Rose-Throated Becard

Another one of the few birds I spotted on my own in Tikal NP, Guatemala was the rose-throated becard. We were with our guide, Rony, down a small dirt road that led to somewhat of a garbage dump. It was early light and visibility wasn't great. I took a photo of the bird while Rony was distracted elsewhere, and showed it to Rony a little later. The photo was quite dark. He said he thought it was a becard and was trying to see if it had red on the throat which would make it a rose-throated becard. When I got home and worked on the photo in Lightroom I was able to lighten it up and saw the red on the throat. My photo looks more like a female with a red throat, but that's probably from my messing around with the color. 

It is my second species of becard. I saw a barred becard in Ecuador. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

AI notes that the subspecies insularis is found in the Yucatan Peninsula, northern Guatemala and Belize, which includes Tikal NP. Males are gray with a black cap and a small, hard-to-see rose-colored throat patch. Females have a rusty back, pale underside and dark cap. 

Plumbeous Kite

In Tikal NP, Guatemala our guide, Rony, identified a plumbeous kite standing high in a large dead tree amidst the Mayan ruins. The thing that stood out for me, weirdly, was the name. What the heck is "plumbeous"? Well, it turns out that plumbeous means dull, or lead-gray in color. 

They are slate-gray with paler head and underparts, a short black tail with two to three white bands on the undersurface, orange legs and red eyes. It has rufous patches on its primaries. You can see the white bands and bits of the rufous patch in the photo above. It closely resembles the Mississippi kite which is not as dark a gray. has white secondary patches and lacks the rufous wing patch.  

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of it flying from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Montezuma Oropendola

One of the birds I really looked forward to seeing in Tikal NP in Guatemala was the Montezuma oropendola. I'd never heard of an oropendola until we visited Colombia a few years ago and saw both the russet-backed and chestnut-headed oropendola. The oropendolas, at least the ones I've seen, are large, elongated and have huge bills. I'd read that the Montezuma oropendola nested near the Mayan ruins in Tikal and I gave it a decent chance I'd see one. I hadn't anticipated that we would find it nesting in a huge tree in the Central Plaza, between Temple I and Temple II, below the North Acropolis. The sun was not conducive to seeing them well, but I could see they were among tear-dropped shaped nests. It wasn't until I got home and was able to lighten up the shadows that I got a good look at them. 

Blue cheek patch and pink wattle are easily seen here. 

A female below and male above, illustrating the size differential between the two.

A female near a nest.

Adult males are mainly chestnut with a blackish head and rump and a tail that is bright yellow except for two dark central feathers. It has a bare blue cheek patch, a pink wattle, a brown iris and a long black bill with a red tip. Females are similar but are smaller and have a smaller wattle. Males are 100% larger than females in body mass. They live in colonies, each with a dominant polygynous male which mates with most of the females. The females build the hanging woven nests of fibers and vines and she incubates the eggs. There are typically 30 nests in a colony, but up to 172 have been recorded. Females average two eggs per nest, but only one is fledged and only one-third of the nests are successful. 

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World.

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Red-Lored Amazon

We were in Tikal NP in Guatemala with our guide, Rony. We were sitting among some Mayan ruins, sitting on square rock benches, when I notice a parrot standing ahead of us in a tree. I'd reviewed the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America on our flight down and I'd taken notice of the red-lored amazon, also known as the red-lored parrot. I asked Rony if that was what it was and he concurred. One of only a few birds I saw first, before Rony. 

The plumage is primarily green, with a blue crown, red lores (the area between the eye and the base of the upper bill), and an orange-red speculum (an iridescent patch on the secondary wing feathers). You can see part of the red speculum in the photos on the wings just above the branch where the feet are standing. There are two subspecies. We saw ssp. autumnalis, the nominate ssp., which has yellow upper cheeks that extend to the ear coverts and a white eye-ring. It is found on the Caribbean slope of eastern Mexico to northern Nicaraugua and Bay islands. Ssp. salvini has yellowish-green upper cheeks and ear-coverts and a pale yellow eye-ring. 

Illustration of ssp. autumnalis from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

They are common pets in the Americas and can live 80 years. There are also naturalized feral populations in Los Angeles and Orange, San Diego and Riverside Counties in California. 

Lineated Woodpecker

Rony, our guide in Tikal NP, Guatemala, heard the hammering of a woodpecker in the trees near us. He quietly entered into the thick trees and waved for me to follow him. It was quite dark. Soon he pointed to a beautiful woodpecker hammering against a tree which he identified as a lineated woodpecker. It looked quite a bit like the pileated woodpecker I'd seen in Nevada City, California last year and it turns out they are closely related. They are mainly black above with a red crest and whitish lines from the base of the bill, down the neck and shoulders. The underparts are whitish, heavily barred with black. Males have red on the cheek and forehead which females lack (I saw a female that lacked the red cheek and forehead). The bill is typically black, but pale-billed individuals are regularly seen and the one I saw had a pale bill.

 

There are five subspecies. I saw ssp. similis which is found in eastern and southern Mexico south to northwestern Costa Rica. Ssp. similis has a pale bill and the white on it is dull to bluish white and its underparts are buffy. 

Illustration of ssp. lineatus, the nominate ssp., from Birds of the World. There was not an illustration of ssp. similis. Note the red forehead and red cheek indicating it is a male. 

This is an illustration of ssp. lineatus, a female, from Birds of the World. It lacks the red forehead and red cheek.  

This is the range from Birds of the World. 

Rufous-Tailed Jacamar

With our guide, Rony, in Tikal NP, Guatemala, we were down a little dirt road off the main two lane highway, near somewhat of a garbage dump and Rony identified a rufous-tailed jacamar. I got the impression it was a hummingbird, it looked like one, and I marveled that it stood stationary on a branch for so long. It was also quite large for a hummingbird. It wasn't until I got home and looked through my photos and put it on iNaturalist that I realized it was not a hummingbird. It is part of the family Galbulidae, with 18 species of jacamars. which is port of the order Piciformes, which includes honeyguides, woodpeckers, barbets (Asian, African and New World), toucan barbets and toucans. My first jacamar, a wonderful find. 

Illustration of ssp. melangenia, the "black-chinned" rufous-tailed jacamar, found in eastern Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas, southern Campeche, southern Quintana Roo), south to the western Andes of Colombia and Ecuador.

Range from Birds of the World. 

Keel-Billed Toucan

While in Tikal NP in Guatemala we had just seen a flurry of birds in a small area: a lineated woodpecker, an olive-throated parakeet, a black-headed saltator and white-crowned parrots. Rony, our guide, pointed to a small speck standing on the limb of a very large tree, very far away, and said, "there is a keel-billed toucan." I took a photo, then enlarged it and could make it out. I would love to have seen it closer, but I'll take a toucan any way I can see one. I really love the toucans, barbets, parrots, parakeets and oropendolas - all colorful, many with large bills and loud calls. 

It is also known as the rainbow-billed toucan (for obvious reasons) and sulphur-breasted toucan and is the national bird of Belize. There are two subspecies. I saw the nominate ssp. sulfuratus which is found in southeastern Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala. It has a very narrow red chest band below the yellow breast which is difficult to see. The other ssp. has a somewhat broader red band. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. What a spectacular bird.

Range from Birds of the World. 

I have previously seen the following toucans:

Chestnut-mandibled toucan near Mindo, Ecuador.

Choco toucan near Mindo, Ecuador.

Collared or pale-mandibled aracari near Mindo, Ecuador, maybe my favorite one. 

Crimson-rumped toucanet near Mindo, Ecuador.

This was my first toucan outside of Ecuador.