Post by Ely Teehankee on May 1, 2012 11:39:59 GMT
The most popular bird in Costa Rica is the Resplendent Quetzal. Thousands of birdwatchers go there every year with the desire to see or photograph the bird. I was one of them and very lucky to have seen it on the first day of my birding trip with Ariel. The national bird of Costa Rica is the Clay-colored Robin (Turdus grayi). It hops on the groundin typical robin fashion. Because it tirelessly whistles melodic phrases that are resposible for its status as the national bird of Costa Rica.
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 300mm
f/2.8L IS USM
Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.
1/1000 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
The Black Guan (Chamaepetes unicolor) has a blue facial skin, red legs and red eyes. It looks to eat the avocado just like the Quetzals. You can see the small avocados on this tree where it ate several of them very rapidly before flying away. There are plenty of fruit trees like this so the birds are never wanting in food.
1/200 sec., f/2.8, ISO 800
The Large-footed Finch (Pezopetes capitalis) is not really a finch and is much larger at 20 cm. long. It has a hooded mask over its head and dark olive body.
1/640 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
1/400 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
One of the nice things about Costa Rica is that the birds are not very shy especially if there are feeders in the area. Some hotels do not have feeders because they would like to earn their badge of complying with the green environment policy. The Rufous-collared Sparrow is like our Eurasian Tree Sparrow as they are always where people are and where there is food for them to eat. It gives me the chance to take their pictures really close and gives me the satisfaction of seeing their feathers in detail.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 Subject distance 2.42 meters
1/640 sec., f/8, ISO 800 Subject distance 3.38 meters
There are plenty of Hummingbirds in Costa Rica especially where there are feeder with sugared water. In some places, some tourist are given a small feeder and they would hold it in front of them and the hummingbirds would feed on it with no fear at all of the person holding it. One of the more common ones is the Green Violet-ear (Colibri thalassinus). I am still sorting out the hummingbird pictures and will share them when I have more varieties.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 300mm
f/2.8L IS USM
Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.
1/1000 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
The Black Guan (Chamaepetes unicolor) has a blue facial skin, red legs and red eyes. It looks to eat the avocado just like the Quetzals. You can see the small avocados on this tree where it ate several of them very rapidly before flying away. There are plenty of fruit trees like this so the birds are never wanting in food.
1/200 sec., f/2.8, ISO 800
The Large-footed Finch (Pezopetes capitalis) is not really a finch and is much larger at 20 cm. long. It has a hooded mask over its head and dark olive body.
1/640 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
1/400 sec., f/2.8, ISO 400
One of the nice things about Costa Rica is that the birds are not very shy especially if there are feeders in the area. Some hotels do not have feeders because they would like to earn their badge of complying with the green environment policy. The Rufous-collared Sparrow is like our Eurasian Tree Sparrow as they are always where people are and where there is food for them to eat. It gives me the chance to take their pictures really close and gives me the satisfaction of seeing their feathers in detail.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 Subject distance 2.42 meters
1/640 sec., f/8, ISO 800 Subject distance 3.38 meters
There are plenty of Hummingbirds in Costa Rica especially where there are feeder with sugared water. In some places, some tourist are given a small feeder and they would hold it in front of them and the hummingbirds would feed on it with no fear at all of the person holding it. One of the more common ones is the Green Violet-ear (Colibri thalassinus). I am still sorting out the hummingbird pictures and will share them when I have more varieties.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800