Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler at Magee Marsh, Ohio

Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler

The Palm Warbler occurs mostly east of the Rocky Mountains and breeds almost exclusively in Northern Canada. Some members of this species will spend winters along the west coast of the United States, however, most overwinter in the Southeastern United States and down into the Caribbean and Yucatan. The winter Palm Warbler, like most other warblers is drab brown, but the yellow under-tail area gives them away along with their habit of wagging their tail up and down as they forage on the ground. They are brave for warblers. In Florida a winter bird came up and pecked on my shoe.

The photo shows an adult heading for the breeding grounds. Photo taken in May 2018 at Magee Marsh, Ohio.

Southern Lapwing

A common shorebird of South America but it is slowly spreading north into Central America. This is one of two that my daughter spotted close to the Arenal Volcano near La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Bay-breasted Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Yes, there are many beautiful birds in the Neotropics, but it’s not to say there isn’t beauty among the birds in North America. Indeed, we share many of our birds with countries in the south when they migrate to warmer climes in the winter. Floy and I have seen many northern species in the south, but they are often drab and do not show their breeding colors until the northern spring. The male Bay-breasted warbler is a member of this category, drab and plain in the Neotropics becoming a stunning showman in the northern summer.

This photo was taken in May, 2018 at Magee Marsh, Ohio

Western Tanager

Western Tanager. Photo taken near Truckee, California

Floy pretty much described this bird in her post below. We see it show up in the spring in the San Francisco Bay Area, usually, but not always in riparian areas. It is a common summer bird in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Rufous-collared Sparrow

This perky bird has an extensive geographic distribution, occurring from southern Mexico to the southernmost tip of South America. We encountered a small group of them at the entrance to Los Quetzales National Park, Costa Rica, which is located near Cerro de la Muerte, the mountain of death, on the Pan American Highway. Once you drive this stretch of road, the origin of the “mountain of death” becomes apparent. We observed these birds around 9,000-10,000 above sea level. It was a cold, blustery, gray day when I photographed them and I wished there was more light to work with, but their beauty stands out even so.

Hoffman's Woodpecker

Melanerpes hoffmannii occurs from Southwest Nicaragua to Northern Costa Rica. We saw several of them over a two-week period.

One of the characteristic markings of this species is that the nape (back of the neck) is yellow. This male was busy hunting for bugs and was oblivious to my close presence.

Costa Rica 2018

Hoffman’s Woodpecker (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)

Costa Rica 2018

Motmots

Motmot sketch - Costa RIca

Motmots are one of my favorite birds. I guess they rank high with me because they tend to sit still and they are beautiful. This makes them good photo subjects.

Motmots are found in the forests of the Neotropics. Motmots are patient, sit and wait predators, roosting quietly, waiting to ponce on an insect or a small lizard that wanders into the reach of a waiting motmot.

Most motmots have “paddles” at the end of their tails. These paddles are called rackets. Rackets are formed because the feather barbs above the rackets are weakly attached and fall out. It used to be thought that the bird removed these barbs, but this has since been proven incorrect.

Rufous Motmot (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)

Broad-billed Motmot (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)

Tody Motmot (Dave Zittin, Guatemala 2017) This species lives deep in the vine tangle and is difficult to photograph. Note that this motmot does not have tail rackets

Lesson’s Motmot (David Zittin, Guatemala 2017)