Our Big Three: Rosy, Mousey and Branny

Posted on by

Great things, stupendous things, things of legend often come in threes for some reason.  

Remember the famous Three Tenors?  Those three dudes who were the best opera singers in the world; Pavarotti…and that other guy whose name I can’t quite remember….and uh…the other dude whose name no one can remember?  

The three best baseball players of the 1950s…Willie, Mickey and the Duke.  There was even a wonderful song written about them.

Plus, our world has so many other big threes, such as:

  • The Three Musketeers.
  • The Three Stooges.
  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Here in San Vito we have our very own BIG THREE.  Our ‘Big Three’ approaches legend, they are highly sought-after and they possess near mythical qualities.  

Who are the San Vito Bird Club BIG THREE?  They are of course…rare birds.

  1. Rosy Thrush-tanager (Rosy).
  2. Mouse-colored Tyrannulet (Mousey).
  3. Bran-colored Flycatcher (Branny).

Rosy (the Rosy Thrush-tanager) is the biggest and most beautiful of the Big Three, as the descriptor ‘Rosy’ might imply.  Found low to the ground, generally in weedy fields Rosy is highly sought after by most birders who come to Costa Rica.

Mousey (the Mouse-colored Tyrannulet) is often described…quite accurately…as ‘a little brown bird’.  Found throughout much of South America, Mousey has used great wisdom and extended its range northward into Coto Brus.  

Branny (the Bran-colored Flycatcher) has almost the very same range as Mousey. Branny too has made our area its northernmost home.  What I find so fascinating about the Bran-colored Flycatcher is its name. Who, other than cubicle-dwelling taxonomists, would look at Branny and think–’Hey, that bird is the color of bran.’  I suspect many taxonomists eat a lot of bran (if you know what I mean).

Please click on the link below.  It leads you to our wonderful ‘Gallery of Local Birds’ page where you can see photos of Rosy, Mousey and Branny; plus several of our other special birds including Pepe Castiblanco’s choices for the Big Three, Ruddy and Manny (the Ruddy Foliage-gleaner and the Lance-tailed Manakin.

https://sanvitobirdclub.org/gallery-of-local-birds/