Wildlife Photography at Cerro Azul

We returned to Cerro Azul to watch birds and wildlife in general, it was a very quiet day with no extraordinary findings but, as usual, we were able to make some shots.

Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) - male

Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) - male

Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) - male moulting

After the breeding season, the male moults into an eclipse plumage, mainly greenish with black wings. This is a species of forest edge, open woodland, and cocoa and citrus plantations. The red-legged honeycreeper is often found in small groups. It feeds on insects and some fruit and nectar.

Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) - male

Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) - male

Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) - male

The male Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus) is easily distinguished from the larger red-legged honeycreeper with which its shares its range by the latter species’ red legs and, in the male, black mantle. Is usually found in pairs or family groups. It feeds on nectar, berries and insects, mainly in the canopy.

The Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata) is a medium-sized passerine bird. This tanager is a resident breeder from southern Mexico south to western Ecuador.

Adult golden-hooded tanagers are 13 cm (5.1 in) long. The adult male has a golden head with a black eyemask edged with violet blue above and below. The upperparts of the body are black apart from the turquoise shoulders, rump and edgings of the wings and tail. The flanks are blue and the central belly is white.

Butterfly (Lepidoptera)

Butterfly (Lepidoptera)

Melastomataceae flower

The leaves of melastomes are somewhat distinctive, being opposite, decussate, and usually with 3-7 longitudinal veins arising either from the base of the blade, plinerved (inner veins diverging above base of blade), or pinnately nerved with three or more pairs of primary veins diverging from the mid-vein at successive points above the base.

Hibiscus sp. flower

Hibiscus flowers are large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals, colour from white to pink, red, orange, peach, yellow or purple. 

Rufous-capped Warbler (Basileuterus rufifrons)

The Rufous-capped Warbler (Basileuterus rufifrons) is a New World warbler native from Mexico south to much of Central America, rarely occurring as far north as southeastern Arizona and south Texas.

Rufous-capped warblers generally reach a length of about 12.7 cm (5.0 in). They are plain-olive to olive-gray, with white underbellies, bright yellow chests and throats, and a distinctive facial pattern consisting of a rufous cap, a white eyebrow-line (or superciliary), a dark eye-line fading into a rufous cheek, and a white malar marking. The bill is rather stout for a warbler, the wings are round and stubby, and the tail is long, often raised at a high angle and flicked.

Rufous-capped warblers primarily feed on insects and spiders, foraging through dense brush and scanning close to the ground for movement. They are not generally known to flycatch from perches.

Black-striped Sparrow (Arremonops conirostris)

This American sparrow is a common bird in humid lowlands and foothills up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude, in semiopen habitats such as thickets, young second growth, overgrown fields, shady plantations, and gardens.

Geoffroy's Tamarin (Saguinus geoffroyi)

Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)

The Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru and northern Argentina. Most North and Central American breeders winter in South America where the species is resident year round.