We just returned from Birder’s Paradise: the back yard of our best friends, who live in the mountains of Costa Rica, about halfway between San Jose and the Pacific Coast.
On the first morning, we were awakened by bird calls: the soft whoop-whoop of mot-mots, the urgent cry of robins (Costa Rica’s “country bird”), the cry of jays, and the trrrriiiiip of a toucan, a sound like running your thumb over a comb.
The birds (with the exception of the toucan, who is not welcome) were all waiting for breakfast. The orange trees and hibiscus bushes rustled as birds vied for position when our friend Mary approached the bird feeder with fruit. She called “whoop-whoop” to her favorite, a juvenile blue-crowned mot-mot who is almost brave enough to fly to the bird feeder before Mary goes back to the house. But not quite. We watched as he flew out of the hibiscus bush and swooped back twice. Adult mot-mots feed here too, but the baby is easy to distinguish because of his short tail. Here's his photo:
The feeder attracted a pair of cherries tanagers, beautiful birds! The male is a stunning black and red, and the female is equally beautiful, with bright green and orange plumage. They frequently feed together, but the female seems to be the bolder of the two.
Mary next put out a plate of cracked corn near her tilapia pond. Soon a pair of wood rakes timidly appeared. These are handsome birds, with subtle green and orange plumage that is so smooth it looks they are wearing little velvet suits. The female watched as the male strolled out on his long pink legs, tail waggling, to feed. Then he retreated to the edge of the pond to feed on tadpoles while she took a turn. When the wood rakes left to go back to the river at the bottom of the property, tiny inca doves came to feed. These are adorable birds, with distinct feather patterns and rufous primaries. Pigeons and white-eared ground sparrows took a turn, one by one.
Several gray-headed chachalacas invaded the feeders (there are two feeders), and Mary said, “Hey you guys aren’t supposed to be here!” Huge, awkward birds with tiny heads, they had their way with the fruit while the smaller songbirds waited.
Finally, the smaller and more timid birds began to appear: a Hoffman’s woodpecker, beautiful yellow and black kiskadees, buff-throated saltators, shy blue-gray tanagers and palm tanagers, and a rufous-naped wren.
Later in the day, we would watch blue and white swallows, as they flew under the eaves of the porch clearing out the insects. All day long, rufous-tailed hummingbirds vied for feeding rights among the flowers. Then, when Mary took left-over tortillas out to the feeder, we watched as brown jays flew down to carry away whole tortillas. A melodious blackbird serenaded us late in the afternoon, perched on a branch near the pond.
On our last day, the wood rakes awakened the whole household at 5:00 am by clanging on their food bowl and singing. If you’ve ever heard a wood rake call, you’ll never forget it!
Pura Vida – Costa Rica