Prong-billed Barbet: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — There is a story that during the 2009 earthquake that destroyed much of the Cinchona region in Costa Rica, the Soda (shop or cafe) was full of customers. At the first rumble the owner yelled for them all to come to the kitchen, where they watched as the rest of the building collapsed down the mountain side. What we visited on our second day in Costa Rica is the rebuilt Mirador y Soda Cinchona. The Prong-billed Barbet, also a regular visitor to the Soda, does not care. It is all about bananas and their ownership for Barbets. This banana is obviously owned by this Barbet. Barbets exist, not only in the tropics of Central and South America, but also in the tropics of Africa and Asia…some are lowland rainforest birds and some have ranges, like the Prong-billed, in the foothills and even mountains. All have the typical heavy bill and stout body. They are cavity nesters and most excavate holes the same way woodpeckers do. Fun facts from my morning reading on Barbets 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.