Black-throated Green Warbler

Scientific Name: Dendroica virens

Population Estimate: 10M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in coniferous forest of eastern Canada and northeastern US. Winters in moist forest regions of southeastern Mexico through to northern South America.

Field Notes: Small songbird with yellow face and black throat extending as streaks down sides of chest, contrasting with white belly. Back and crown olive, wings grey with two white wing bars. Several similar looking warblers can overlap in winter: Golden-cheeked Warbler has black crown and eye stripe. Hermit Warbler has bright yellow face and black restricted to throat. Townsend's Warbler has black mask and crown with yellow chest.

Personal Notes: Spotted at Tikal ruins.

Ocellated Turkey

Scientific Name: Meleagris ocellata

Population Estimate: 20K to 50K, Near Threatened status

Range / Habitat: Found in lowland moist forest of Yucatan, northern Belize, northeastern Guatemala.

Field Notes: Unmistakable. Named for the orange spots on the head. Very similar to Wild Turkey, though they do not overlap in range.

Personal Notes: Seen all over the place at Tikal, one of the few areas this near-threatened species is protected. Kristen couldn't get enough pics of these blokes!

Emerald Toucanet

Scientific Name: Aulacorhynchus prasinus

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: Prefers tropical and subtropical higher-elevation moist forest, from southern Mexico, through Central America, to northern Venezuela and along the Andes as far south as central Bolivia.

Field Notes: Unmistakable as above.

Personal Notes: One of the highlights of our trip to Tikal.

Montezuma Oropendola

Scientific Name: Psarocolius montezuma

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: Subtropical lowland moist forest from southeastern Mexico through to Panama.

Field Notes: Large icterid. Unmistakable with orange tip to bill. Tail yellow underneath. Shape and flight may suggest Brown Jay. Chestnut-headed Oropendola smaller with all pale bill.

Personal Notes: Seen at Tikal Mayan ruins. We saw the related Chestnut-headed Oropendula while driving in the mountains between Arenal Lake and Monteverde in Costa Rica.

Brown Jay

Scientific Name: Psilorhinus morio

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: Resident on eastern slope of Mexico through the Yucatan and into Central America. Found primarily in subtropical and tropical lowland and montane moist forest but can also be seen on dry savanna.

Field Notes: Large, boisterous jay with dark brown head, bill, neck and back. Belly and undertail coverts white. Light morph shown above; there is also a dark morph with dusky belly and all brown tail. Like other jays in this region, juveniles have yellow bills and eye rings which disappear by the 2nd winter.

Personal Notes: Seen at Muyil ruins in the Yucatan and subsequently photographed at the Tikal ruins in Guatemala. Ubiquitous at Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Scientific Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus

Population Estimate: 5M-50M

Range / Habitat: Resident in low altitude forest edge and plantations in southern Mexico and Central America.

Field Notes: Small size for a tanager, slight decurved bill, yellow underneath, black eyestripe with white eyebrow. Male striking bright blue and black with bright red legs. Female with dark legs. Compared to other honeycreepers in this area, Green Honeycreeper lacks striping on chest. Similar to Shining Honeycreeper but in the absence of seeing the distinguishing red legs, the lower elevation makes this most likely a Red-legged Honeycreeper.

Personal Notes: Seen on the way to Tikal from Belize. Also seen in Muyil in the Yucatan Peninsula and again in costal CR.

Crested Guan

Scientific Name: Penelope purpurascens

Range / Habitat: Year-round resident of both slopes of Mexico into Central America. Habitat is tropical lowland moist forest.

Field Notes: Large, fowl-like bird with long tail. Dark brown with white streaking, red eye and wattle, grey-blue mask and bill. Differentiated by Highland Guan primarily by habitat.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Tikal ruins in Guatemala.

Olive-backed Euphonia

Scientific Name: Euphonia gouldi

Population Estimate: 50K-500K

Range / Habitat: Resident from SE Mexico through Central America. Prefers moist lowland forest.

Field Notes: Small, stubby passerine with characteristic forehead spot of the euphonia (not readily seen in the above photos). Distinctive plumage for euphonias: olive-grey throughout, males with yellow forehead and rust belly and vent (bottom photo). Female with rust forehead and vent only (top photo).

Personal Notes: Seen at Tikal in Guatemala.

Great Curassow

Scientific Name: Crax rubra

Range / Habitat: Fragmented distribution in lowland rainforest throughout southern Mexico, Central America, and into northern South America.

Field Notes: Large, fowl-type bird, most commonly seen on the ground. Male all black. Female black and brown. Curly crown feathers in both sexes unmistakable.

Personal Notes: As is evident from the blurry photo above, we caught a fleeting glimpse of a group of these birds while leaving Tikal in Guatemala.

Bright-rumped Attila

Scientific Name: Attila spadiceus

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Range / Habitat: Resident species throughout Mexico, Central and northern South America. Prefers lowland forest.

Field Notes: Large, bulky flycatcher with large head, prominent whiskers and hooked bill. Droopy tail while perched with prominent yellow rump.

Personal Notes: Seen at Tikal Mayan ruins in Guatemala.

Great Kiskadee

Scientific Name: Pitangus sulphuratus

Population Estimate: >10M

Range / Habitat: Widespread in open and semi-open areas from both slopes of Mexico, through Central America, and into most of South America.

Field Notes: Classic tyrant-flycatcher in behavior. Color pattern, though striking, is nearly identical to the sympatric Social Flycatcher (which is notably smaller) and Boat-billed Flycatcher (roughly the same size, though prefers forest habitat). Great Kiskadee is also distinguished by the raucous kiss-k-DEE call and rufous wing. The other two are uniformly olive on wings and back.

Personal Notes: