Friday, August 2, 2024

Birds of Costa Rica 2: part 2


Steak-backed Oriole (turpial dorsilistado aka. turpial de fuego (lit. Fire Oriole!))
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Blackbird Family

{Etymology Corner} Another local name for the bird is bolsero dorsilistado, which translates to Streak-backed Purse maker, which refers to these birds really cool looking nests. These birds (along with several others) construct what is called a penduline nest, or a woven structure made from grass and other foliage that hangs from a tree branch. These are really cool looking. Here is one such nest, also from this trip to Costa Rica.





Gray-breasted Martin (martín pechigrís)
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Swallow Family
§A Scream of Swifts§ (Ok, I know, I know, these are Martins, not Swifts, and that's not even the same family (SOMEHOW), but I hadn't heard 'scream' as a term of venery before and I thought it was neat. Guys, the well is DRY on this bird, there are no other interesting facts about it. If you know anything about swallows or swifts, you know everything there APPARENTLY is to know about these birds. Ok, fine, fine, here's something-)

~True Bird Fact~ They can't walk, their little legs are only for perching. See!! That was the best I could do. That's barely interesting at all and something you probably would've assumed just looking at this thing. This bird blog was held up SIGNIFICANTLY while I tried to come up with something to say about this Gray-breasted Martin, which, BY THE WAY, this might not even 100% be, because Swallows are hard to ID. So LAY OFF!

Turquoz-browed Motmot (momoto cejiceleste) aka. Torogoz aka. Guardabarranco (lit. Ravine-guard) aka. Pájaro reloj (lit. Clock Bird)
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Motmot Family
National Bird of both El Salvador and Nicaragua

{Etymology Corner} I think we got a famous one here ladies and gentleman. It's always a good sign when a bird has like 6 plus names, and they're all really expressive and beautiful, and that's the situation we have here. In El Salvador, he's called Torogoz, which is a reference to the sound he makes (you be the judge). In Nicaragua he's called Guardabarranco (lit. Ravine-guard). In the Yucatán, he's called Pájaro reloj (lit. Clock Bird, for the way he moves his tail). And in Costa Rica he's called Pájaro bobo (Foolish Bird) for his comfort around humans. That's the good stuff!

~True Bird Fact~ So, that tail- it's referred to as 'racketed' and serves a couple of purposes. First, they use it for sexual selection- i.e. a male with a long tale is a more desirable mate. But interestingly, they also use it to communicate with predators (!). They wag their tail back and forth, like a clock pendulum, to signal to a predator that they have been observed, and that pursuing them would be pointless, because they will fly away if approached. This is called a 'pursuit deterrent signal'.

~Real Bird Myth(?)~ Look, I don't know what to trust anymore in regards to the internet. But there are lots of claims that the Motmot is a significant bird in Mayan cultural tradition (and why not, look at it!). Most of the stories I found were on travel websites, and they all had a theme of how the bird lost most of it's tail feathers, leaving only the aforementioned 'rackets', usually as a result of arrogance. Here's my favorite one of this genre, which I totally can't vouch for as legit, from this website.

The motmot’s Mayan name is toh, and it features in local legend and lore. According to one story, the motmot liked to meet his fellow royal birds and spend the day telling stories and feasting on insects while other birds were working. He was such a beautiful creature and so proud of his glossy tail and plumage that it made him arrogant and overbearing.
One afternoon, when black clouds were massing on the horizon heralding the approach of a storm, Oc, the king vulture summoned all the birds to a meeting and they decided to build themselves a shelter. Chujut the woodpecker, Panchel the toucan, Mox the parrot and Xtut collected timber, Baax the chachalaca and Cutz the wild turkey carried the heaviest branches and the hummingbirds collected grass, herbs and leaves for the roof. Other birds gathered fruit and seeds to tide them over the storm. Only the motmot refused to help, saying that he was an aristocrat, not a worker.
When the storm burst, the motmot found a crack in a stone wall that he thought would be a good place to hide. He crept in and went to sleep without noticing that his elegant long tail was still out in the open.
Much later, the motmot woke up and emerged from his shelter to sing in the sun like the other birds. He was astonished to find that all that was left of his beloved tail were two bedraggled and naked barbs with a small clump of feathers at the end. The wind and water had done their worst. Horrified, realized what a fool he had been. Pride soon got the better of him and he decided to shun his former companions for fear that they would mock him. He flew off into the depths of the forest and dug a hole where he hid until this very day. He still keeps to himself; perching on branches overlooking cenotes where he swings his long tail from side to side incessantly like the pendulum on a clock.

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Birds of Costa Rica 2: part 1

Well, I went back to Costa Rica, just over ten years since my last trip. Costa Rica is a well known birders paradise, boasting more than 900 species in a relatively small area. Did I learn anything about birding since then? I guess we'll find out (but the answer is 'no', for those not wanting to read the whole thing). As you will see, this was not a 'birding trip' and was very limited in scope, but it would be impossible to not see some very impressive birds. 


Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana)
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Cuckoo Family
{Etymology Corner} Why is it called a Squirrel Cuckoo? Well, because it kind of acts like, and could be confused for, a squirrel (theoretically). Quoth wikipedia: "This species’ English name derives from its habit of running along branches and leaping from branch to branch like a squirrel. It flies only short distances, mainly gliding with an occasional flap." OK!
Also, while researching this cuckoo I learned of potentially my favorite member of this family, the Cocos Cuckoo. C'mon, that's just too fun.

~True Bird Fact~ Unusual amount of interspecies cooperation observed with this bird, which forages happily alongside other birds and even some smaller mammals. They even take advantage of army ants, which they follow as they flush out prey. Also, unlike many cuckoos, they don't do any brood parasitism, and opt to raise their own young instead. I hate to assign personality to a bird (why would I do something like that?), but this guy seems like the good egg (so to speak) of a troubled family.


Neotropic Cormorant aka. Olivaceous Cormorant (Cormorán Biguá aka. Pato Cerdo, Pato Puerco, Pato Chancho, Pato gruñón [lit. Pig Duck, Dirty Duck, Oinking Duck])
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Cormorant Family
§A Flight of Cormorants§

{Etymology Corner} Yes, Olivaceous means olive-colored. The Spanish informal names refer to the sound the bird makes, which is extremely pig-like IMO. Check it out at this link

~True Bird Fact~ Semi-domesticated and used for fishing by native people for, reportedly, the past 1600 years. Specifically, the bird is used by the Uru people of Peru.


Bare-throated Tiger Heron (Avetigre Mexicana)
Peninsula de Papagayo, Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
May 2024
Member of the Egrets, Herons, and Bitterns Family
§A Sege of Herons§

~True Bird Fact~ There are, essentially, no fun facts associated with this Tiger Heron. He sure is a looker though!

Loves Sports Betting

Friday, December 1, 2023

Good Birds, Bad Pics: Florida edition

For a lot of reasons, it's looking like I probably won't be going back to my home state of Florida for quite some time. Although I have a complicated relationship with the place, I increasingly enjoyed my regular visits, and was able to develop an appreciation for the things that make it special. Arguable (and certainly for the purposes of this blog) the best thing about Florida is the birds. A great state for birds in general, but also, one where there is relatively little overlap with my adoptive home state of California. 

So every time I've gone back I've tried to get a bit of birding done, despite how little time I actually get to spend there. This past April was my last trip, and while it produced some good bird pictures (to be posted at the usual rate that things go around here), it also produced some real stinkers. However, given that this was my last trip for a while, I'm going to go ahead and say 'still counts'! So here, without further equivocating, are some really terrific and cool birds that I was so happy to see, but that I was unable to get anything but the #WorstBirdPics of.


Caspian Tern
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
April 2023
Member of the Gull, Tern, and Skimmer Family
§A Committee of Terns§
The World's Largest Tern

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after the Caspian sea. And yes, a lot of these terns do live there. They really get around, huh?

What went wrong? Man, you know how these things fly around. It's hard to get a picture of them in flight, and they weren't landing. Also, the light was getting a little tough by this point.


Cape May Warbler
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
April 2023
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after Cape May, New Jersey, which was where the bird was first collected by European colonizer types. However, unlike the Caspian Tern (above), they do not actually really live in Cape May. In fact, it took a hundred years for another Cape May Warbler to be sited there, although today it's recognized as an uncommon visitor. Maybe don't go for just your first idea on these things, when you're naming birds. And yet, still better than being named after some guy..  Shoutout to the Bird Names for Birds movement on their recent victory.

~True Bird Fact~ They have a curled semi-tubular tongue, which is unique among warblers, and enables their seasonally varied diets. In the summer, they're up North, mostly eating bugs, but in the Winter, they live in the Caribbean, where flower nectar and fruit end up being a large part of their diet. I wonder if they like the winter better. I know which of those two diets sounds more appetizing to me.

What went wrong? This guy was hoping around everywhere, going nuts. Also, I get reluctant to hold other people up when I'm trying to take a picture of a bird around other people. Maybe my camera settings were funky? I think the light was also starting to go a little here as well.


Worm-eating Warbler

Lantana Nature Preserve, Florida, USA
April 2023
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} They don't eat worms! Not even a little. They do eat caterpillars, but not more than any other warbler. The reaction to this information across the bird internet is muted, sort of a 'eh, what are you gonna do?' vibe. I find this distressing information. To make matters worse, the Worm-eating Warbler has a range that includes Cape May much more regularly than the Cape May Warbler, and the Cape May Warbler is known for it's favored food source to be an insect called the Spruce Budworms, to the point where Cape May populations increase when there's a Budworm outbreak. Who is naming these things? We need to shut this whole thing down.

What went wrong? I saw this guy out in the open for about 5 seconds before he completely disappeared. I followed his chirping around for a bit, but he never came out in the open again. Also, it was raining


And lastly, a very special welcome back to the American Redstart in his unprecedented second appearance in the Good Birds, Bad Pics series. Go to hell American Redstart.

What went wrong? Personal hatred for me, I'm assuming

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Ruffed Grouse



Ruffed Grouse aka. Patridgde, aka. Pheasant, aka. Prairie Chicken (all colloq., inaccurate) aka. Thunder-chicken

East Glacier Park, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Turkey, Grouse, and Partridge Family
§A Pack of Grouse§
★The State Game Bird of Pennsylvania★ (Ranked the worst state bird by this website, due to not being a state bird (Pennsylvania does not have one)
★The most widely distributed game bird in North America★

~True Bird Fact~ They are described as an "immensely popular game bird" by allaboutbirds.org, and I see no reason to argue with that characterization, given that they appear to have an enormous organization named after them. Yes, you heard me, The Roughed Grouse Society exists, and appears to have an extremely slick website, and a history of working with state governments to improve forest management to create more appropriate grouse habitats. 

Yes, these are hunters, which is not really my thing, but I think the lesson to take here is that a bird species thrives when attention and care is paid to it, although maybe not for ideal reasons in this case. Anyway, this aforementioned website is filled with great quotes. Like this one, about the birds comfort with humans "they can still be killed with a canoe paddle or thrown stones in Minnesota wilderness forests, and are not considered much of a sporting bird in western mountains and north into Canada due to their confiding “fool-hen” nature."

And this one about Ruffed Grouse chicks "The chicks are precocial, which means that as soon as they have dried following hatching they are ready to leave the nest and start feeding themselves. Grouse chicks are not much larger than a man’s thumb when they leave the nest. They are surprisingly mobile and may be moving farther than 1/4 mile a day by the time they are 3 or 4 days old. They begin flying when about 5 days old, and resemble giant bumble bees in flight."

I also learned that "Ruffed Grouse are almost exclusively “flower-eaters,” living on the dormant flower buds or catkins of trees such as the aspens, birches, cherries, ironwood and filberts. Extensive feeding upon flower-buds in apple orchards caused Ruffed Grouse to be placed on the list of bountied animals in some New England states at one time."

Man, what a great website.

So anyway, I went to Montana, to Glacier National Park specifically, to continue my bucket list dream of visiting all the National Parks. Didn't actually get that many birds there, due to not really taking a birds-first approach, but I did get some, that I'll be posting in the coming (months? years?). I did also capture some strange non-bird animals, that maybe you'd have a passing interest in. Like this one

Moose (Shiras subspecies)

Fishercap Lake, Glacier National Park, Swiftcurrent, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Deer Family
§A Herd of Moose§
★Largest and Heaviest Member of the Deer Family


{Etymology Corner} from the Algonquin "Moosh" from the Innu people. Meaning "stripper and eater of bark"