Blue-grey Tanager & Tropical Mockingbird

Blue-grey Tanager & Tropical Mockingbird

Two birds with one shot. Well it is a small Island 26 miles long by 8 miles wide, so one can expect to share the odd branch here and there. Both birds common in suburban areas and light woodland. Bird photography from Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.

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All photos by +Robert Brent 

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#birds #tropical #Tanagers #Mockingbirds #photography #Tobago #Trinidad

Smooth-billed Ani juvenile guarded by female adults

Smooth-billed Ani juvenile guarded by female adults

A young smooth-billed Ani is guarded by two female adults as other members of the group search for food. The Smooth-billed Ani build a communal nest where females lay eggs on top of each other in one large nest. Obviously only a few eggs at the top of the nest hatch into young birds. Nesting duties and parental duties are undertaken by all members of the group which usually number around 12 birds. Smooth-billed Anis are members of the Cuckoo family (Cuculidae), and are restricted to the tropical Americas.

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Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus)

Tropical Mockingbird (Mimus gilvus)

Tropical Mockingbird head shot added to the Tropical Mockingbird description page. I have noticed that unlike most species where bird plumage is near identical, the Tropical Mockingbirds here can very colouration from quite pale to strongly contrasting such as this bird shown. 

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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.

#Cocoa Woodcreeper #Xiphorhynchus susurrans #Woodcreepers #Dendrocolaptidae #Passeriformes #perching birds #neotropics #treecreepers #tropical #forest birds #bird #birds of Tobago

Bird identification pictures

Blue - gray Tanager

Blue - gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus)

Blue - gray Tanager

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 : 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 :Blue - gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus)
Length : 17cm ( 7 in )
Local Names : Blue jean

The Blue-gray Tanager ranges from Mexico south to northern Brazil and northern Bolivia. There are a number of races namely T. e. herlepschi endemic to Tobago, T. e. neosophila with a violet shoulder patch occurring in Trinidad, Venezuela, eastern Columbia and northern Brazil. T. e. mediana of the southern Amazon basin which has a white wing patch, and T. e. cana of the northern Amazon has a blue shoulder. Overall the Blue-gray Tanager is has a pale blue grey head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts. The bill is short, the lower mandible with white towards the base. Sexes are similar. They inhabit gardens, open countryside light woodland and forest edges, their diet consisting of fruits, insects and some nectar. Breeding is mainly during March and July, the nests are usually high up in a tree, occasionally being parasited by the Shiny Cowbird. They are usually seen in pairs or small groups, and may also be seen with Palm Tanagers.

#Blue - gray Tanager #Thraupis episcopus #Tanagers #Thraupidae #Passeriformes #Blue jean #birds #songbirds #tropical #birds of Tobago

Bird identification pictures