Only one subspecies occurs in North America (hudsonicus); another three occur in Eurasia. The four subspecies differ mostly in the pattern of tail, rump, and back. Subspecies hudsonicus is uniformly brown in this area, whereas the three other subspecies have varying amounts of white. The nominate subspecies, phaeopus, which nests from Iceland to central Siberia, has a white rump and back. The very rare subspecies alboaxillaris, which nests in the steppe of southern Russia, is similar but larger and has white underwings. In northeastern Russia, the subspecies variegatus has a brown back and barred white rump. Both phaeopus and variegatus are recorded rarely but almost annually in the United States. Cornell All About Birds

Southern Lapwing

 

Another bird that seemed fairly common on Aruba was the Southern Lapwing seen here in the rain. Southern Lapwing are a raucous, conspicuous shorebird. They have a distinct color pattern with black breast, white belly, gray head, and bronzy shoulder.

The wings are boldly patterned in flight and are often in pairs or small flocks in open habitats, usually near water but also in dry pastures.