No, this is not my bird and these are not my photos. And, I have never seen this bird myself, but it is high on my wish list. In the days before digital cameras, I did see Cuban todys and, since then, the tody is one of my favorite birds (if such a thing is even possible). A good friend, and casual birder, visits Puerto Rico annually and his most recent visit was at the end of January. He hikes, walks the beaches and enjoys the food and night life. Prior to his departure we had lunch together and I reminded him to be on the look out for the Puerto Rican tody. I pulled the vocalization up on my phone and we listened a couple of times. I reminded him, when you hear that sound, look for the bird. This was not the first time I mentioned the tody to him, so I forgot about it after that. However, about 3-4 days into his trip, I received the following photos taken with his phone while hiking along a wooded trail. These are two different birds (maybe four different birds; my friend could not clarify). The top photo is a male, in the 2nd photo a female tody seems possible, the 3rd photo is a male and in the 4th photo it's unclear if male or female. So maybe two pairs, but maybe not.
Charming bird!
I am halfway through reading The (Big) Year That Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents and the Ultimate Birding Record by Arjan Dwarshuis. I'm a slow reader, so give me a bit of time but this is a big year book that I definitely want to write a review for. Hopefully, on my next blog entry.
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