Monday, July 7, 2025

Bay-headed Tanager

The Bay-headed Tanager is a stunning tanager that is mostly green with reddish head. Some populations have electric blue underparts, others entirely green.


Similar to Rufous-winged Tanager but always has green wings.


Found in pairs or small flocks in forest and edges, often in mixed feeding flocks from midstory to the canopy feeding on fruit. Cornell All About Birds

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Golden-hooded Tanager

The Golden-hooded Tanager is a very attractive small tanager of humid tropical lowlands that is found in humid evergreen forest edges, plantations, and gardens. At times with mixed-species feeding flocks of honeycreepers and euphonias as was the case when we observed this tanager.


Often in pairs, feeding at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. The sexes look alike and are black and blue overall with a white belly and a soft golden hood. Cornell All About Birds

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Scarlet-rumped Tanager

The Scarlet-rumped Tanager is fairly common in humid tropical lowlands. They favour evergreen forest edges, plantations, and verdant second growth, such as areas along roadsides. They forage mainly at low to middle levels often in fairly noisy small groups.


The male is unmistakable velvety black with a blinding scarlet rump. Formerly known as Cherrie's Tanager and Passerini's Tanager. Cornell All About Birds

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Crimson Collared Tanager

The Crimson Collared Tanager is a beautiful tanager of humid tropical lowlands that favours evergreen forest edge and verdant second growth.


They forage unobtrusively at all levels in trees and bushes, usually in pairs. The sexes are alike and are velvety black overall with a bright bluish-white bill and a glossy crimson collar and rump. Cornell All About Birds


All in all, a very colourful bird to observe.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Green-crowned Brilliant

The Green-crowned Brilliant is a fairly large hummingbird, sleek and long-tailed with straight bill. The male is entirely emerald green with small blue throat patch only visible at some angles as seen here.


The female has spotted green breast with a conspicuous white mustache stripe and white spot behind eye as seen here.



The juvenile has pale rufous malars and chin as seen below.


They are found in forested habitats and edges.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrush

 

The Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrush is a small skulking thrush, far more often heard than seen. It was raining pretty good when we observed this thrush in the understory. They are all sooty gray, darkest on forehead, with whiter belly.


Love the bright red-orange eyering, bill, and legs. They are found in middle and high elevation forests, always low to the ground, like this observation, and can be seen along trails but usually quite shy.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

White-eared Ground-sparrow

 

The White-eared Ground-sparrow is a strikingly patterned large sparrow that favours tropical and subtropical forests, shade-coffee plantations, and brushy edges.


Typically, on or near the ground in shady understory such as shown here.

Monday, June 23, 2025

Green-fronted Lancebill

 

The Green-fronted Lancebill has a super long straight bill. They are dull greenish overall with iridescent green forehead and bronzy nape.


The female is similar to the male but paler brownish below. They are a forest hummingbird most often associated with montane streams. Even from a fair distance it was really cool to observe this small hummer with a super long straight bill.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Green Thorntail

 

The Green Thorntail is a tiny hummingbird with a short straight bill. The male is all shimmering green with distinctive, long, pointed tail feathers while the female has a short tail and a distinctive white mustache.


Both sexes show white band across rump. They are found in forested habitats and gardens.
It took quite awhile but I was pretty happy capturing this image of a Green Thorntail one of my favourite hummers that we observed. 

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Green Hermit

 

The Green Hermit is a large hummingbird with long white-tipped central tail feathers. The male is entirely blue-green while the female has a gray belly, green back, and obvious stripes on face.


The bill is extremely long and decurved. They are found in forest, but also visits feeders at forest edge.