Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Panama's little birds - a lot of birds but a lot of mediocre photos too

I have a lot of little bird photos from my Panama trip.  Some are okay but many are not.  In no particular order except mostly in the order taken on trip, I include some here. 


Take this photo of Cinnamon Woodpecker (Celeus loricatus).  This bird was so beautiful with stunning breast chevrons and I tried and tried to get a decent photo.  I got perhaps a dozen of which half of those were deleted immediately.  I kept the others as my best bad photos of the Cinnamon.

Most of the birds shown below are the best images of multi-image attempts.


Purple-throated Fruitcrow (Querula purpurata


Dusky Antbird (Cercomacra tyrannina)


Dot-winged Antwren (Microrhopias) quixensis) with a gigantic caterpillar


White-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus luctuosus)


Above and below:  During our January 30th evening tally we called this bird a Social Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis), but I now think it's a White-ringed Flycatcher (Conopias albovittatus).  The bill and the eye don't seem right for Social Flycatcher. Unfortunately, I have only these two very similar views so the field marks of white-ringed cannot be fully seen. Nevertheless, so much about this bird seems better for white-ringed flycatcher.  Maybe.  Update:  02/28/16:  I asked Darrin O'Brien his opinion of this ID and he thinks Rusty-margined Flycatcher.  He also checked Matt Hysell's photos. 



Above and below:  Here's another photo of a bird that I called a Rusty-margined Flycatcher (Myiozetetes cayanensis) when I first saw it.  It was taken near the ammo dump on our first day of official birding. Now I am wondering if it's a Lesser Kisskadee (Pitangus lictor).  I liked the rusty colored feathers, but the bill seems too large to be a rusty-margined.  This bird was flycatching from the perch of a chain that blocked the road when most were focused on Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis) and which I saw well.  I knew I had no chance for a photo of the mango so I turned my camera to this more accessible bird.


Bottom line:  These lemon-breasted birds are so attractive and so cooperative and such a pleasure to see that it's also nice to know that for the lemon-breasted novice like me they also offer an ID challenge. If anyone wants to chime in, I would appreciate the feedback.


I can't recall now what we called this bird, too high up and with too much sun on it to really feel comfortable with the field marks.  Any ideas?
  

Western Slaty-antishrike (Thamnophilus atrinucha)


Blue-crowned Manakin (Pipra coronata)


Above (m) and below (f):  Spotted Antbird (Hylophylax naevioides)



Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus auricapillus) in Parque Natural Metropolitano.


American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryl aenea) digiscoped by Rhoda Johnson at Summit ponds.


Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) at Summit ponds.


Rufous-capped Warbler (Bacileuterus rufifrons) at Cara Iguana.


A female euphonia, but I don't know which one.  This bird was photographed in El Valle de Anton at our Tody Motmot/Cara Iguana location.


Northern Barred-Woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae)


Spotted Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus erythropygius) trails above El Valle de Anton


Cocoa Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus susurrans) trails near Achiote Road.   


Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryl americana) over creek along Achiote Road.  If I ever get a green kingfisher in focus, you'll hear me jumping for joy from wherever you are. 


Streaked Flycatcher (Myiodynastes maculatus) - too bad the eye is blurry - along Achiote Road.


Cannot see the vent, but I think this is Fulvous-vented Euphonia (Euphonia fulvicrissa) along Achiote Road.


Above and below:  Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) along Achiote Road.


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