Palm Tanager

Palm Tanager (Thraupis palmarum)

Palm Tanager

Order : Passeriformes
Also known as Passerine’s or perching birds. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerines are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Family : Tanagers (Thraupidae)
The Tanagers are a large group of over 200 species of songbirds of new world forests and gardens mainly in the tropics. Many are brightly coloured. They range in size from 10 - 20 cm ( 4 - 8 in ), and most are arboreal, living in trees, undergrowth and shrub. The diet consists mainly of fruit, though some species eat insects.

Name : Palm Tanager (Thraupis palmarum)
Length : 17cm ( 7 in )

Closely related to the Blue-grey Tanager, the Palm Tanager is a dull olive green all over with yellowish wing coverts and dark primaries. It is a bird of cultivated land and suburban areas, though tends to feed at higher levels, often in Palm trees foraging among the palm leaves for insects, or taking berries and fruits from other trees. The nest is usually built in Palm trees, but may also be placed under the eaves of houses.



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Bird identification photos

House Wren

House Wren

Order : Passeriformes
Also known as Passerine’s or perching birds. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.


Family : Wrens (Troglodytidae)
A new world family compromising about 59 species of which only one (Troglodytes troglodytes) has spread to old world regions where it is simply known as the Wren. Wrens are generally small, inconspicuous birds except for their comparatively loud songs. They are insectivorous, with short wings and often upturned tails.


Name : House Wren (Trogloytes aedon)
Length : 12 - 13 cm ( 4½ in )

As it’s name suggests this little Wren is often found around houses and gardens in search of insects and spiders which form it’s main diet. The nest is built in tree holes and crevices or similar man made structures, lined with soft materials where the female lays up to 6 eggs, though the nest may be parasited by the Shiny Cowbird, norally at the expense of the House Wrens own eggs or chicks. The House Wren ranges from Canada to Tierre del Fuego, usually inhabiting suburban areas, woodland and forest edges, especially where thick undergrowth is present.


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Bird identification photos

Bare-eyed Thrush

Bare-eyed Thrush 

Bare-eyed Thrush (Turdus nudigenis)

Order : Passeriformes
Thrushes are a cosmopolitan family made up of two major groups, the true thrushes and the chat thrushes, the latter being confined to Eurasia, except for the Northern Wheater, which has colonised northern Canada and Alaska. The largest genus consisting around 66 species, is found in both temperate and tropical climates. Many being known for their singing voice.

Family : Thrushes (Turidae)
Also known as Passerine’s or perching bird’s. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Name : Bare-eyed Thrush (Turdus nudigenis)
Length : 23 - 24 cm ( 9 - 9½ in )
Local Names : Yellow eyed Grive, Gold eye Thrush

A bird of parklands, suburban areas, light woodland and cultivated land, the Bare-eyed Thrush is distinguished by it’s large golden yellow eye ring. It has brown upperparts with grey brown underparts with a streaked throat. Both sexes are similar. The cup shaped nest is made of mud and plant material placed at a moderate height in the fork of a tree usually around March to July.

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Bird identification images

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Cocoa Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus susurrans)

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Order : Passeriformes
Also known as Passerine’s or perching bird’s. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Family : Woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptidae)
The Woodcreepers are a family of about 50 species of Passerine birds endemic to the neotropics. These mainly brown birds feed on insects taken from tree trunks. They superficially resemble the old world treecreepers but are not related. Woodcreepers are solitary forest birds that nest in holes or crevices. Most are 28 - 38 cm ( 8 - 15 in ) long, and are usually detected by their voice, some repeat harsh or sad notes and others trill.

Name : Cocoa Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus susurrans)
Length : 23 cm ( 9 in )

The Woodcreeper breeds from Honduras through South America to northern Argentina and Trinidad and Tobago. More likely to be recognised by it’s long descending song, the Woodcreeper spends it’s day flying from one tree to the base of another, slowly climbing up the second in search of insects, invertabrates and may even follow army ants feeding on both the ants and any creatures they disturb. It can often be seen probing soft or rotton bark. The nest is built in tree stumps, often palms, is leaf lined, where 2 - 3 white eggs are laid. The Woodcreeper is a forest bird, and rarely ventures beyond the forest edge. It’s brown all over, with a stiff tail used as a prop as the bird climbs the tree. The bill is long and decurved used to probe but not bore holes like woodpeckers.

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Bird identification pictures