Birding Guatemala
September 1-7, 2008

Trip Report and Trip List

In short, Cayaya Birding adapted its Pacific Slope Highland Endemics Tour to us.

Collared Aracari Blue-crowned Motmot Tropical Mockingbird Rufous-collared Sparrow

Blue-tailed Hummingbird White-eared hummingbird Azure-crowned hummingbird Green Violet-ear

Magnificent Hummingbird Rufous Saberwing Cinnamon Hummingbird

Other Perspectives on Species Already Showcased Above:

• The Aracari without "teeth" is probably young; The chestnut brown thighs are visible in the right-hand bird; A rare acceptable Bushnell binocular camera shot.
• Preening Tropical Mockingbird near Lake Atitlan; A shot taken with my Bushnell binocular camera. The wonderful tail and the color on the breast confused me. Here's a shot that better conforms to my idea of a tropical mockingbird. And Here's another.
• Rufous-collared Sparrow; on a flowering plant; Bushnell. This is a highland specie. Rob Fergus of Philadelphia Audubon, who once lived in Quito, Ecuador, mentioned they were common in that city. We ran into Rob in the thatched restaurant on Lake Atitlan. He was in Guatemala with a linguist interviewing Mayans to learn their names for the birds. There are something like 18 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.
• The Blue-tailed Hummingbird has "often striking" white leg puffs; another angle; The bill is "reddish below at base" just as Howell and Webb describe.
• White-eared Hummingbird from the back; The wings beat so fast they appear to be transparent; hovering; White-eared hummingbird landed under a roof tile; On a feeder.
• Azure-crowned hummingbirds with white postocular spots apparent; The underside of the bill is reddish; An Azure-crowned hummingbird just landed.
• Green Violet-ear showing bluish-violet patch on chest; hovering; Just as the book says, in the Green violet-ear, wings=tail; Note "dark band on broad bluish tail." --Howell and Webb
• Magnificent Hummingbirds have long bills, glittering turquoise-green gorgets, and a post-ocular spot; Here's one hovering.
• Rufous Saberwings also have post-ocular white spots; A Rufous Saberwing showing its irridescent green back; in flight; hovering; just landed.

A Sampling of Other Bird Species Sighted:

• White-bellied Chacalaca at the pond at Los Tarrales.
• Inca Dove in Antigua Guatemala.
• Pacific Parakeets on a palm frond; Parakeets in flight.
• Violet Saberwing male on feeder; Note white postocular spot; Violet Saberwing female hovering; Violet Saberwing in flight, showing white tail corners and decurved bill.
• Black-capped Swallows have a deeply forked tail. They are endemic to the highlands; Black-capped Swallows as photographed with my Bushnell binoculars.
• Eastern Bluebird
• Clay-colored Robin
• Rufous-collared Thrush
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Lesser Goldfinch; another angle.

Poor Photos
that nevertheless offer evidence that we saw these birds.

• Orange-chinned Parakeet at Los Tarrales.
• Squirrel Cuckoo, Canon; Bushnell.
• Emerald Toucanet on the trail above Vesubio;
another angle.
• Linneated Woodpecker in flight.
• Bushy-crested Jay; again.
• Grey Silky-flycatchers
• Azure-rumped Tanager a.k.a. Cabanis' Tanager.
• Orchard Oriole

Non-Photos
We saw these birds well through our guide's scope.

• The Yellow-winged Tanager was common but I only saw it in all its glory through the scope. I remember several moving around in the dark center of a very tall palm tree, for instance.
• The Blue-throated Motmot is endemic to Northern Central America. Its habitat is forest above 1800m. Its tail lacks raquet tips.
• The Ornate Hawk-Eagle was my personal favorite bird of the trip.

• Green Heron and female Great-tailed Grackle
• A Green Violet-ear and two White-eared Hummingbirds
• Green Violet-eared and Blue-tailed Hummingbirds. The white leg puffs on the Blue-tailed are blurred.
• Green Violet-ear, Magnificent, and Azure-crowned Hummingbirds.
• Azure-crowned and Green Violet-ear Hummingbirds
• Blue-tailed and White-eared Hummingbirds Note the "white socks" on the Blue-taileds.
• The Magnificent Hummingbird is a lot bigger than the White-eared.
• Golden-fronted Woodpecker and Bronzed Cowbirds
• Bluebirds and Black-capped Swallows

• Agoutis abounded at Los Tarrales; Agouti and Great-tailed Grackle; Agouti running.
• This bee at Vesubio was humungous. It made that large hole in that 6"x6" (??) beam.
• This, on the other hand, is what I call a normal bee specie.
• beetle
• Waxy white-and-pale-orange flower
• Red flower
• "Elephant Foot", ready for shipment to Europe. Los Tarrales is a private nature reserve and a shaded coffee plantantion, and it grows ornamental plants for export.
• Moth on a cloth
• Brown but exquisite butterfly
• Zebra butterfly on orange flowers
• Brown, white, and tan butterfly
• This butterfly looked like a leaf.
• butterfly with red sidelights; Another like it.

People:

• Herman modeling his Guatemalan duds at a cookout in Maine.
• Working boats on Lake Atitlan, and a Green Heron.
• Pedestrian
• A super swing in the forest near Guatemala City near the spot where we saw the Slate-throated Redstart, which looks like a miniature trogon.
• Eva and two girls.
• Watching the birdwatcher.
• A schoolboy
• Our guide, Claudia Avendaño, was really great at showing us good birds in her scope.
• Josué, Claudia, and Herman on the trail above Vesubio which, were one to follow it uphill for hours, before dawn, might lead to a Horned Guan sighting.
• Herman at Vesubio where we saw the Ornate Hawk-Eagle and the Azure-rumped Tanagers.
• Herman waiting for the Pink-headed Warbler to re-appear.
• The clearing at Tecpán. We had the the Spot-crowned Woodcreeper and the endemic Blue-throated Motmot in the forest in the background.
• The private trail near Antigua Guatemala where we had the Bushy-crested Jays.

Places and Things:

• The Guatemalan flag features the Resplendant Quetzal, the national bird. My own hypothesis for the significance of the bracketing blue is that Guatemala spans Central America from coast to coast. The flag mentions Independence on September 15, 1821. When we were in Guatemala we saw a school band practicing for the upcoming Independence Day parade.
• The Quetzal is the national currency.
• School mural. The Horned Guan that we did not have the stamina to hike to at Los Tarrales is on the left. In the center is the Emerald Toucanet that we did see, and between the two, the Quetzal, which we saw in Costa Rica before the advent of digital cameras. I memorialized our sighting on our 1991 Christmas Card.
• Observation tower in the forest near Guatemala City where we had the Golden-browed warbler.
• A volcano, on the slopes of which live the Horned Guans.
• Thatched roof from the inside of the restaurant on the shores of Lake Atitlan, near Santiago.
• Thatched cabin on the restaurant's grounds.
• Church dating from 1547, in Santiago, a town we visited on market day.
• Baroque Church in Antigua Guatemala.
• The Cathedral in Antigua Guatemala, the former capital. The current capital is Guatemala City.
• Antigua Guatemala. Centuries ago that arch was used by cloistered nuns to cross the street to their other building.
• The university was founded in 1675.
• Signs at a Los Tarrales were beautifully done.

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Trip Report and Trip List
Eva's 2008 Christmas Card featuring her designer Ornate Hawk Eagle Guatemala poster

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