A Resplendent Nightmare

The Resplendent Quetzal, one of the most beautiful and sought after birds in the world. Found only in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica, it feeds on wild avocado.

The resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a living jewel of the mesoamerican cloud forest. Few birds can rival the males beauty: iridescent emerald feathers, a crimson breast, and tail feathers longer than the whole body. Well, they are actually modified upper tail coverts and not the rectrices, but that makes them almost more spectacular, with a more flowy appearance. This bird appears almost impossible, yet it exists, and people have taken notice for a very long time.

As the name suggests, the resplendent quetzal is associated with Quetzalcoatal, the mesoamerican snake deity. Its long tail lends it something of a serpentine look, I guess. The long feathers themselves were used in headdresses of nobility. They were apparently collected from live birds, releasing the unfortunate male after they had finished plucking the plumes they wanted. The term quetzal came to mean sacred or precious in some parts of mesoamerica.

Another look at the head of a male quetzal, also showing the crimson breast color.

This divine bird captured the imagination of Europeans, and after centuries, particularly bird-watchers. This bird is just one of those must see species. I have to say for myself it is easily in my top five birds globally I wanted to see, in a list with other avian legends and other oddities. This bird probably helped put mesoamerican cloud forests on the tourism map, and walking Monteverde you see its image everywhere. I think even non-birders want to see this creature, as it is a natural wonder much like Arches and other rock formations of Utah.

A female resplendent quetzal. Not as showy as the males, but still a very nice looking trogon.

My quest to see a quetzal is not the most daring adventure I have had to embark on. It didn’t involve running up a hill with poison ivy to see an elegant trogon, taking a jeep down an insane jungle road before a hard hike in a remote part of Kauai to glimpse a puaiohi, or go traipsing into the jungle following army ants to see the ocellated antbird. If anything it was pretty straightforward. Ebird told me the place to check out was Curi-cancha reserve next to the Monteverde cheese factory. So on the 4th of July after finishing an exam, I headed out. I found Monteverde is a very walkable place. (the world famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is a bit further and best to just take a taxi there, but we will get to this reserve later) I walked into the main entrance paid my fee, (Monteverde is the land of paying about $15 to do stuff) and the man there circled an area on the trail map and said look for quetzals there. Well, I walked up filled with anticipation, and arrived at the spot to find a family already there, and they had a quetzal in a wild avocado tree. It was a female, a stunning trogon, but I still really wanted to see the male bird with its incredible plumage. I hung around a little, walked the cloud forest, and learned if I wanted to see a male it sounded like I needed to go early.

A male quetzal from the front, red breast, and his long tail coverts blowing in the wind.

So a few days later I gathered a small group of other students excited to see this bird. We arrived early, and again a family was already there, and had just seen a male. I saw something torpedoing through the trees. These birds are hard to spot when not moving, on par with my experience with trogons, fortunately with so many people I quickly had the exact spot described to me. It was a truly amazing bird, with long feathers blowing in the wind. I was quite ecstatic to finally see and photograph this incredible bird. We hung around, as a few groups came through and took a look.

The back veiw of a male quetzal, his tail coverts crossing in a a very fluid way.

Weeks later I made a return trip, because why not. I arrived to what else but a group that already had a female bird in their scopes. At this point I realized that finding a quetzal was literally just finding a group that had one. Those who have seen the movie The Big Year may get this; I would refer to this as “Skua Birding” or just letting others do the work of spotting, and then getting the bird. This time though I actually was spotting quetzals, while other people looked at the one the guides had seen. The area probably a total of five. Now after the excitement of first seeing these gems, I go to observe these birds and get a feel for their movement and behavior. Like all trogons they slowly move and cock their heads, which I heard a guide call scanning. Basically looking around for food. They also are quite clumsy in the air, sort of wildly flapping about. I got to look at them even closer than before. The thing was, that since the last time I had been in Curi-cancha the male had shed his tail. They looked less exotic and regal, and more cute. I stayed around for some time and many groups came through, and listened to the same speal about the quetzal. Eventually some thirty people stood around, but the quetzal area here is quite open and though it felt crowded, it wasn’t too intense.

Where did my tail go? This male has lost the long tail coverts that makes this species so famous.

In my last few days in Monteverde I finally made my way to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. This place was different. Hiking the upper trails it is a magnificent place, wandering the magical forest swallowed by the clouds. I was definitely reminded of Hawaiian Cloud Forest. Except, it was packed. I had not seen crowds like this for over a month. A line to get a ticket, a line to get in. When walking a path, a group had formed as they had spotted the quetzal. Unlike Curi-cancha with its wide open area, this was on a narrow path. It was then that all my musings of the similarities between Moab and Monteverde kind of connected. Anyone who has not visited Arches National Park in a while may be shocked by the amount of people trying to get in. I am down in the Moab area quite often, but almost never venture into the park. Maybe January. The line to get in by car is often hundreds of feet long and takes a while. Delicate arch is a nightmare of a hike, with a constant procession of visitors going to grab their selfie under Utah’s most famous landmark. The quetzal seems to be something everyone who comes to monteverde seems to want to see. I am of course no exception, but over my time in the area and seeing the quetzals four times, I became more and more aware of this. Also might have to do with my irritation at not getting a great angle at a prong-billed barbet that came by.

A crowd of visitors and guides in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve looking at a handful of quetzals in the mist.

Possibly just because I want to go back, but there could be an interesting study on the effects of birding in Monteverde. It is one of those few places, like Madera Canyon, that are so heavily trafficked by birders that we could get a real look on how this kind of ecotourism affects nature. Of course this popularity is probably not a bad thing, the desire to see a wild quetzal probably plays an important part in the amount of reserves in the Monteverde area; and fortunately trails only cover a fraction of the cloud forest, so there are quetzals somewhere in the mist not bothered by crowds gawking at them.

This place feels like a dream... Not sure what was up with the shafts of light my camera picked up, but it looks magical in the moss shrouded branches of gnarled cloud forest trees.

Evans, Susan Toby; David L. Webster (2000). Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. Kahurangi Press. pp. 265–66. ISBN 978-0815308874. Retrieved 2015-03-22.

Wild Hawaii: Birding Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge

Welcome to Wild Hawaii, or as close as you can still get.

Hawaii is an Archipelago situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Born from a hotspot on the bottom of the ocean, over the millennia they are built up until they break the surface. They surfaced barren rocky lands, but as they cooled and rain water collected life began to blow in, fern spores, spiders, insects and birds began to arrive. As the islands turned from black to green, life began to diversify and become unique to these virgin lands. About 4 million years ago a flock of Asian rosefinches where blown to a rugged coast. These birds found a forest devoid of competition, and full of possible food sources: seeds, grubs below the bark of trees, flowers, bugs hidden among the foliage, and a variety of fruits. In the intervening couple million years these finches would become many species; becoming the Hawaiian Honeycreepers.

The Hawaii 'Amakihi, a Honeycreeper that is not endangered. This one is flitting around a Fuchsia Bush.

Today many Hawaiian Honeycreepers are endangered, and plenty have gone extinct since the first humans arrived. At first it was the invasive Polynesian rat that ate the eggs of Hawaiian honeycreepers, they wiped out many species before Captain James Cook pulled up in his ship. But when the Europeans began to settle these tropical islands they accidentally brought mosquitos. Mosquitos transmit many diseases, these same mosquitoes can carry many tropical diseases that could wreck Hawaiian tourism. Although Human Malaria or dengue fever are yet to arrive, avian Malaria and avian pox have. In their millions of years of isolation, native hawaiian forest birds simply did not have the immune systems to resist the diseases and many species have gone extinct in the last 100 years. Today what keeps the surviving species from meeting this same fate is that these tropical mosquitoes cannot survive beyond around 4500 feet above sea level, the temperatures get too cold. This is not a permanent reprieve though; as the global climate warms these Invaders can move higher, not to mention that these mosquitoes could evolve to survive the chill.

Like the Hawaiian Honeycreepers that pollinate it, this Hawaiian lobelioid is threatened by invasive species.

Despite the mosquitos being held back by the cooler temperatures of the Hawaiian highlands, only one place has increasing populations of native Hawaiian Forest Birds, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is the first wildlife refuge to be created for the protection of forest dwelling birds. Established in 1985, Hakalau was once a ranch, which was offered up for sale. At the time the Federal Government didn’t have the cash, so the Nature conservancy purchased the track, and then sold it to the United States Government once they enough in the budget to pay for it. The area pig and goat proof fencing, and intensive restoration of Koa Forests began on some of the open fields. This pig-proof fencing has to be checked regularly as if pigs get in they can quickly take over the section of the refuge the get into, and lots of time and money will have to be spent to remove them. Keeping pigs out is critical to protecting endangered plants, like lobelioids and mintless-mints, defenseless to mammalian herbivores. Pigs also make wallows and other habitats that mosquito larvae could develop. The Native forests of Hawaii are threatened by Rapid Ohia Death, which kills the Ohia Tree, a flowering tree that is a critical food source for native birds, this along with the large amount of rare species mean Hakalau is closed to the public. However, the government grants certain guides the ability to bring people to the special place. I went with Jack Jeffery (http://www.jackjeffreyphoto.com/index.html) who was the refuges biologist for many years.

Buildings in the Refuge obscured by fog and volcanic smog (vog)

I met my guide in the barren lava fields that stretch between Mona Loa and Mona Kea. The air was chilly. Jack arrived along with another two people. After spraying our footwear down with alcohol, we hopped in an headed for across the street to the Mauna kea access road. This road eventually winds up to the summit of Mona kea and it observatories, but a dirt road that branches off of it leaves around the volcano to ranchland and Hakalau. Dew clung to the grasses as  Erckel's francolins, an African game bird, ran about. Soon the landscape was overtaken with a shrubby brush, this plant called gorsh is dense and adaptable, with seeds able to wait decades to germinate. Without cattle running through and stepping on it the plant has taken over the former ranchlands. Kaji pheasants looked for food along the edge of the plant. We got out and Jack called in a Japanese bush warbler, which remained hidden in the gorsh, but its beautiful calls easily were heard. On the way we past a pathetic reforesting attempt; a couple japanese pine trees growing out of the gorsh. Finally we arrived at the gate and entered Hakalau. After driving down a little hill of recent native Koa replantings we parked in a grassy field that serves as the parking lot.

A female Kaji pheasant. these non-native birds are common in the gorsh grassland on the way to Hakalau

We then began our walk into the older forest, the short Koa began to give way to larger Koa and ancient ohia trees. Despite growing on barren lava fields, ohia don't like to grow in forests until they can be in the shade of the faster growing Koa. We stood for a second listening for native birds, some had flown by but we were yet to actually get a good look at one. Jack then excitedly called is over, on the dead moss covered branches of an ancient tree perched a little yellow bird singing. It was the rarest bird in Hakalau, the ‘Akiapola’au (which is referred to as the Aki, because saying ‘Akiapola’au take too much time). In Hawaiian forests this bird fills the woodpecker niche (eating bugs under the bark or in the wood of trees) and if you know anything about how this niche is filled on remote islands, then you should get excited. Woodpeckers don't get to every island or island group. On the island of Madagascar the Aye-aye, a strange lemur with ever growing teeth, bat-like ears, and a creepy long finger fills it. In the Galapagos and New Caledonia tool using birds probe for grubs. The Aki has a bizarre Beak. The lower mandible is short, thick and sharp, while the upper beak is long, thin, and curved. When feeding it's lower beak is used to drill into the soft Koa wood, and then the upper bill is used to fish the grub out. Besides a weird beak, the Aki also has weird behavior for a passerine. They live in mated pairs that require large territories, and provide parental care for up to two years. Because of its need for Koa forest and susceptibility to disease it is an endangered species, with two populations, one on Mona Loa, and the Hakalau population on Mona Kea. It is the last of a genus of Honeycreepers with extreme overbites.

A Male Aki perched. These unusual passerines are the "Holy grail" of Big Island Birding, and not always seen on trips to Hakalau.

After the Aki had flown off his perch we hung around the spot for a little while, an 'I'iwi flew in but was obscured in an ancient Ohia. More on this bird later. We soon started back down hill in search of more birds. Soon Jack was pointing out a little grey bird clinging to the side of a branch, a Hawaiian Creeper. This drab little bird fills the same niche as nuthatches and creepers on the mainland, picking bugs from moss or just under the bark. The single bird worked its way up a few trees, before flying over and feeding a younger bird.

This Hawaii Creeper has been banded by researchers.

This was June 2018, Kilauea was erupting and Volcanic Smog shrouded the island. Hakalau is also a wet forest at high elevation. The visibility began to drop. Distant Trees became amorphous dark shapes in the background. Hopping around the trees were the ʻōmaʻo, one of two Hawaii's native thrushes that are definitely not extinct. They make a call that can only be described as a police whistle. In the undergrowth the very colorful Red-billed Leiothrix, an asian forest bird, popped out to take a quick look at us. I was also scanning the ferns for two invertebrates I really wanted to see, the Happy-face spider, and carnivorous caterpillars of the genus Eupithecia. No luck, guess I will have to go back.

 A juvenile ʻōmaʻo. These are one of two native Hawaiian Thrushes still around; the other is the Puaiohi, which I glimpsed in the remote Alakai swamp of Kauai.

At this point we had picked up the ʻōmaʻo, the ‘elepaio (an old world flycatcher, and among the cutest birds in the world), and all the honeycreepers, save one. The smallest Hawaiian Honeycreeper is a dayglow orange bird with a slightly crossed bill, The Hawai’i ‘Akepa We where some ways down the trail when we arrived in what Jack called a mixed flock. Small green birds with slightly curved bluish bills flitted about, the most numerous Hawaiian Honeycreeper, the Hawaii Amakihi. These birds are one of the few to have started developing resistance to the introduced diseases and can be found at lower elevation. ‘Elepaio hopped on distant branches. Finally Jack pointed up and said “‘Akepa”. On the top of an Ohia tree was a little bird, quite hard to make out. On reviewing my photos, both the crossed bill and orange color are quite obvious. With that we began are hike back up to the car. It began to rain and the mist had dropped visibility even further.

The Bright Orange Hawaii 'Akepa. this little foliage gleaner has a crossed bill and is the only native bird to use cavities.

When we  arrived back at the car,  the large building we were parked by was nothing but an outline. My feet were soaked and freezing, but the day wasn’t over yet. We were yet to get a good look at the ‘I’iwi, the scarlet colored hawaiian honeycreeper that had first introduced me to the group in a rainforest book I had as kid. (Well the ʻAkohekohe was also in the book) The ‘I’iwi is a nectar feeder with a long downward curved bill, it used to drink from native Hawaiian lobelioids, but when the introduced land mammals ate them, the ‘I’iwi switched to the Ohia, or in the case of Hakalau behind  the historic Pua Akala Cabin, a massive patch of introduced Fuchsia. We stood out overlooking this mass of vegetation, hardly reminiscent of the small annual plant I see potted in hanging baskets where I live. The ‘I’iwi was calling, they sound a bit like a creaky door. I also found out first hand that the ‘I’iwi name is an onomatopoeia; the bird makes a call, which I don’t think I have ever heard a recording of, which sound like the Hawaiian approximation of it. Another thing to go back and do, get that recording. Then the bird hopped up on a branch above the fuchsia, its bright scarlet contrasted against the dark green foliage. The bird perched in view three times before we had to go and leave this piece of wild Hawaii Behind.

The 'I'iwi perched above the fuchsia plant. This bird is the "posterchild" of Hawaiian Honeycreepers

If you want to help out the birds of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife refuge, donate to Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR, (http://www.friendsofhakalauforest.org/) who have a fund to keep the refuge operational in case of government shutdowns.

Sources

“About the Refuge - Hakalau Forest - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” Official Web Page of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/refuge/Hakalau_Forest/about.html.

Endangered Birds living in the City

The Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is an endangered species. Despite this I found and photographed a flock that was hanging around a Hampton Inn and Costco Parking lot.

When most people picture endangered species, they think of tigers in a pristine jungle, or elephants out on the African Savannah. We see urban environments as a place where a few tough organisms can survive off our trash. For birds this often includes species like feral pigeons, European starlings, and house sparrows. In North America several native blackbirds join these exotic species, generally these are species like Brewer's blackbird, various grackle species, and the occasional red-wing blackbird.

The California Bicolored Subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird. Note its red only patches; in other parts of North America Red-winged Blackbirds have a golden-yellow patch above the red. This subspecies actually makes identifying Tricolored Blackbirds easier, as you could confuse the yellow for the white.

Most blackbird though have a tendency to prefer more rural settings, being easily found Along fence posts and fields as you leave suburban sprawl. Among these is the Tricolored Blackbird. It is endemic to the central valley of California, wedged between the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Ocean. It's range however does extend North into Oregon and South into Baja. It is very similar in appearance to the red-wing blackbird it's main difference is a white stripe above it's red wing patch, while most red wings have a yellow stripe above the red patch (although in areas the tricolor inhabits you are likely to encounter the California Bicolor subspecies, which lacks any stripes above it's red patches) However, the tricolors behavior is quite different, red wing black birds are usually associated with water and marshes in my observation, while the tricolor acts similarly to species like the Brewers blackbird or cowbird, and prefers open fields and grasslands. Tricolors are also endangered. Although there are about 300,000 in the world, and that number is declining. These blackbirds are threatened on several fronts; their native grasslands and wetlands have been developed or converted to agriculture. The insects they feed on have been poisoned and are not in sufficient numbers to feed the blackbird populations. They also seem to have a similar problem to the now extinct passenger pigeon; They prefer to nest in colonies over 10,000 strong. As their populations decline this could mean some populations may stop breeding and die out, because they become too small to successfully nest.

Tricolored Blackbirds Foraging in a dry field, this looks like a more natural setting, but it is still just next to the Hampton Inn I was staying at.

I have been gone searching a few times for this bird. In 2017, I saw them on ebird and took off to the farm fields south of Folsom (a town east of Sacramento). Driving along roads among fenced in fields, I saw a large flock of birds and quickly zoned in on a single male with bold white stripes above red patches. It was the Tricolored blackbird. Later that year I was back in Folsom again. On this particular morning, my parents had gone out for a morning walk around the hotel, which is pretty good birding, but very consistent species like Northern Mockingbirds, Great-tailed Grackles, and the Common Gallinule. My dad came back and began telling me the whole parking lot was filled with Tricolored blackbirds. I assumed it was some kind of joke, why would an endangered species be hanging out in a Hampton inn parking lot. They had to be entirely fictitious or a misidentification. However, he insisted the were there so I grabbed my camera and headed outside. To my surprise a whole flock of Tricolored blackbirds were wandering around the hotel parking lot, construction out back, and little dry field next to the hotel. Following the flock around I was led to the in-and out burger were they enjoyed a meal of dropped french fries. My guess was that it could be the same flock I had seen earlier in the year. It was not all that far from the site south of town. I however really have no idea, and maybe someone far more familiar with the species in the area could give me an answer.

Six Endangered Tricolored Blackbirds take off from a tree above an In-and-Out Burger

The birds were there the rest of the trip, I even saw them in the nearby Costco Parking lot hanging out with House Sparrows and Brewer's Blackbirds, running under vehicles. I was quite surprised how easily they fit in with the other “trash birds.” Even some young birds being fed by their parents were part of the flock. The next time I came back to the area though they were gone, and I am very curious if this was just a fluke that the flock was behaving this way, or if they do this regularly. Perhaps it is a good sign they can adapt to an urban environment, but it could also mean there wasn't enough food in the more rural areas, so they were forced into town.

A Tricolored Blackbird perched on a parking lot light. Finding these endangered birds right in the mix with suburban life was both promising an quite sad.

Sources

BirdLife International (2012). "Agelaius tricolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 15 April 2018.