The Great Green Macaw, also known as Buffon's Macaw or the Great Military Macaw, is a critically endangered Central and South America parrot found in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.
The Great Green Macaw is an enormous lime-green parrot with long tail; unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Blue flight feathers, red on tail and forehead.
Prefers forested areas; often seen flying over in pairs or small flocks. Feeds on fruit; can be inconspicuous when feeding in canopy. Loud, raucous calls similar to other macaws.
After trekking up into the mountainous area to observe the Great Green Macaw we stopped at Cahuita National Park to do a little trail walking. Bird activity was extremely slow as by now as it was around mid day. I got separated from the group and was slowly working up the rear end when a guide going the other way on the trail mentioned that there was a Great Potoo ahead. Up high and very camouflaged. I was having trouble locating the bird when a couple French birders claimed they had seen an owl up ahead on the trail. I was immediately interested but highly suspected that it would turn out to be the Potoo.
A monstrous nightbird, the Great Potoo is superficially similar to an owl but not related. They are a pale mottled gray with large head, larger than other potoos, and lack a dark mustache stripe. Well camouflaged and difficult to spot; most often seen roosting on a horizontal limb during the day (less often on a broken off snag like other potoos). Found in forested areas and edges. Active at night, when it feeds on large insects. Listen for its terrifying call, a harsh descending scream. Cornell All About Birds
The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is a medium-sized hummingbird, mostly green.
Fairly similar to other hummingbirds including Steely-vented, but note the red feet ( as seen here ) and a bronzy rump.
Females have whitish underparts and duller pinkish feet. Usually seen singly at flowers in forests or edges.
Our next stop was Costa Rica. After spending a couple weeks in Costa Rica National Parks on previous trips, our one day adventure in the mountainous area to see Great Green Macaws seemed way too short. Although we were able to observe a number of both Two and Three Toed Sloths in the wild which was very cool.
The Hoffman's two-toed sloth is one of the world's slowest mammals—so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.
Sloths are identified by the number of long, prominent claws that they have on each front foot. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths.
All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws. (Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended in the air.) Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep a lot—some 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they often remain motionless, and two-toed sloths are generally silent. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juicy plants. National Geographic
On our skiff nature excursion on Gatun Lake I was extremely happy to be able to photograph this Snail Kite. Surprisingly birds were very limited on the lake with Mangrove Swallows, Brown Pelicans, Ani, Southern Lapwing and Magnificent Frigatebirds the only other birds we observed. We had observed Snail Kites in action on our Florida birding trips but never this close.
The highly specialized Snail Kite flies on broad wings over tropical wetlands as it hunts large freshwater snails. These handsome gray-and-black raptors have a delicate, strongly curved bill that fits inside the snail shells to pull out the juicy prey inside. Unlike most other raptors, Snail Kites nest in colonies and roost communally, sometimes among other waterbirds such as herons and Anhingas. They are common in Central and South America but in the U.S. they occur only in Florida and are listed as Federally Endangered.
Both the Limpkin and the Snail Kite evolved to feed almost entirely on freshwater apple snails. These very different bird species coexist peacefully for the most part, largely segregated by their methods of hunting. Limpkins can hunt snails in dense reedbeds and other thick vegetation, wading in on their long legs and using their long bills to move floating vegetation to look for snails. Kites usually fly over open water and drop down to catch snails up to 6 inches deep in the water.
Our next stop was the Panama Canal. After traversing the first three locks on the Atlantic side of the canal we entered Gatun Lake where we went on a nature cruise on a small skiff. The primary purpose of the cruise was monkeys and we were able to locate Howler, Squirrel and Panamanian Tamarins.
Geoffroy's Tamarin, also known as the Panamanian, red-crested or rufous-naped tamarin, is a tamarin, a type of small monkey, found in Panama and Colombia. It is predominantly black and white, with a reddish nape. They are diurnal and spends most of its time in trees, but does come down to the ground occasionally. It lives in groups that most often number between three and five individuals, and generally include one or more adults of each sex.
It eats a variety of foods, including insects, plant exudates, fruits and other plant parts. Insects and fruits account for the majority of its diet, but exudates are also important.
Tamarins are small New World monkeys found in Central and South America. Unlike other monkeys, they have claws on most of their toes instead of nails. They have very long tails and are arboreal, eating a wide variety of things, such as fruits, plants, and small animals.
Our guide in Colombia also found us a Cotton-top Tamarin, which is named for the shock of white hair that sits atop its head. The monkeys, nicknamed the cutest in South America, entertain researchers with their endless antics. However, Cotton-top Tamarins are among the most endangered primates in the world. They are found only in northwestern Colombia, and their tropical forest habitat is being destroyed for cattle ranching, agriculture, and urban development. Cotton-tops are also captured and illegally sold as pets.
The Orange-winged Amazon is a large green parrot with a blue mask and yellow crown and cheeks. I had to use iNaturalist to help identify this bird as although I love this image, it was the only image I was able to shoot before the bird flew off and we were unable to relocate. Although the image doesn't show it, this is a large bird for a parrot.
The tail has a broad yellow terminal band. The large orange-red patches on the trailing inner wings are obvious in flight and sometimes when perched. Found in a variety of wooded habitats from tall humid forests to savannas. Also ventures into urban areas. Cornell All About Birds
The Yellow-crowned Amazon is a large green parrot with a short tail. The yellow patch on crown is usually obvious but can be small. In flight, look for red patches on secondaries and red on shoulders.
They have a wide distribution in the lowlands of northern South America. Occurs in forests, usually seen flying over in pairs or small flocks, or perched in the canopy. These parrots were everywhere in the Oasis Park, constantly flying about and very, very noisy. Cornell All About Birds
The Blue-and-Yellow Macaw is an enormous parrot with a long, pointed tail, cerulean upperparts and golden-yellow underparts with a white face and black patch on the throat.
They are found in lowland rainforests and savannas from eastern Panama to Brazil, often in more open habitats than other macaws.
Usually found in pairs, which fly together and perch in the canopy. Can gather in small groups, especially at fruiting trees or clay licks. Nests in cavities. Listen for raucous calls, typical of large macaws. Cornell All About Birds
