Cuban Tody

 

Always fun to photograph the endemic Cuban Tody is an absolutely incredibly beautiful bird. It is common and widespread throughout the country.

They feed on insects, caterpillars, larvae, spiders, and small lizards. And live in burrows in earth banks, sand banks, crab burrows and rotten logs.

Cuban Tody

 

The Cuban Tody is an incredibly beautiful bird endemic to Cuba. A small, gemlike, woodland species that is usually found in pairs. The rather large head, long bill, and short tail create a unique profile. Also note its shimmering green upperparts and red throat and sides.

We would usually hear the Tody chattering long before it was visible. It usually hunts from low-to-middle level perches, sitting nearly still before leaping upwards to snatch prey from twigs and leaves. 

Vocalizations include a loud “chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk,” uttered at a rate of about seven to ten notes per second, with each burst consisting of one to ten notes; bursts often come in rapid succession. Cornell All About Birds

Cuban Birding

 

We have just returned from our third trip to Cuba, this time staying again on Cayo Coco. Again, I was fortunate enough to bird with Paulino Lopez Delgado.

If you are looking for a guide in the Cayo Coco area Paulino is your man. I can highly recommend him. Here is his email paulino.nature@gmail.com 

or you can contact him here. cell/WhatsApp 53-5 2673207

                                                            Cuban Tody

I also hired a taxi to drop me off in some local nature areas for a couple hours and that works out well too. In total I observed 74 species this trip which is pretty much my average on my last two trips to Cuba and seen and photographed many lifers and endemics over the course of our trips to Cuba.

                                                       Red-legged Thrush

If you are looking for a guide in the Varadero area, we hired Ernesto Reyes Mouino to take us on a day trip birding in the Zapata Swamp area and I can highly recommend him too. Here is his email ernesto2.reyes@nauta.cu

        

                                                                Crested Caracara

Cuban Tody

The next couple of blogs will feature birds we observed on our trips to Cuba. Each time we have gone to Cuba we have birded locally and also hired a guide for a day trip of birding. On a previous blog on the Bee Hummingbird you will find information on our trip to Zapata Swamp, a well known Cuban birding area, while we stayed at Varedero. 

Our guide was Ernesto Reyes Mourino and I can highly recommend him. His email is here: ernesto2.reyes@nauta.cu

While staying in Cayo Coco our guide was Paulino Lopez Delgado and I can also highly recommend him. His email is here paulino.nature@nauta.cu

The Cuban Tody is an incredibly beautiful bird.

Our guide Paulino and his wheels for birding.

Our wheels for our day trip to Havana.