Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Lagoa do Peixe • November 2009

Bird name: Saffron Finch
Latin: Sicalis flaveola
Other: Canário-da-terra-verdadeiro (Br) • Canario de tejado (Es), Jilguero dorado
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers, Finches
Range: South America, Caribbean
Similar:

The Saffron Finch is now classed with the Tanagers (Thraupidae) rather than the Buntings (Emberizidae).

The male is distinguished by a bright yellow front and orange/saffron glow above and sometimes below the face - there are various races.

The race pictured above is probably subspecies pelzelni, from location. Females and juveniles are hard to distinguish - they lack most of the yellow colouring and therefore look similar to other females. I’m going here on the striped chest as a distinguishing feature, but treat my IDs with caution.

As you can see below, the Saffron Finch takes advantage of the Rufous Hornero’s great nest-building abilities. Rufous Hornero’s typically build a new nest every year, so there are plenty of empty ones to be squatted.

The Saffron Finch is found throughout much of South America and the Caribbean, often near farm land.

Below, adult Saffron Finch, Pantanal, August.
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Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Rio de Janeiro • Sep 2011

Bird name: White Tailed Hawk
Latin: Buteo albicaudatus
Other: Gavião-de-rabo-branco (Br) • Gavilán coliblanco, aguilucho alas largas (Es)
Family: Accipitridae • Hawks, Birds of Prey
Range: Americas: Texas to Argentina
Similar: Red-backed Hawk

We saw this pair of White-tailed Hawks attending chicks in a nest, in northern Rio de Janerio state. One was a light morph (above), the other a dark morph (below).More photos...

Copyright: TC/monacoeye • Tanzania

Bird name: Martial Eagle
Latin: Polemaetus bellicosus
Other: Aigle martial (Fr)
Family: Accipitridae • Eagles, Birds of Prey
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Similar:

The Martial Eagle in Tanzania, sent in by Tom. Below, feeding chicks in nest.More photos...

Copyright monacoeye • Danube Delta, May • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: White Stork
Latin: Ciconia ciconia
Other: Cigogne blanche (Fr), Weißstorch (De), cigüeña blanca (Es), cicogna bianca (It), cegonha-branca (Pt)
Family: Ciconiidae • Storks
Range: France, Germany, Spain, E Europe to Africa. Also Asia.
Similar:

The White Stork is a large stork, seen here in rural wetlands in Romania and France.



Below, a White Stork in the nest at La Capelliere, Camargue, March.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Pantanal, 28 April 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Rufescent Tiger Heron
Latin: Tigrisoma lineatum
Other: Avetigre colorada (Es), Hocó colorado • Socó-boi (Br)
Family: Ardeidae • Herons
Range: Mexico to Uruguay
Similar: Fasciated Tiger Heron juvenile

Adult Rufescent Tiger Herons have wonderful finely barred greyish wings and rufous head and neck with white stripes down neck, yellow lores and yellow or orange irises. They are not too shy so relatively easy to observe.

Juvenile Rufescent Tiger Herons are really stunning, with coarse barring - like a tiger. Pictured above, one which has caught an insect.

In the Pantanal in August, Rufescent Tiger Herons are abundant by the drying bodies of water, and frequently seen in ditches, on river banks and near ponds and lakes.

Below: An Adult Rufescent Tiger Heron on a mound, Pantanal, Brazil, Aug 2011
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Pantanal • August 2011

Bird name: Burrowing Owl
Latin: Athene cunicularia
Other: (Es) • Coruja-buraqueira (Br)
Family: Strigidae • Owls
Range: North, Central and South America - from Canada to Argentina
Similar:

The small Burrowing Owl is a photographer’s friend - it stands peched in the open during broad daylight. It does hunt at night but is also often active during the day.

I regularly saw Burrowing Owls in open country throughout Brazil - farmland or dry scrub is typical habitat. Often there seemed to be groups, perhaps families or two pairs.

This small terrestrial owl lives in burrows in the ground, and often stands on a mound by the entrance to its burrow.

In Brazil, the Burrowing Owl has bright yellow irises and a white brow.

Directly below, a Burrowing Owl at Rio Clarinho Lodge, Pantanal, Brazil. August 2011.
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Copyright: RP/monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • St Barths, June 2011

Bird name: Green Throated Carib
Latin: Eulampis holosericeus
Other: Colibri falle-vert (Fr)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles, St Barths, St Maarten, Virgin Is, Martinique, Guadeloupe etc
Similar:

Many thanks to Bob for this shot of a Green-throated Carib nesting in his garden in St Barths !
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Copyright: AW/monacoeye • Do not copy • Iceland • May 2011

Bird name: Black Legged Kittiwake
Latin: Rissa tridactyla
Other: Kittiwake (UK) • Mouette tridactyle (Fr) • Dreizehenmöwe (De) • Drieteenmeeuw (Nl) • Gaviota tridáctila (Es) • Tretåig mås (Sv)
Family: Laridae • Gulls
Range: Iceland, UK, North Pacific, North Atlantic.
Similar:

A colony of Kittiwakes perched on cliffs in Iceland. Kittiwakes are small gulls with yellowish-green bills.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Silanche, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Purple Throated Fruitcrow
Latin: Querula purpurata
Other: Querula gorgimorada (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Manakins, Fruitcrows
Range: Southern Nicaragua to Amazonia. Inc. Panama, Ecuador.
Similar:

Above a male Purple-throated Fruitcrow, extending the purple ruff on its neck after calling, in the Rio Silanche Reserve in northwest Ecuador. Females are all black (see “more photos”), only males have the purple throat. Not in the crow family, but related to Cotingas. More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Pichincha, Ecuador • February 2011

Bird name: Pacific Hornero
Latin: Furnarius cinnamomeus
Other: Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus)
Family: Furnariidae • Horneros, Ovenbirds, Spinetails
Range: Ecuador, NW Peru
Similar:

The Pacific Hornero was the first bird I photographed in Ecuador, from the taxi, near Nanegal in Pichincha. The taxi driver told me they were common and had entered the area with the roads a couple of decades ago. But this turned out to be the only individual I got a good view of during my stay.

The Pacific Hornero has recently been split from the Pale-Legged Hornero, which is found further east in South America. The Pacific Hornero is an attractive bird, with a pale yellow iris. Conspicuous and vocal.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Panama, May 2010

Bird name: Chestnut Headed Oropendola
Latin: Psarocolius wagleri
Other:
Family: Icteridae • Oropendolas
Range: Mexico to Ecuador
Similar:

I saw a tree full of pendulous Chestnut-headed Oropendola nest on my first day in Cerro Azul. A wonderful sight. And individual birds were not infrequent on forest walks. Pictured above attending a fruit feeder in Canopy Lodge. They make noises like water glooping in a cave! Fantastic blue iris.


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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Panama, May 2010

Bird name: Yellow Rumped Cacique
Latin: Cacicus cela
Other:
Family: Icteridae • Caciques
Range: Panama to SE South America
Similar:

Yellow rumped Caciques! With nest-building below.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Panama, Chiriqui, May 2010

Bird name: Crimson Backed Tanager
Latin: Ramphocelus dimidiatus
Other:
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers
Range: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Similar: Ant tanagers

The Crimson-backed Tanager was one of the most common tanagers in central Panama - seen at feeders, around houses and fairly open forested areas.

Crimson-backed Tanagers are basically red birds with dark wings, but as there are quite a few red tanagers, with similar names, they can be surprisingly difficult to ID to the uninitiated.

Males have a characteristic partly white lower bill, whereas females’ bills are fairly uniform dark. Females are on the whole duller and browner.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Panama, May 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Black Faced Solitaire
Latin: Myadestes melanops
Other:
Family: Turdidae • Thrushes
Range: Mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama

The high mountain forests above Los Quetzales in Chiriqui resound to the entrancing, mystical sounds of the Black-faced Solitaire. Listening to recordings on the internet doesn’t do the song justice (eg here), because the frequencies can’t be captured with recording equipment and mp3.

The closest description I could give would be an aeolian harp or someone playing “wine glasses” by rubbing a wet finger around the rims of half-filled glasses. It is a high-pitched sound which carries, but also rich with deep tones. This ethereal song transforms the forest into a place of mystery - the first time I heard it I couldn’t believe that a bird could be the origin.

Although its song is often heard, I only saw a Black-faced Solitaire once. It is differentiated from other thrushes by its orange bill and legs, with dark iris and no orange eye-ring. It is dark grey with some white on wing and black face. Pictured below is a tree-trunk in which it was making a nest.More photos...

Copyright: TH/monacoeye • Perth, Australia • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Australian Darter
Latin: Anhinga novaehollandiae
Other:
Family: Anhingidae • Anhingas
Range: Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea

A pair of Australian Darters with chick at nest in Perth. Above, the male is to the left with black neck and chestnut patch (breeding plumage), and the female to the right with white neck.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Panama, April 2010

Bird name: Common Tody Flycatcher
Latin: Todirostrum cinereum
Other: Black-fronted Tody-Flycatcher • Espatulilla Común (Es) • Ferreirinho (Br)
Family: Tyrannidae • Tody Flycatchers
Range: Mexico to Brazil

The Common Tody Flycatcher doesn’t mind nesting in bushes in gardens and near houses, and was easy to see in Panama.

The Common Tody Flycatcher is a small bird, yellow below and black above with pale iris with broad bill. It makes a pendulous nest with side entrance. This nest was in a small tree beside a hotel forecourt.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • El Valle, Panama, April 2010

Bird name: White Throated Spadebill
Latin: Platyrinchus mystaceus
Other:
Family: Tyrannidae • Tyrant Flycatchers
Range: Costa Rica, Panama to Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil

This White-throated Spadebill had made its nest right beside the path, in the forked stem of young tree. The canopy was very dark and wet, even at midday.

The White-throated Spadebill is differentiated from other Spadebills in Panama by its white throat. A very small bird. Seen in the highlands of El Valle.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Chiriqui, Panama, May 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Resplendent Quetzal
Latin: Pharomachrus mocinno
Other: Quetzal or Quetzal mesoamericano (Es)
Family: Trogonidae • Trogons and Quetzals
Range: S Mexico to W Panama, montane cloud forest

The Resplendent Quetzal is a spectacular bird with superb iridescent colours and, in the male, long tail feathers. I saw these birds in May in Chiriqui, Western Panama, in the hills above Los Quetzales Lodge. Quetzales are fruit eaters, so can sometimes be found in groups feeding in certain fruiting trees.

The male has a superb red belly, white tail, long green tail feathers and upper parts, with yellow bill and green crest. The female is duller and lacks the long tail feathers and crest.

Classified Near-Threatened on the IUCN Red List, Respendent Quetzals are not always that easy to find in Panama - they are most common in the western Chiriqui highlands. They nest in tree holes.

The males are very beautiful in flight, their tails undulating through the air like snakes. The Resplendent Quetzal is the largest bird in the trogon family, the national bird of Mexico, and a sacred bird in Mayan culture.
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All photos copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Common Tern
Latin: Sterna hirundo
Other: Sterne pierregarin (Fr) • Charrán común (Es) • Andorinha-do-mar-comum (Pt) • Sterna comune (It) • Fluss-Seeschwalbe (De) • Visdief (Nl) • Fisktärna (Sv)
Family: Laridae • Terns
Range: Widespread
Similar:

The Common Tern is a summer visitor to the Côte d’Azur from April and good numbers can be seen in the Var estuary, where it breeds. Nests are often simple affairs - a couple of branches and a dip in the ground. One parent stays with the eggs or chicks while the other brings back fish. Common Terns seem to like to stand on rocks that just protrude from the flowing river. The dry river bed stones camouflage the birds well.

The Common Tern can be identified, in summer plumage, by its bright red bill with black tip, forked tail and red legs. In the Mediterranean it is unlikely to be confused with another tern as the only others with similar bill colour are the much larger Roseate Tern and the darker smaller Whiskered Tern, both are also less common and behave differently.

In the Northern winter Common Terns migrate south and exchange their distinctive black-tipped red bill and black cap for a black bill and white forehead. They can be distinguished from other similar terns by the dark mark on the fold of wing, very dark red legs, and tail streamers shorter than wing when standing.

Many more Common Tern photos here.









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Copyright: monacoeye • Cote d’Azur • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Yellow Legged Gull
Latin: Larus michahellis
Other: Goéland leucophée (Fr), Gabian • Gaviota patiamarilla (Es) • Gabbiano reale zampegialle (It)
Family: Laridae • Gulls
Range: Mediterranean coastline

The Yellow-legged Gull is a large gull, common in Monaco and along the Côte d’Azur in the summer.

It is closely related, and similar in appearance to, the Herring Gull and Caspian Gull, and even more closely related to the Great Black Backed Gull and Armenian Gull.

The adult (4th year) Yellow-legged Gull has black wing tips with small white windows at tips, grey upper wing, yellow bill and legs, with a large red spot on beak, pale irises with red eye-ring and red gape.

Juveniles (1st years) have dark beaks and mottled brown feathers, pink legs and feet, and dark irises.

2nd years have less brown in feathers, dark bill and irises.

3rd years have some yellow and some black on bill, pale yellow legs, pale irises, and quite a bit of grey adult feathers.

Many more Yellow-legged Gull photos here




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Copyright: monacoeye • Chiriqui, Panama, May 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Green Fronted Lancebill
Latin: Doryfera ludovicae
Other:
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador Bolivia and Venezuela

The Green-fronted Lancebill is not that easy to find. This one was perched above a deep-cut river in a dark, damp forest in the western highlands of Panama.

The Green-fronted Lancebill has a very long straight bill, is dull greenish mostly and greyish underneath. It has a small white spot behind the eye.

Below, in “more photos”, a Lancebill nest in the eves of a house.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Soberania Park 2006

Bird name: Sunbittern
Latin: Eurypyga helias
Other: Tepozcalcarau (Es), pavito de agua, ave sol, garza del sol • Pavãozinho-do-pará (Br), pavão-papa-moscas
Family: Eurypygidae • Sunbittern
Range: Guatemala to Brazil

The nesting female Sunbittern was seen in central Panama, above a river. Another was seen later in a river in El Valle. Taxonomy unclear.More photos...

Photos copyright: TC/monacoeye • Do not copy • Valle de Anton • 3 May 2010

Bird name: Common Potoo
Latin: Nyctibius griseus
Other: Grey Potoo, Lesser Potoo • Urutaú menor (Es) • Urutau-comum (Br)
Family: Nyctibiidae
Range: Costa Rica to Argentina

A chip off the old block - a Common Potoo and chick doing a very convincing impression of a piece of wood. The adult will have a laid a single egg, which has now hatched, in a depression in the top of this stump.

When Common Potoos hear a potential predator approach they adopt this freeze position, very slowly, which serves as even better camouflage than their usual pose.

Potoos are in the Caprimulgiformes order with the Nightjars and Frogmouths, but have their own family the Nyctibiidae with a single genus with seven species, which all live in tropical Central and South America. They hunt insects from a perch at night.


More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Pipeline Road, Panama • 24 April 2010

Bird name: Rufous Nightjar
Latin: Caprimulgus rufus
Other: João-corta-pão (Br)
Family: Caprimulgidae • Nightjars

The Rufous Nightjar is found from Costa Rica to Argentina.

This individual was sitting on a chick (not really visible here) in its “nest” on the ground, near Pipeline Road, east of the Panama Canal at the end of April. I think the chick might be the second patch of white on the chest.

It was very well camouflaged on the canopy floor of fallen leaves, and characteristically very difficult to spot even when looking straight at it.

More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Itatiaia & Ubatuba November 2009

Bird name: Bananaquit
Latin: Coereba flaveola
Other: Tangará (Br) • Reinita (Es)
Family: Coerebidae • Bananaquit

The Bananaquit is a small garden bird found in Brazil and most of tropical South and Central America. It feeds on nectar or even from hummingbird feeders. Also seen in Valle de Anton in Panama (not pictured).

It is recognisable by its long curved bill, yellow underside, white eyebrow strip and black eye stripe.

The nest below was in the fork of a small tree - perhaps a citrus? As you can see the entrance was in the side. The Bananaquit was bringing straw.

The taxonomy of the Bananaquit is uncertain but placed here in its own family.

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Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Itatiaia, Ubatuba • November 2009

Bird name: Cliff Flycatcher
Latin: Hirundinea ferruginea
Other: Gibão-de-couro (Br)
Family: Tyrannidae • Tyrant Flycatchers

The plumage of the Cliff Flycatcher is in tones of rufous brown, with a very small amount of light around the eye and a dark bill.

Cliff Flycatchers seemed fairly common in Itatiaia and Ubatuba, with a pair nesting on the windowsill of one of the chalets in Ubatuba - see photos below (“more photos”).

The female, presumably, was usually on the nest when I passed, with the male in attendance, either on the balcony of another chalet overlooking the nest (see photo) or flying around catching insects. Occasionally the female would join him on the balcony fence and they would both survey their brood of three eggs from a distance of about ten metres.

In Ubatuba I saw several Cliff Flycatchers on telephone wires, and in Itatiaia a group of them appeared at the top of a tree and then mobbed a passing Rufous-thighed Hawk.

Most of the range of the Cliff Flycatcher lies in Brazil, but there are other populations in South America east of the Andes.


More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Itatiaia, Ubatuba • November 2009

Bird name: Red Rumped Cacique
Latin: Cacicus haemorrhous
Other: Guaxe (Br)
Family: Icteridae • Caciques

The Red-rumped Cacique is the most common form of Cacique in eastern Brazil. It is a large bird, quickly identified by its yellow bill, startling bright blue iris and red flash of colour on its rump, especially visible in flight. The rest of the bird is black. Sometimes the blue irises show as black, perhaps in juveniles or bright light, as can be seen in the photo of the juvenile begging for food.

Red-rumped Caciques nest in colonies of pendulous nests, which they add to year after year, so that some older ones are empty. This can work to confuse some predators such as snakes. They will also weave their nests with green garden twine and several nests were seen incorporating this man made material. In Itatiaia I often saw Red-rumped Caciques eating fruit, including that of cecropia.

There are two separate populations of Red-rumped Cacique, one in southeast South America, including the southeast of Brazil, and one in northwest South America.


More photos...

Photo: monacoeye • Mostardas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil • November 2009

Bird name: Rufous Hornero
Latin: Furnarius torridus
Other: Red Ovenbird • João-de-barro (Br) • Hornero (Es), Alonsito
Family: Furnariidae • Horneros, Ovenbirds, Spinetails
Range: E, SC, SE South America, incl Brazil
Similar:

The Rufous Hornero was one of the most common birds in the area I visited near Lagoa do Peixe. The Rufous Hornero lives in southeastern South America, including the southern states of Brazil. It is the national bird of Argentina, where it is widespread.

The Rufous Hornero is named after the ovenlike mud nests it builds. Its Brazilian name means John-of-Mud, the Spanish name means Ovenbird.

Rufous Horneros change nest every year, either building a new nest or repairing an old one. Old nests are also often used by Saffron Finches.More photos...

Photo copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Images: Lagoa do Peixe, RS • November 2009

Bird name: Yellow Chinned Spinetail
Latin: Certhiaxis cinnamomeus
Other: Curutié (Br), João-do-brejo • Curutié rojizo (Es)
Family: Furnariidae • Spinetails

The Yellow-chinned Spinetail lives throughout most of Brazil and much of South America from Trinidad to Argentina.

This spinetail is distinguished, as its name suggests, by its yellow chin. It has reddish-brown irises, black bill, white supercilium, it is greyish behind eyes, with a dark line through eyes, white chest and belly, dark legs and is all-rufous on its back and upperside of wings and top of head.

These Yellow-chinned Spinetails were seen around the marshes in southern Brazil. The individual below is building a stick nest in marsh reeds. Eventually it will be spherical, with a vertical tubular entrance. The bird was not too shy, flying to bring back sticks.
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Photo copyright: monacoeye.com • St Jean Cap Ferrat • May 2009 • Do not copy

Bird name: Fischer’s Lovebird
Latin: Agapornis fischeri
Other: Inséparable de Fischer
Family: Psittacidae • Parrots • Lovebirds

There is a large colony of Fischer’s Lovebirds in St Jean and Villefranche. I was told that the original birds escaped from the zoo ten years ago - they seem well established.

They like to sit in the palm trees in groups of half a dozen birds and may also nest in the street lights. They live up to their name by cuddling affectionately with each other.

This small parrot is originally native to Lake Victoria and Tanzania. More photos...