Two Little Expats: For the Birds

Costa Rica is for the birds - but we like it that way.

I've considered myself a birder for a long time. Since the age of six, birds have helped draw my attention to the natural world, and the mysteries of life on planet Earth.

I remember tracking pheasant across the white fields of winter.

Flushing them into flight just to feel that explosion of feathers,
and see the jewel-like flash of gold, burgundy, and green.

I remember being completely stunned by my first Pileated Woodpecker.
How could such a thing exist?
I felt like God had singled me out and showed it to me.

I remember the elegant Northern Loon riding low in the water.
His ululating call piercing the long summer twilight of the Minnesota lake country.

Twice in my life I have been startled by feuding Ruby Crowned Kinglets.
Miniature fury locked in territorial combat, plummeting straight to the ground in front of me.

It might sound odd, but Starr and I love bird watching because of electric moments like these.

So we are very content to realize that we share the jungles, beaches, and mountain ridges of Central America with 900 species of birds.

Finer neighbors exist nowhere.

Birders like us try to make a pilgrimage to CR at least once in their lifetime. They come to visit places that are literally in sight of our front gate.

Realizing our tardiness, we finally took our first expertly guided bird walk with Alison and the San Vito Bird Club last weekend. We really enjoyed it.

Here are some photos (not mine) so you can get a good look at some of the awesome species we've seen in the last few weeks.

Bay Headed Tanager.
Very shy. Loves ripe bananas.

Blue Crowned Motmot. Hoots softly.
Mates for life. Sits still as Buddha.
(when Buddha is sitting still)

Blue Grey Tanager.
Everywhere. Another banana lover.

Collared Trogon.
Very shy woodland bird. Very bold design and color.

Montezuma Oropendola. Huge, raucous, and clown-like.
Nest is a 4 foot long hanging pouch.
(As one would expect of a clown)

Fiery Billed Aricari. Impossibly showy bird.
Moves through the forest in a loose-knit flock.
(or a stretch-knit frock)

Gray Headed Chachalaca. Large loud bird.
We only heard them in Ecuador, but have seen them all over Costa Rica.

Green Honeycreeper. Unmistakable and striking.
Will do gymnastics to reach a ripe banana.
(I wonder what he'd do for a Cracker Jack?)

Keel Billed Toucan. A real front-heavy silhouette in flight.
The markings make the bill seem even larger.
(like Alaska airline's tailfin Eskimo, Avianca needs a toucan fuselage)

Laughing Falcon. Eats snakes almost exclusively.
Hunts in pairs, calling "gua-co" back and forth,
until falling into a chorus of crazy laughter.
(... with us)

Passerini's Tanager.
With his shockingly fluorescent red-orange safety rump.
(rarely rear-ended, though records are sketchy)

Swallow Tailed Kite.
Snow white head. Soars effortlessly along ridge tops.

Violet Sabrewing.
At 6 inches, our largest hummingbird. Loves heliconia nectar.
(... with a beer chaser)

Turkey Vulture. The garbage man of the jungle and pasture lands.
Sometimes soars with dozens of birds in a tornado formation a thousand feet high.
(dangerous only if you live in a trailer house)

White Crowned Parrot.
Large green and blue bird. A bit rare.
(you might say medium-rare ;-)

Scaled Pigeon. We saw one from behind this morning
and could not find anything like it in the bird book.
Later I asked Pepe, described how it flew away, and he knew it instantly.