More photo browsing led me to find these snapshots of a female Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) poking about on a fallen tree in the Corcovado National Park. I can tell it is female by the black on its forehead, especially visible in the photo above.
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Browsing through Costa Rica photos this evening, I came across this one of what I think is a White-throated Shrike-Tanager (Lanio leucothorax). Similar in appearance to orioles, there are two varieties of the species in the country: one that lives closer to the Caribbean with a yellow rump and undertail coverts (the feathers beneath the tail), and another, like this one, with black rump and undertail coverts that lives on the south-Pacific coast. This male of the species, belting out his call, was photographed on the Osa Peninsula.
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In 2004, I caught this pair of Cherrie’s Tanagers (Ramphocelus costaricensis) on camera one morning near the Corcovado National Park. The female’s coloration is obscured by shadow, but the sunlit male on the right, with his bright red rump and light blue bill, is easy to distinguish. The male Cherrie’s Tanager, native to the south Pacific region of Costa Rica, looks virtually identical to the male Passerini’s Tanager (Ramphocelus passerinii), which is found only on the Caribbean side of the country. However, the coloration of the female Cherrie’s Tanager is significantly brighter than her Passerini counterpart. Collectively known as the Scarlet-rumped Tanager, the two species were formerly considered conspecific, but have since been separated.
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I have not seen nearly as many Keel-billed Toucans (Ramphastos sulfuratus) as I have Chestnut-mandibled Toucans (Ramphastos swainsonii), in part because I have traveled most often to the Osa Peninsula, where there are none of the Keel-billed species. So I was delighted when I came across this photo taken in 2004 near Tortuguero. I love this pair’s bright lime beaks touched with orange and red, which compliment the birds’ bright yellow throats so well.
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Along the brackish water at the mouth of the Tortuguero River, a male Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) did a strange little dance as our boat floated past. I’ve no idea quite why the bird was flapping is silver-striped wings, though it was fun to see and photograph. Female Anhingas have a buffy brown neck and head instead of shiny black.
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On the prowl in search of ants and termites, a furry Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) uses its long snout to explore what appears to be the dried husk of a large coconut (below). These photographs of the anteater were taken on a hike from Serena to Carate in 2010, not far from the beach that lines the Pacific shore of the Corcovado National Park. Northern Tamanduas consume an average of 9,000 insects each day.
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Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii) are the smallest of the four primates that can be found in Costa Rica. They live exclusively in the southwest Pacific region. Often seen in a troop, the tiny monkeys travel quickly in a single file line, following the same route from branch to branch and tree to tree. This one, about to leap after the monkey before it, paused long enough to get its picture near the road leading into Carate.
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Common Pauraques (Nyctidromus albicollis) prefer to stay close to the ground, and make their nests on the earth or dead leaves in open, but shady places. This well-camouflaged Pauraque was photographed in March 2010, while it was nesting in some sparse brush just off of the beach near Serena. As their large eyes suggest, Common Pauraques rest by day, and hunt for beetles, moths, and other insects at night.
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Although Great Curassows (Crax rubra) once lived in both the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica, populations are now predominately in a few of the country’s most protected wildlife areas. These females of the species were photographed near Bosque del Cabo on the Osa Peninsula. I have also seen these large birds at Serena, in the heart of the Corcovado National Park. Male Great Curassows are almost entirely black.
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At the lodge in Selva Verde, the staff keep some feeding platforms stocked with fresh fruit to lure the birds where they can easily be seen by visitors. One morning, ripe bananas were on the menu, and these Collared Aracaris (Pteroglossus torquatus) had a feast. They use their long, sharp beaks to break open the peels, tear off a piece of banana, toss it in the air, and gulp it down. I could watch them for hours.
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