Birds & Birding in Costa Rica: – Costa Rica’s national motto and tourism slogan, “La Pura Vida” loosely translates to Live Life or Enjoy Life. With over 900 bird species recorded here, there is certainly lots to enjoy! With 12 of the world’s 18 life zones, its diverse landscapes, including tropical rainforests, cloud forests, mangroves, and savannas, provide habitat for a wide range of iconic birds A Reflections of the Natural World Blog Post Series by Jim Gain

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GREEN THORNTAIL – (Species Account Blog #31)

ABOUT THIS SPECIES

TAXONOMIC TREE:  

• ORDER: Caprimulgiformes,
• FAMILY: Trochilidae,
• BINOMIAL NAME: Discosura conversii

Green Thorntail is a small, uncommon hummingbird that occurs from Costa Rica south to western Ecuador. Thorntails have a distinctive, bee-like flight. They typically forage at flowering canopy trees, and also glean insects from the under surfaces of large leaves in the canopy. Only the male has the long, deeply forked tail with very narrow tips to the outer rectrices. The tail of the female is short, but one of the most distinctive features of the female is a broad white malar stripe. Both sexes have a white band across the rump and a white flank patch; in most of its geographic range, it is the only hummingbird with a white rump band. (from Birds of the World)

OBSERVATION ANECDOTES

In Costa Rica during our first (and only) day of birding at Rancho Naturalista, this hummingbird appeared seemingly out of nowhere feeding on the verbena blossums. I snapped a couple of shots (mostly out-of-focus) and then a male Snowcap popped up right next to it. Unfortuantely, the Snowcap became the instant celebrity for the paparazzi and the Thorntail was forgotton. This was the only sighting of it during the entire trip. 😦

PHOTO GALLERY

View the three most recent Birds & Birding in Costa Rica series blog posts below.

• A Streak-headed Woodcreeper Feeds its Offspring Near the Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica
• PALE-BILLED WOODPECKER – Pura Vida Birds and Birding
• SMOKY-BROWN WOODPECKER – Pura Vida Birds and Birding
• HOFFMANN’S WOODPECKER – Pura Vida Birds and Birding
• BLACK-CHEEKED WOODPECKER – Pura Vida Birds and Birding