Readers’ wildlife photos

Well, thanks to Susan Harrison we have a reader’s wildlife contribution today, but that’s about it for the queue. So, during the holidays, please think about sending in your good wildlife photos.

Susan’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.

A few more Belizean birds

Here’s a third and last round of birds from my recent Belize trip.  First are three of my favorites from the scrubby coastal forests in and around the Shipstern Conservation & Management Area.

Yucatan Jays (Cyanocorax yucatanicus), yellow-billed youngsters begging from their dark-billed elders:

Brown Jays (Cyanocorax morio), a more self-sufficient youngster feeding with an adult:

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) sitting quietly in the open (and making me very happy, since it’s the last of the 19 species of owls found in the U.S. that I’ve been fortunate to see and photograph):

Next are three large tropical birds that are heavily hunted by humans, and are best seen in well-protected tracts of forest.   We saw all three of them strutting around the grounds of La Milpa Lodge in the Rio Bravo Conservation Area, the same place where on our very first day, a large male jaguar crossed the road in front of us (Jerry posted its photo as a singleton).

Ocellated Turkey (Meleagrus ocellata), a truly spectacular species found only in the Yucatan region:

Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens):

Great Curassow (Crax rubra):

Next comes a selection of the many smaller birds that we worked to catch glimpses of in shady forest understories.   It’s a biased sample, of course; these are some of the most colorful ones.

Tody Motmot (Hylomanes momotula):

Slaty-tailed Trogon (Trogon massena):

Black-headed Trogon (Trogon melanocephalus):

Rufous-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis erythrothorax):

Olive-backed Euphonia (Euphonia gouldi):

Red-capped Manakin (Ceratopipra mentalis):

Finally, here are a few of the generalist birds that we often saw in semi-open areas, such as at the edges of pastures and other clearings.

Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis):

Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana):

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tlacatl):

Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis):