Collared Aracari: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — The second feeder platform, also covered with benches, seems to attract the larger birds…including a small flock (gang is more appropriate) of Collared Aracaris…toucans of uncertain temperament. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Shining Honeycreeper: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — The after the Vultures version of the Shining Honeycreeper. 🙂 Such an amazing bird. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Scarlet-rumped Tanager: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — There used to be two tanagers in Costa Rica with red rumps…the Passerini’s and the Cherries, one basically on the caribbean side and one on the pacific. This would have been the Passerini’s. They were recently lumped into a single species…the Scarlet-rumped. The males were never really distinguishable, and the females differed only enough to notice if you had the two side by side. The Passerini’s name is still out there, and still in use by some authorities. We will go with Scarlet-rumped. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Though it is a common bird, these are somewhat rare shots in that you can see the feather detail in the black…the light was just right.

Red-legged Honeycreeper: Adult and Immature males. Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — There is no bird that I know of where the immature male is so obviously caught in the act of becoming the adult than the Red-legged Honeycreeper. The almost identical poses, both captured after we returned from the Vulture blind at Mirador El Pizote, make it just that much more obvious. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

King Vulture: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Immature and Adult. The King Vulture is the largest New World Vulture except for the Andean Condor. They can weigh up to 8 pounds and have a 6 foot wingspread. They dwarf the Black Vultures they hang out with at Mirador El Pizote. The immature that showed up while we were at the vulture blind seemed even larger than the adults, but that might just be because it lacked the distraction of the bright head and carbuncle. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 517 and 313mm equivalents. (And that, right there, tells you something about the size of these birds!) Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Blue-grey Tanager: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Not the most colorful of the Costa Rican tanagers, but in some places the most abundant…though not at Mirador El Pizote in Boca Tapada. I only saw one at a time, and infrequently at that. Still a pretty bird. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Red-legged Honeycreeper: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Male, female, and immature male Red-legged Honeycreepers from Mirador El Pizote. The Honeycreepers are, somewhat surprisingly, tanagers, and are generally found in mixed feeding flocks around fruit feeders anywhere in lowlands Costa Rica. Spectacular little birds. A blessing and a privilege to be surrounded by them. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.