Updated: Saturday July 11, 2009

Spring 2009 images from Colombia:

My wife and I spent the first two weeks of June, 2009 on a mission trip to Colombia for the Presbyterian Church USA. A few hours of free time in the big cities and several days at the ProAves El Dorado Reserve in the Santa Marta Mountains provided an introduction to birds of the tropics, including several Santa Marta endemics.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

• June 2nd-6th - Bogota, Colombia
  
  
• June 7th-10th - ProAves El Dorado Reserve, Santa Marta Mountains, Colombia
  
  
• June 11th-12th - Barranquilla, Colombia
  
  
• Insects
  
  

• Eared Dove #1 - A common bird of parks and back yards
  
  
• Great Thrush #1 - A large Thrush, common in parks and back yards
  
  

• Santa Marta Brush-Finch #1 (Endemic) - A common bird around the lodge
  
  
• Blue-naped Chlorophonia #1 - A common bird around the lodge
  
  
• White-sided Flower-piercer #7 (male) - A common bird around the lodge
  
  
• White-sided Flower-piercer #8 (female) - A common bird around the lodge
  
  
• Cinnamon Flycatcher #6 - A very tame bird along the road up to the lodge
  
  
• Golden-crowned Flycatcher #1 - One of a pair at the lodge
  
  
• Tyrian Metaltail #4 (male - Endemic) - One of the few males at the lodge
  
  
• Tyrian Metaltail #5 (female - Endemic) - One of several females at the lodge
  
  
• Crested Oropendola #5 (male) - One of several males displaying in a communal nest tree at the lodge
  
  
• Crested Oropendola #12 (female) - A "not so impressed by the displaying male" female in a communal nest tree at the lodge
  
  
• Scarlet-fronted Parakeet #4 - A very tame bird along the road up to the lodge
  
  
• Rufous-collared Sparrow #6 - A relative of our White-crowned Sparrow, and a common bird everywhere
  
  
• Keel-billed Toucan #1 - I just love these birds!
  
  
• Emerald (Santa Marta) Toucanet #7 - If the Santa Marta race is split out as a separate species, it would be another Santa Marta endemic. Ever wonder how these birds eat? Grasp the fruit with the tips of the bill...
  
  
• Emerald (Santa Marta) Toucanet #8 - ...toss it up and back into the mouth...
  
  
• Emerald (Santa Marta) Toucanet #9 - and swallow it down...note the round bulges in the crop!
  
  
• Masked Trogon #3 (male) - A bird at eye-level along a forest trail
  
  
• Masked Trogon #7 (female) - A bird at eye-level along a forest trail
  
  
• Green Violetear #5 - A cooperative bird at one of the feeders around the lodge
  
  
• Green Violetear #6 - A bird hovering at one of the feeders around the lodge
  
  
• Black Vulture #6 - The most common bird in the skies above the lodge
  
  
• Rufous-capped Warbler #1 - A bird bringing food to nestlings along the road to the lodge
  
  
• Black-fronted Wood-Quail #6 - The last bird of a covy disappearing into the underbrush around the lodge
  
  
• Violet-crowned Woodnymph #4 (male) - The bright blues, greens, and violets are stunning
  
  
• Violet-crowned Woodnymph #5 (male) - The bright blues, greens, and violets are stunning
  
  
• Violet-crowned Woodnymph #6 (female) - The female has similar markings, but without the bright colors
  
  
• Crimson-crested Woodpecker #1 (male) - A large South American Woodpecker similar to our Pileated Woodpecker (but in a different genus)
  
  
• House Wren #1 - A familiar bird with a very wide range distribution