Blue-Gray Tanager, Olive-chinned Parakeet, Black-cheeked Woodpecker — Three More Common Costa Rican Species

You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it.  Click again for a detailed view.

There seems to be no end to the species that I photographed in Costa Rica.  I’m a bit worried that I’m turning this blog into a Costa Rican wildlife blog.  However,  I’m captivated by Costa Rica’s myriad of wildlife.

Today, three more bird species that I found to be exotic and charming but that are common sights in Costa Rica.  I photographed all of these birds at the same location, from a deck at the Maquenque Eco Lodge in northeastern Costa Rica, near the border with Nicaragua.

The Blue-gray Tanager may be one of Costa Rica’s most common birds.  It shows up everywhere — in mountains, lowlands, and jungle.  Its range extends far beyond Costa Rica, from southern Mexico down through much of the northern half of South America.  This bird often shows up in flocks.  It primarily eats fruit, but it is an opportunist that will take insects and small invertebrates when the opportunity is present.

The Black-cheeked Woodpecker has a range that extends from southern Mexico through much of Central America and down the northern part of South America’s west coast.  This is a medium size woodpecker, very handsome in my opinion.

The bird depicted here is a female.  On males the red crown covers the entire top of the bird’s head.

Finally, here’s an image of an Orange-chinned Parakeet.

These birds travel in noisy flocks that sometimes number more than 20 individuals.  This bird is an extremely common sight in Costa Rica’s coastal lowlands and foothills.  It has a range that includes much of Central America plus the northern parts of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.  As common as this bird may be, I found its presence to be a bit startling.  Native parrots and their kin no longer live in the United States, although there are some introduced birds living in a few communities such as Central and South Florida and the Los Angeles area.  It didn’t occur to me that I’d be running into numerous parrot relatives while traveling around Costa Rica.

Images made with a Canon 5Div, 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 ISII L zoom lens, aperture priority setting, ISO 2000, f5.6, shutter speeds varied from 1/320 to 1/400.