Pigeons and Doves of Coto Brus: ID by Song

Posted on February 25, 2017 by greghomer

Pigeons and Doves of Coto Brus: Identification by Song

Bird Name	Description	Song
Short-billed Pigeon	Upright, reddish-brown.	4-5 syllables long. Think, ‘dos tontos son’.
Ruddy Pigeon	Similar to previous; a little darker.	Think, ‘what’s the matter’; sometimes ‘hey, what’s the matter’.
Scaled Pigeon	Big and stocky, thick neck. Scaly neck and chest, light-colored.	Deep pitched ‘wooo-oo-hoo’. The baritone of pigeons.
Pale-vented Pigeon	Light-colored pigeon; soft colors on head, dark bill.	Think ‘here we goooo’ or maybe ‘what the hell’.
White-tipped Dove	Our most common dove. White head and white tips on tail.	Sad sounding ‘wooooooooh’. Grey-headed Dove looks and sounds similar.
Ruddy Ground-Dove	Little guys; light-colored head, reddish-brown body.	Two distinct notes; think ‘woo-HOOT, woo-HOOT’ repeated several times.
Blue Ground-Dove	Male is actually BLUE! Female brown.	Single note ‘BOOP’.

(Scaled Pigeon photo courtesy of Luis Fallas)

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Leucistic Black Vultures in Tres Rios/Zopilotes negro con leucismo en Tres Rios

Posted on February 14, 2017 by greghomer

On a recent outing down the Tres Rios road (across from the San Vito Hosptial) we spotted not one but TWO…TWO…leucistic Black Vultures. Leucism is a recessive genetic trait that manifests itself by a lack of normal pigmentation. This condition is very rare.

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En una caminata reciente, vimos DOS…DOS…Zopilotes negro con una condition que se llama leucismo. El leucismo es un raro rasgo genetico recesivo donde no hay pigmentacion.

(photos courtesy of Jeff Worman)

P.O.W.-Week #22/F.D.L.S.-Semana #22

Posted on February 9, 2017 by greghomer

Congratulations/Felicidades a Gail Hull y Helen LeVasseur!

Theme: Birds eating colorful food/Aves comiendo cominda colorida

Photo #1: Crimson-fronted Parakeet in Poro flowers. (photo by Gail Hull)

Photo #2: Common Chlorspingus on feeder. (photo by Helen LeVasseur)

SVBC Bird Feeder Contest 2017/Concurso de comedor de aves 2017

Posted on January 30, 2017 by greghomer

February 1-28: Make a list of the bird species that come to your bird feeder. Whoever has the most species of birds…WINS!

Rules:

Bird must actually eat something on or directly under your bird feeder.
Your bird feeders must be viewable from ONE SPOT. You can’t have one by your kitchen and one WAAAAY out in a potrero.

Good luck. Winner to be announced at the SVBC annual meeting in early March.

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Febrero 1-28: Hacer una list de las aves que vienen a su comedor de aves. Quien tiene mas es el GANADOR!

Reglas:

Las aves nesesitan comer algo directament en el comedor or abajo del comedor.
Usted nesecita ver sus comedores desde un lugar. No puede tener un comedor en frente de su cocina and una otra en su potrero.

Buena suerte! Ganador sera anunciado en la primera semana de marzo a nuestra reunion anual.

(photo courtesy of Helen LeVasseur)

Cusingos (Fiery-billed Aracaris)

P.O.W.-Week #21/F.D.L.S.-Semana #21

Posted on January 26, 2017 by greghomer

Congratulations/Felicidades a Troy Edson-Smith y Tom Wilkinson!

Theme: Strange Views/Extrana perspectivas

Photo #1: Two-headed vulture / Zopilote con dos cabezas (photo by Tom Wilkinson)

Photo #2: A worm for breakfast / Un gusano por el desayuno. (photo by Troy Edson-Smith)

Click here to learn how members can submit their own photos for the Photos of the Week feature.

P.O.W.-Week #20/F.D.L.S.-Semana #20

Posted on January 19, 2017 by greghomer

Congratulations/Felicidades a Marilin Saldana Zuniga y Yeimiri Badilla!

Theme: Hot, hot colors!/Colores caliente!

Photo #1: Red-legged Honeycreeper (by Marilin Saldana Zuniga)

Photo #2: Fiery-billed Aracari (by Yeimiri Badilla)

A Little Citizen Science?

Posted on January 13, 2017 by greghomer

On three different occasions and locations this week I have noticed Baltimore Orioles sharing a tree with Gray-headed Chachalacas.

Could there be a commensal* relationship going on? Are the Baltimore Orioles benefitting as the big, sometimes clumsy Chachalacas stir up arboreal insects and other invertebrates? We see a similar type of relationship with cattle and cattle egrets, monkey troops and Gray-headed Tanagers.

Please contact me if you notice this Gray-headed Chachalaca/Baltimore Oriole affiliation:

president@sanvitobirdclub.org

Thanks everyone; Greg.

*Commensal–a relationship between two different organisms, where one benefits and the other is (seemingly) not affected.