Big Beaks & Other miscellaneous birdies

Saltator & Finch - Saltators have thick bills, relatively long tails and strong legs and feet. Finches are more petite but still have thick conical bills, except for the Flowerpiercer!

Large-footed Finch - You can only really see the Large feet in the second photo. This was a bird I saw from my porch perch when the rest of the group was walking down a steep hill.

Buff-throated Saltator - the Saltator we saw the most frequently throughout the trip.

Cinnamon-bellied Saltator - from the first hotel of the tour in the Central Valley.

Slaty Flowerpiercer - Love this name and its beak -- how awesome is that?

Grosbeak & Seedeaters - both groups are Seedeaters, but the Grosbeaks are just bigger. Bills adapt to the kinds of food they need - kind of cool!

Blue-black Grassquit - small very flitty field bird.

Variable Seedeater - another small flitty field bird!

Morelet's Seedeater - BIRD #1,000 - yet another small flitty field bird that will always be special to me!

Yellow-faced Grassquit - this is probably the calmest Grassquit I will ever see...

No Portrait

Blue Grosbeak - I see this bird in Rhode Island every year or so, but never got this good a photo before.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - this is a normal bird in Rhode Island but fun to see it my last morning in Costa Rica.

Thrush - despite containing the National Bird of Costa Rica (see below), these birds were not easy to photograph.

Clay-colored Thrush - National Bird of Costa Rica - this one was not so hard to photograph...

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush - was just quick enough to capture this one... up in the Highlands.

No Portrait

Wood Thrush - an old friend from the Butterfly Garden in the Caribbean Lowlands

Blackbirds - Yes, the Orioles are Blackbirds too...

Melodious Blackbird - this species, as you might guess, has a lovely song too.

Streak-backed Oriole - dipped on this species in Arizona so was happy to see it in Costa Rica.

No Portrait

Baltimore Oriole - and old friend from Rhode Island

Jays and such - wonderful dramatic birds, unfortunately I only saw three and only got photos of one.

Tropical Mockingbird - the best subject I had on the trip!