Birds are the most popular group in the animal kingdom. We feed them and tame them and think we know them. And yet they inhabit a world which is really rather mysterious.
David Attenborough
Colombia can claim to have one fifth of the world’s birds, an amazing 1,954 species. That said, we saw relatively few of them. This may be in part because we went to the wrong places at the wrong time of year. And in part because we’re not experts and neither did we do any specific bird-watching activities.
Our best sightings were at the Finca Romelia, which we visited mainly to see the stunning collection of orchids. On arriving we were offered coffee on the terrace, with a great view of the farm’s bird feeding area. As they also offer bird-watching tours, their guides are experts and could name for me the different species that visited as we sat sipping our coffee. Or in my case, letting the coffee get cold while I photographed as many birds as I could!
Now Terri’s Sunday Stills theme marking Feed the Birds Day gives me the perfect excuse to share the best of those photos as the promised follow-up to my orchids gallery.
Blue-grey Tanager
Another Blue-grey Tanager (or possibly the same one!)
[There are two together in my featured photo, so there were at least two around]
Male Thick Billed Euphonia
Female Thick Billed Euphonia
Clay-coloured Thrush
[We also saw a Black-billed Thrush, but I didn’t get a decent photo of him]
Red-crowned Woodpecker
[His red crown is hidden in this shot, unfortunately]
Tropical Kingbird
Riparian (aka Large-billed) Parrotlets (I think)
NB This is the only bird that I didn’t get an identification for on the day and have had to research. I hope I have the correct name. If there are any bird experts out there, maybe you can confirm or enlighten me!
I visited Colombia in February 2023
34 Comments
wetanddustyroads
I have never been able to master the skill of taking photos of birds … most of the time I am so amazed by them that I forget about the camera! And you do it so effortlessly! I really like the Kingbird, but actually they are all beautiful to me.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, but I promise you it’s not effortless, as the large number of discarded blurry shots will testify!
SoyBend
Beautiful tanager, Sarah! It’s color is similar to the bluebirds in our yard.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Siobhan – the tanager seems to be a general favourite 🙂
Mike and Kellye Hefner
These are great bird shots, Sarah. I have a hard time capturing them, so I’m very impressed!!
Sarah Wilkie
Well I have a lot of less successful shots too Kellye, but I don’t share those 😆
bluebrightly
Nice! The Blue-gray tanager is such a beauty! Good for you for getting these, since you weren’t on a birding trip. The thrush looks very much like our Robin, which in turn, looks nothing like yours. Oh well!
Sarah Wilkie
The tanager seems to be a general favourite 🙂 And well spotted – the thrush is related to YOUR robin, which is actually a member of the thrush family (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay-colored_thrush).
Yvonne Dumsday
That is an amazing statistic in your opening sentence!! Loved the photos but also liked learning a new word : “Parrotlet”
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Yvonne – that was a new word for me too!
grandmisadventures
I love the layers of blue on the tanager! 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, pretty, isn’t he?!
Sandy
Bird watching is an activity for a growing number of people. When I go for forest walks I see the appeal and wish I knew more about how to identify. Nice photos Sarah. I esp liked the last one of parrots in the wild and not in cages.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh, I hate to see birds in cages, yes, and especially large ones like parrots. I wouldn’t have the patience for serious birdwatching but if I’m in the right place at the right time I love to try to photograph them, and then I get curious about which species I have in my photos 😀
Anna
I love birds, especially ones from the tropics. They are just so vibrant and gorgeous!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, the colours are wonderful Anna!
Susanne Swanson
Gorgeous photos, Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Susanne, glad you like them 😊
bushboy
Love these birds Sarah. The Green Parrotlets is my favourite. I have no idea of their name as they aren’t Australian 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 😊
thehungrytravellers.blog
We love doing this, too…as you know. There are so many different types of tanager that it’s hard to get your head round it all. If you need to, that is!
Sarah Wilkie
Oh yes – sometimes I think I’d like to learn how to recognise and distinguish all these different species, but at other times I’m content just to admire and try to photograph 😀
Marie
I love looking at birds when I’m away – the colours!!! That blue-grey Tanager is beautiful…..
Sarah Wilkie
I agree 🙂 They always seem much more colourful – I think I tend to forget about our Great Tits, Goldfinches etc!
restlessjo
The tanager is beautiful, isn’t it? I’m hopeless both at identifying and photographing birds, but not too bad at just looking. We watched a handsome Great Crested Egret on the salinas today. One of the few I recognise.
Sarah Wilkie
I loved the tanagers too 🙂 I’m not great at identifying birds, there are always too many very similar species it seems! As to photographing them, if I take enough photos I can usually find a handful of useable shots!
Denzil
Amazing colors, these tropical birds!
Sarah Wilkie
Aren’t they just?!
Heyjude
A lovely place to sit and sup coffee!
Sarah Wilkie
Absolutely – and surrounded by those gorgeous orchids too!
Terri Webster Schrandt
Fabulous shots of so many gorgeous (and unusual) birds, Sarah! My coffee would have been stone cold and perhaps I could have gotten lost–that’s a lot of birds to capture with a lens! What an awesome statistic–one fifth of the world’s birds there. Gotta love those parrots!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri, so glad you enjoyed seeing these birds 🙂 Your choice of theme came at exactly the right time for me!
margaret21
Well, if you got this wonderful haul from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just think how many you’d have found if you’d done right!
Sarah Wilkie
Right place at the wrong time, perhaps?! Glad you like them Margaret 😀