Xenornis

Jan Axel Cubilla and Gloriela Archbold spent the weekend in Cerro Punta looking for Peg-billed Finch, which remained elusive. On the 15th, they saw this mystery hummingbird in the grounds of Hotel Los Quetzales in Guadalupe. ¿What do you think it is? El domingo 15, mientras tomaba fotos en los alrededores del Hotel Los Quetzales en Guadalupe, observe un colibrí pequeño (de igual tamaño que un Scintillant Hummingbird o ligeramente más grande). Como no le vi nada de rufo al principio, pensé en un Volcano Hummingbird; sin embargo, al revisar y aumentar las fotos noté la ausencia total de rufo en la cola (a ciencia cierta no puedo distinguir que tuviera blanco, pareciera que no). No tenía rufo en las alas tampoco. Es completamente blanca por debajo, sin pintas en la garganta y sin cambio de color en los flancos, con una pequeña pinta post-ocular blanca. Ambos Selasphorus tienen rufo en la cola y tienen una forma más rechoncha... la ausencia de marcas en la rabadilla descartan coquetas...

All week we will be on location in Cerro Punta an environs investigating the reports of seeding bamboo and hoping to run into those pesky seeding bamboo followers: Peg-billed Finch, Barred Parakeet, and Maroon-chested Ground-Dove. Since blogger's iPhone interface sucks (i.e. It doesn't have one), we will be posting mostly on Twitter. @xenornis. Go ahead, follow us. But here's what we have so far: yesterday morning I walked up to the grounds of Los Quetzales cabins and found two big patches of bamboo. The first one was completely devoid of birds, but the second had a flock of at least four Peg-billed Finches, foraging and calling. No adult males were seen, just female-plumaged birds. Also seen were Green-fronted Lancebill and Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner (shamebird no more). Today I went with Jan Axel Cubilla and Gloriela Archbold to PILA Las Nubes, where we found lots of bamboo but no bamboo followers. After lunch, and after Jan Axel and Gloriela had headed back to ci...

On December 19, 2008, following a tip from Ito Santamaría, Glen Lee went to Entre Ríos in Cerro Punta to photograph this first fall male "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler. "Audubon's Warblers" winter mostly in Mexico and northern Central America, but there are a few records from Costa Rica and one or two from western Panama, so it's important to check the throats of every yellow-rumped one encounters.