Category: Nicaragua

Posted on

Coots and Gallinules! Nicaragua!

Some of the more interesting water birds are coots and gallinules in the same family:

Purple Gallinule
Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Common Gallinule
Lake Nicaragua at Granada
Common Gallinule
Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua

American Coot
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

American Coot
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

About the Purple Gallinule on Cornell’s “All About Birds”

About the Common Gallinule on Cornell’s “All About Birds”

About the American Coot on Cornell’s “All About Birds”

“Maybe one day I could fly all over the world and meet other interesting birds.” 
― Jarod Kintz
Posted on

More Water Birds from Nicaragua

Northern Jacana
Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Mangrove Swallow
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
Spotted or Stilt Sandpiper
Coloring most like stilt (in book) but legs and beak seem short. Juvenile?
Or could it be a Western or Least Sandpiper? Pectoral?
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
Tricolored Heron Flying, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
See another Tricolor on my Herons Post

Laughing Gull
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
See another one on my April 1 Post, sitting on a post

Neotropic Cormorant

Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
Neotropic Cormorant

Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Neotropic Cormorant

Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

About Northern Jacana on Cornell’s “Neotropic Birds” site

About Mangrove Swallow on Cornell’s “Neotropic Birds” site

About Sandpipers on Wikipedia

About Tricolored Herons on Cornell’s “About Birds” site

About Laughing Gull on Cornell’s “About Birds” site

About Neotropic Cormorant on Cornell’s “Neotropic Birds” site

And in my photo galleries of Costa Rica Birds:
Northern Jacana   –   Mangrove Swallow   –   Spotted Sandpiper   –   Pectoral Sandpiper   –   Neotropic Cormorant

Posted on

Is it a Bird or a Tree Limb?

Common Potoo
Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Common Potoo
Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

This is one of the coolest birds in Central America that I’ve seen only three times and good photographs only twice now. Notice especially in the first photo how he could be mistaken for part of the tree, a broken limb, stump, etc. It is an interesting disguise that keeps a lot of birders and others from ever seeing him, including predators. My other good photograph was in Panama, a Panama City Park of all places! We saw one on Rio Frio at Los Chiles, Costa Rica but the two photos are not good. Now I need a good one in Costa Rica!  🙂

About the Common Potoo on Cornell’s NeotropicalBirds

Posted on

Some More BIG BIRDS in Nicaragua

I’ve already done posts on the Peregrine Falcon, Highland Guan, Egrets & Herons, a Limpkin, and Toucans which are all kind of big too!  🙂

Osprey

Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Gray Hawk 

El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Swallowtail Kite
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Turkey Vulture

Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Black Vulture

Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

White Chinese Goose
Selva Negra Mountain Resort
White Chinese Goose
Selva Negra Mountain Resort
Posted on

Hummingbirds in Nicaragua

Cinnamon Hummingbird, Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

 

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

 

Violet Saberwing Hummingbird 
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

 

Long-billed Hermit Hummingbird El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

The lodges in Nicaragua don’t emphasis hummingbirds as much as they do in Costa Rica where you find almost too many feeders. Most of these were found because of flowers that attracted them, all but the Violet Saberwing above. We saw others but these are all I photographed.

My Costa Rica Birds and my Nicaragua Birds PHOTO GALLERIES!  🙂

Or check out Cornell’s All About Birds website.

Posted on

Parrots & Parakeets in Nicaragua

All are too high or far away for my camera to get a good photo, but here they are:

Orange-fronted Parakeets
Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Pacific Parakeets, Chocoyero-El Brujo Natural Reserve
Ticuantepe, Nicaragua
Hundreds of parakeets fly in every evening to nest in the holes in a high rock wall.

White-fronted Parrot
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

White-crowned Parrot
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
He was actually greener than this shows.
Late afternoon light/shadows do funny things in photos. 

About Parrots on Wikipedia

And since the Pacific Parakeet was a new one for me. I read this paragraph on Wikipedia and learned that El Chocoyero is the only place any of them live now, so a rare parakeet also called Nicaraguan green conure. Wow! I live close to a lot of cool places! And really glad I spent a week in Nicaragua not only because I got photos of about 85 species of birds but I love the place now!

Posted on

The Drama of a Peregrine Falcon & Blue-winged Teal

A Wildlife Encounter Story
From our boat we see a falcon with a duck.
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

The Peregrine Falcon lands with his Blue-winged Teal
We thought he would eat it there but . . .
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Not liking us to watch I guess, he takes off again with the dead duck.
While flying over the water he drops the duck.
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Blue-winged Teal picked up by my guide, Moises
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua
Many flocks of Blue-winged Teal on lake around us and . . .
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Flying by us with Mombacho Volcano in background: Blue-winged Teal
Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

One never knows what serendipity encounter you will have with wildlife when walking or boating in the wilderness! But it seemed to happen frequently in Nicaragua, a very good trip!

“It’s a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn’t even know you were aiming for.” 
― Lois McMaster Bujold

About Peregrine Falcon on Cornell’s “All About Birds” site

About Blue-winged Teal on Cornell’s “All About Birds” site

Posted on

Egrets & Herons in Nicaragua

Snowy Egret flies in to Tricolored Heron
Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua

Little Blue Heron,  Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Green Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Black-crowned Night Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Tricolored Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada

Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

Great Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua

“Patience” is what the egrets and herons seem to say to me! 


The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

~Ecclesiastes 7:8 NKJV

Posted on

Chachalaca in My Garden & Cousin in Nicaragua

I was thrilled this morning at breakfast when this large bird walked across my lawn and into my garden!

Gray-headed Chachalaca, in my garden, Atenas Costa Rica
Possibly a juvenile since a little smaller than some I’ve seen

This turkey-sized bird is a cousin to the guans which we also have all over Central America. I saw a similar Plain Chachalaca at Montibelli in Nicaragua high in a tree behind a lot of limbs, so no good photo. But I did get several good photos of the Highland Guan while at El Jaguar and here are two of those photos. Guans and Chachalacas are in the same family with similar size and look.

Highland Guan, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Highland Guan, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

In my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery see my photos of a Black Guan at Monteverde, Costa Rica; a Gray-headed Chachalaca at Turrialba, Costa Rica; Great Curassows (another cousin) from different places in Costa Rica; and in separate travel galleries a Crested Guan at Isla Barro Colorado, Panama; and a Gray-headed Chachalaca in the Gamboa Rainforest of Panama. I’ve also seen Chachalacas in Guatemala and Mexico, but I will stop with these as a fun set of birds!

About Chachalaca on Wikipedia
About Guans on Wikipedia
About Curassows on Wikipedia

Posted on

Euphonia & Chlorophonia in Nicaragua

Years ago they were called tanagers before getting their own unique names:

Yellow-throated Euphonia, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Blue-crowned Chlorophonia, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Blue-crowned Chorophonia (left), Yellow-winged Tanager (right)
El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Blue-crowned Chlorophonia, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
The one on the left more clearly shows the “blue crown” which they all have
All of these photos were shot from a great distance and cropped a lot!
A better shot with the Yellow-winged Tanager which can be seen from another location in the Tanager Post
Then there are 2 Blue-crowned Chlorophonia on the right, and the far right with orange cap is a Rufous-winged Tanager, thanks to Stephen for the ID!

El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
About Chlorophonia at Cornell’s Neotropical Birds – Only found Nicaragua to Guatemala and not in Costa Rica.
About Yellow-throated Euphonia at Cornell’s Neotropical Birds
See my Nicaragua Birds Gallery.