February 23: Steve Howell reports from our recent Honduras tour...
... which started on a great note with the regional endemic Bushy-crested Jay at our first hotel.
In the cloud forest of La Tigra Nation Park, here the watchers...
And here the watched, the tiny but dazzling Wine-throated Hummingbird.
Arguably the rarest bird of the tour was the very poorly known puncticollis (appropriately meaning ‘spot-necked’) taxon of Black-banded Woodcreeper, endemic to northern Middle America and surely a species split—when somebody gets around to it.
No birding trip to the country is complete without seeing Honduran Emerald, the only bird species endemic to Honduras.
Although other hummers may be flashier, such as this male Crowned Woodnymph... Photo by tour participant Anthony Collerton
Or the simply stunning White-necked Jacobin. Photo by tour participant Anthony Collerton
Honduras is the land of motmots, and we enjoyed excellent views of four species, including the local Keel-billed Motmot...
And the diminutive Tody Motmot. Photo by tour participant Anthony Collerton
Non-avian highlights included this Wilson’s Montane Pit Viper at La Tigra...
Prolonged views of this Northern Tamandua...
And an impressively large American Crocodile, too big to fit all of it in the frame! Photo by tour participant Anthony Collerton
Posted: February 23, 2022