Readers’ wildlife photos

These are taken from Aussie reader Scott Ritchie’s Facebook page, with permission.  His captions for these lovely Costa Rican parrot and parakeet photos are indented, and you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them. Scott is an Adjunct Professor at the College of Public Health and Medical and Veterinary Sciences at James Cook University

Somebody had to start the Costa Rican Bird tour. And as yesterday was World Parrot Day, I thought it I might as well start with parrots. Costa Rica has some incredible parrots, but clearly the king of a bunch are the majestic and fun-loving macaws. And just like the cockatoos of North Queensland, if you wanna find macaws, you go to the beach almond trees. Indeed it’s the same tree (Terminalia catappa) as we have in North Queensland. It’s been widely planted in areas of the tropics around the world. I went to one small little town in Northwest Costa Rica, where they intentionally planted them to attract Scarlet Macaws. It worked!

And even better example was Dave’s planting of beach almonds at his lodge to help the critically endangered Great Green Macaw. This majestic bird specialised in feeding on the hard nuts of the Dipteryx trees. But then the tree, owing to its hard timber, was logged to make great furniture and houses. Habitat loss due to palm oil plantions is also an issue. The bird populations crashed. Now, beach almonds are being planted as a Dipteryx alternative and the macaws loved them. Great Green Macaws are increasing in number. When I fronted up at Dave and Dave’s birding lodge, I heard some loud parrots and said “Let’s go over there”. Amazingly camouflaged in the beach almond trees were 4 Great Green Macaws!

But there’s plenty of other cool parrots in Costa Rica. The midsize Amazons are really cool. And the smaller parakeets are fun as they wheel overhead chattering like Rainbow Lorikeets. I hope you enjoy. Many other Costa Rican birds to come.

“I’d fit right in in Cairns!” Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) love a beach almond!

Most macaws pair bond for life and are very affectionate.

And boy they really enjoy hanging out together, having fun.

They’re pretty easy to capture in Birds in Flight. Big slow, beautiful birds.

Great Green Macaws (Ara ambiguua) also spectacular. These two were sentinels in the Cecropia tree watching over the others as they fed on beach almonds.

Yep, we’d fit right in in Cairns all right as long as you got these beach almonds we’re there.

It’s amazing how a bird so large could be totally camouflaged in the beach almonds.

And if they go off, they go. The wing primary feathers of the Great Green Macaw are beautiful light blue.

Now time for the smaller parrots. This is the White-crowned Parrot (Pionus senilis), common but hard to see in the heavily forested areas.

The Brown-hooded Parrot (Pyrilia haematotis) was common in the mountain highlands and bird feeders. In Costa Rica, feeders with perches and an array of fruit are often used at lodges to attract birds.

The Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis) was common in the lowlands and noticeable by its red forehead and short square tail.

Chattering and a flash of green overhead. The Orange-chinned Parakeets (Brotogeris jugularis) flew around the trees in the coastal Pacific areas of Costa Rica.