Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila)
As a part of Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station in Costa Rica, RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser and his colleagues band hummingbirds on a large scale to look at longevity and site fidelity. With nine species being caught on a regular basis there is quite the variety of subjects to photograph. Here we have the delightfully named Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila), a specialist of dry forests that encompass the northwest corner of Costa Rica. It is a lovely looking species with a striking cinnamon underwash and red bill. It is also one of the easier birds to spot from afar with its...
Read MoreHummingbirds in Flight
Sean is taking his photography to another unbelievable level here with hummingbirds in flight. This is a Green-breasted Mango (Anthracothorax prevostii), Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl), and Steely-vented Hummingbird (Amazilia saucerottei), all species common to the dry forests of Nicoya in Costa Rica. This photo represents the hectic behavior you get to witness daily there with multiple species vying for a place at their feeders. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Costa Rica while on assignment for the Roger...
Read MoreCosta Rica 2015-16
The 2015-16 Costa Rica field season starts…now! RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser has headed out for his fifth year of research at the Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station with Tyler Christensen. They will once again be tracking down neotropical migrants, researching the biology of resident birds, and of course taking plenty of other tropical excursions. Sean will be sure to provide plenty of stories and photos in the coming weeks. He will again be posting things for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, Meet Your Neighbours, and most likely penning a few blogs again on...
Read MoreThe Four MoSI Warblers
The 2014-15 MoSI, or Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal (Monitoring of Winter Survivorship), protocol banding season for the Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station is now in the books. Here we have four species, in the form of Neotropical migratory warblers, that were banded and recaptured over the years at the station: the Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina), Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), and Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracen). Banding research is critical to gain an understanding of where and why they return to...
Read MoreYear-end Gift to Roger Tory Peterson Institute
Dear Friends of RTPI, Just before Christmas when snow and cold started to slow down our natural history studies at home, we shifted gears and started our seasonal work in the tropics. Have you ever wondered where our summer birds spend the holidays? Well, here are a few highlights of what we are finding at the RTPI-supported Nicoya Peninsula Avian Research Station (NPARS) in northwestern Costa Rica.
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