The Other Birds

The best thing about using mist nets to study birds is that once they're set up properly, they are not very selective about what you catch. In fact, the majority of birds we caught were not black manakins. This can be a bit disappointing, especially on dead days, but often the bycatch (the unintended captures) would be the most beautiful birds we had the chance of seeing.

The first one we caught was in the morning of the second day. This Silver Beaked Tanager was a fiesty fellow, and a bit too snappy for Leram and I to get out. After complaining throughout his entire extraction, he gave Lainy a fierce peck before flying off into the jungle.

The Silver Beaked Tanager (Ramphocelus carbo)

This would be far from the only bycatch we got. Below are only the few I managed to get photos of. I only just realized that I didn't take the time to identify some of these. Being so short on time, it's something I'll have to leave until I have more time, and a bird book. Should anyone have any possibly ID suggestions, though, please do share.

A cute little Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)

A curious Burnished Buff Tanager (Tangara cayana)

The females of the Burnished Buff Tanager have more green on their wings

An unkown species of flycatcher

Possibly a plain xenops (Xenops minutus), but I'm unsure

A Pale Breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas)

(To me, these birds always look hilariously alarmed about something. Their call follows suit.)

An unknown species

Starting from today, Back at Camp will be on hiatus for a bit as I'm heading out to the field for the next month or so. This time, adventure will find me on Mt. Ayanganna, assisting some bird research with the Smithsonian Institution. You can trust that I'll be back with more great stories of what life will be like living on a mountain for a bit. For now, I'm trying to survive packing.