Author Archives: greghomer

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.

Gallery of Local Birds

Quiz Bird for July 7, 2019

Posted on by

This Quiz Bird may be rather difficult to identify. Shown below is not a photograph; it is a drawing, made from a distant sighting.

If you can identify this bird send your response to:

eltangaral@gmail.com

Or even better…send me proper Quiz Bird photograph and maybe we’ll use it!

Quiz Bird from June 7: The Answer

Posted on by

Jo Davidson, Terri Peterson and Alison Olivieri all correctly identified our June 7th Quiz Bird as the…

Wrenthrush!

Well done.  And Ms. Peterson also chipped in with a very good point; not too long ago the Wrenthrush had a MUCH prettier name–the Zeledonia.  So look for the beautiful Wrenthrush next time you’re up in the higher altitudes.

FYI: Send your photos that may serve as a challenging Quiz Bird to:

eltangaral@gmail.com

wrenthrush

Quiz Bird: June 7, 2019

Posted on by

Unlike most of our Quiz Bird photos, this photo is perfectly composed, lighted and framed.  You can clearly see every aspect of this Quiz Bird!

However, to see this bird you must leave San Vito and go up, up, up into higher altitudes.  Look around stands of bamboo, fairly close to the ground and you may spot the beautiful…???

Send your answers to:

eltangaral@gmail.com

(photo courtesy of John Missing, forwarded from Gail Hull)

wrenthrush

Quiz Bird Answer! May 18th Posting

Posted on by

This was a difficult Quiz Bird.  We did have one correct guess on Facebook from the great and powerful Gabriel Calvo, who correctly identified the…NORTHERN SCHIFFORNIS.

I often refer the Northern Schiffornis as a ‘birder’s bird’, due its rather monotonous  plumage, sluggish behavior and secretive lifestyle.  The Northern Schiffornis definitely does not fall into the ‘charismatic’ category.  But it has a jolly good song!  Click in the ‘Listen’ button in the lower right of the screen (below).

https://ebird.org/species/thlsch2

Plus, no one (not even those wacky taxonomists) has ever really known what to call it.  Not long ago it was known as the Thrushlike Schiffornis and before that it was thought to be some sort of Manakin

Is it a Flycatcher?  Is it a Becard?  Is it a Manakin? Is it a Thrush?  Nope.  It is our one-and-only Northern Schiffornis.

(photo courtesy of Randall Jimenez)

schiffy

Quiz Bird for May 2019!

Posted on by

This month’s quiz bird isn’t seen in San Vito.  It has been spotted down the hill around Coto 47.  Could this bird be another species that is expanding its range?  I hope so!

Send your best guess to:

eltangaral@gmail.com

(photo courtesy of Alison Olivieri)

(Last quiz bird photo, Cooper’s Hawk, courtesy of Gail Hull)

Inca

Quiz Bird Winner!

Posted on by

Congratulations to the great and powerful Randall Jimenez for submitting the first correct answer to our April 2019 Quiz Bird.

Randall (from the Pajareros del Sur) correctly identified the Cooper’s Hawk.  This medium-sized Accipiter hawk is occasionally seen in San Vito during its migration north.

We also had guesses of Sharp-shinned Hawk.  The ‘Sharpie’, though slightly smaller than the Cooper’s, looks very, very similar.  The most significant difference between the two species is the rounded tail of the Cooper’s Hawk; the Sharp-shinned has a squared off distal end of the long tail.  (see below)

Again, please join me in congratulating Randall Jimenez.

(Cooper’s Hawk tail on L–Sharp-shinned tail on R)

combo