Cayo Coco Birds 2025 B

Continuing with some more Cayo Coco Cuba birds April 2025.

Roseate Spoonbills can be observed out on Cayo Coco, usually hanging around other wading birds in the lagoons.

Tri-coloured Herons, although not in great numbers can also be found in local lagoons and along the ocean mangrove areas.

Immature Yellow-crowned Night Herons that are usually very relaxed while fishing in the local lagoons.

Green Herons are very numerous around the resorts out on the cay.

A favourite bird to observe and listen to are the numerous West Indian Whistling Ducks. An absolute beautiful sound if you start birding just around sunrise.

And of course most lagoons out on Cayo Coco have flocks of Flamingoes, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.

White Ibis are also a fairly common bird hanging around the local sewage lagoon with numerous shorebirds.

Cayo Coco Birds 2025 A

 

After my birding trip to Costa Rica, we again visited Cayo Coco Cuba in April for 10 days. This was our 5th year staying out on the cay, our 7th overall trip to Cuba. Previously we had also stayed in Varadero and birded Zapata Swamp and Holguin. We find the people, culture, and its people to be just spectacular and love vacationing in Cuba.

I regularly am able to observe around a hundred species every year, some migrants, some endemics, and an assortment of local birds. And since I’ve already done blogs for all these birds on past trips, I have condensed the birds we observed into a few short blogs.

Always a favourite to observe and photograph the beautiful Cuban Tody.

Another favourite bird to observe and photograph is the Cuban Emerald.

The Cuban Oriole on the Yellow Agave Flower. Hanging around these flowering trees always produces a multitude of bird observations.

The endemic Oriente Warbler are easily found along most back country roads.

Although I've been fortunate to get many images of the Great Lizard-Cuckoo, I was very happy to finally capture an inflight shot.

The ever gorgeous Western Spindalis.

And I never get tired of photographing the Red-legged Thrush, a very common bird in Cuba.

Automeris Postalbida

 

Okay, one more image from Costa Rica. I totally forgot that I took all kinds of images of toads, frogs, tree frogs, snakes, butterflies, moths and flowers etc. on my cell phone so I thought I would post my absolute favourite cell phone image.

iNaturalist says this is an Automeris Postalbida moth caterpillar. I certainly can't claim in any way, shape or form that I’m a moth or butterfly expert, however I certainly enjoy observing them like I do all wildlife, I guess I just never really took the time to learn about them. However, this is by far the coolest caterpillar I’ve ever seen. I found him on the wall of the lodge at Arenal Bird Observatory. It’s from the family Saturniidae and was first described by William Schaus in 1900. They are found in Costa Rica and Ecuador.

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

To conclude my images of my Costa Rica birding trip I chose the Rufous-tailed Jacamar. The Rufous-tailed Jacamar is a handsome, slender, green-and-rusty bird of humid tropical lowlands that lives in evergreen forest, often at edges and around adjacent clearings.

They perch upright at mid-heights on vines or other exposed perches, in this case a hydro power line, and sallies out for flying insects, especially butterflies, dragonflies, and wasps. They have a very long, slender black bill (like a giant hummingbird). The throat is white on the male and buffy on female.

Next up will be images from our Cuban holiday back in April.

Thanks for reading.

Dave 

Barred Antshrike

The Barred Antshrike is a retiring bird of thickets, forest edge, and other tangled vegetation.

The distinctive song is heard regularly and pairs are usually within earshot of each other, but antshrikes generally remain hidden so I was really excited with these images.

The sexes look very different, but both have a spiky crest that is often raised. Male is barred black-and-white in ‘convict stripes,’ whereas female looks a lot like a wren with a stout bill that has a slightly hooked tip. Cornell All About Birds

Wedge-billed Woodcreeper

The Wedge-billed Woodcreeper is a very small woodcreeper of evergreen forest in humid tropical lowlands and foothills.

Creeps up trunks, often in spirals, picking at the bark for food, then flies low to another tree before hitching upwards again. Forages on fairly large trunks as well as slender trees. Often travels with mixed-species feeding flocks. Note the short, wedge-shaped bill and pale buffy breast spotting. Cornell All About Birds

Scaled Antpitta

The Scaled Antpitta is a plump ball on sticks. Uncommon and elusive on forest floor in humid evergreen forest of tropical lowlands and foothills. Moves quickly and stealthily on long legs. May be seen feeding or hopping along quiet trails.

Okay, so one of the shots I really messed up on. We had waited hours in the rain patiently watching a dark forested path in the mountains at Hotel Quelitales on word that a Scaled Antpitta would eventually spend a few short seconds on the trail just after dusk. Sure enough it showed up, in the rain and in near darkness. Shooting at 256000 ISO and f5.6 at plus 2EV got me 1/4 of a second and a very shaky image of a Scaled Antpitta. A "record" shot to say the least.

White-throated Shrike-Tanager

The White-throated Shrike-Tanager is a large, long-tailed tanager with heavy hooked bill.

The striking plumage is reminiscent of an oriole with yellow body with black head, black wings, white throat, and white shoulder patch. They are found in forests, usually at moderate heights, often in pairs leading a mixed-species flock. Cornell All About Birds

Volcano Hummingbird

The Volcano Hummingbird is a small hummingbird that feeds on small flowers in gardens, second growth, and forest edges, mostly above 2000m.

The male throat varies from steely grayish-purple to bright magenta. They have a short straight bill and rufous in tail.

White-necked Jacobin

The White-necked Jacobin is a rather large, spectacular hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands that favors forest edges, adjacent clearings with scattered trees and flowering bushes, and gardens.

The male has deep blue hood, green upperparts with white collar, white underparts, and mostly white tail. Some females, as above, look similar to males while others look very different, with dark spotting below and a mostly green tail with white tips.

Volcano Junco

The Volcano Junco, seen here gathering nesting material, has a staring yellow eye set against black face. Otherwise, gray with browner flanks, brown back with black streaks and a pale pink bill.

They are found in open habitats at high elevations, usually above 3000m but locally down to 2500m. Often on the ground or in small shrubs, usually in pairs or small groups. Very limited range only in Costa Rica and extreme western Panama. Cornell All About Birds

Talamanca Hummingbird

The Talamanca Hummingbird is a very large for a hummingbird and size alone separates it  from many other species.

Males are green overall and the head appears black until it hits the light and reveals an iridescent purple crown and turquoise throat like seen on this male image above.

Females, as seen in the above image, are duller with fuzzy mottled appearance on grayish underparts and some greenish on sides. Note the large white spot behind the eye that trails into a messy eyeline. The females have a longer and slightly more decurved bill than males.

They use to be called Magnificent Hummingbird, but recently split into Rivoli’s Hummingbird (from southwest U.S. to Nicaragua) and Talamanca Hummingbird (found in mossy cloud forest in Costa Rica and Panama). Cornell All About Birds

Spotted Woodcreeper

The Spotted Woodcreeper is a medium to large woodcreeper of humid evergreen and pine-evergreen forest in highlands and foothills that feeds on trunks and larger branches, often at bromeliads.

The bill is straightish and rather stout. Note the pale buff spectacles and distinct pale spotting and scalloping on head, breast, and back. Although I love finding and observing Woodcreepers they are always in dark forests and usually climbing higher rapidly.

Crimson-fronted Parakeet

The Crimson-fronted Parakeet is a mostly green with long, pointed tail and red forehead.

Almost always in small flocks, which feed inconspicuously on fruit in gardens, forest edges, and second growth.

Crested Guan

The Crested Guan is a very large, long-tailed game bird of tropical and subtropical forest. They are often seen high in trees or flying through the forest canopy.

Their plumage is dark overall (often looks blackish) with a bright red throat wattle. The white streaking on body is visible at closer range. Crest is bushy and usually not a striking feature.

Collared Trogon

The Collared Trogon is a relatively small, red-bellied trogon of humid forest in tropical lowlands and foothills.

They perch at all levels inside forest, less often at edges. The male’s tail is dark below with narrow white barring while the female’s tail is pale grayish below with narrow black-and-white bars at the tips.

Gray-headed Chachalaca

The Gray-headed Chachalaca is a large chickenlike bird with long neck and tail and is overall brown with a grayer head.

Usually seen in small flocks crashing clumsily through the trees, typically at middle levels along forest edge or in second growth. Cornell All About Birds

Rufous-collared Sparrow

The Rufous-collared Sparrow is a handsomely patterned sparrow from the  highlands of Chiapas south to temperate South America. They occur in open and semiopen habitats such as villages, towns, and farmland with hedges and brushy thickets.

They have a bold black-and-gray head pattern, bright rusty collar, black chest patch and a peaked crown, most of which you can see here. Cornell All About Birds

Great Curassow

The Great Curassow is a very large game bird of tropical forest, eliminated from most areas by hunting. Rarely found except in protected parks or very remote areas. 

Usually seen on the forest floor, like in this image, either singly or in small groups, but also feeds in trees. Males often sing from high in canopy and their song is a very low-pitched, almost subliminal, booming sound.

Both sexes have distinctive curly crest. Female plumage is variable: some have bold barring, others have darker and mostly unbarred plumage. Cornell All About Birds

Buff-rumped Warbler

The Buff-rumped Warbler is a small ground-dwelling warbler frequently found around water, especially forested streams. Also often seen hopping along trails and sometimes around army ant swarms.

They are brown above and paler buffy-gray below with pale eyebrow and frequently flicks their tail back and forth so buffy rump and base of tail are very conspicuous.

Keel-billed Motmot

The Keel-billed Motmot is a medium-sized forest-dweller that likes to sit motionless. They are mostly dull green, slightly buffier below, with a black mask and breast spot.

The orange forehead and blue eyebrow and chin are distinctive. Most similar to larger Lesson’s Motmot below.

Often found singly or in pairs inside forest, usually below canopy. Cornell All About Birds

Broad-winged Hawk

Broad-winged Hawks are small, compact raptors with chunky bodies and large heads. In flight, their broad wings come to a distinct point. The tail is short and square.

Adult Broad-winged Hawks have reddish-brown heads, barred underparts, and broad black and white bands on the tail. The pale undersides of the wings are bordered in dark brown.

Juveniles are lighter brown with coarse streaking on the underparts, particularly on the sides of the breast; the tail is narrowly banded. Cornell All About Birds

This was a very co-operative Broad-winged Hawk at Arenal Observatory, usually in the same hunting location every evening.

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of humid evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands.

Distinctive, with big black mask, white patch behind eye, black upperparts with narrow white bars, and big white rump patch. 

Male has full red crown. Female has grayish forecrown and red hindcrown.

Long-tailed Tyrant

The Long-tailed Tyrant is a distinctive flycatcher with long central tail feathers that are usually obvious. They are longer in males than females. Even without tail, the plumage is unique. A black body with white back and eyebrow.

It’s a fairly small flycatcher, usually perched conspicuously in clearings, open habitats, or forest edges. Really wish we had been able to observe this bird closer as we had a fleeting glimpse at a distance.

Buff-throated Saltator

The Buff-throated Saltator is fairly common in humid tropical lowlands. They favour forest edges, plantations, and dense second growth.

Usually seen singly or in pairs, foraging quietly in flowering or fruiting trees. The buff throat patch is bordered by black moustache stripes. Cornell All About Birds

Chestnut-capped Brushfinch

The Chestnut-capped Brushfinch is a fairly stocky, sparrowlike bird of highland forests occurring mainly in humid evergreen and pine-oak forest understory, often in brushy flower banks and shady canyons, where typically skulking and difficult to see well.

They feed on or near the ground and usually in pairs. The white throat stands out against black cheeks and narrow black breast band.

Tawny-capped Euphonia

The Tawny-capped Euphonia is a small finchlike bird, compact and short tailed. Generally yellow below and dark blue-black above with stout, short bill.

On male Tawny-capped Euphonias the crown is entirely russet-orange and the throat is dark. They are often in pairs or small flocks and frequent forested habitats and edges.

Green Honeycreeper

The Green Honeycreeper is a 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.

They are 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.