BRENT & MAYA-HER MAJESTY'S SECRET CIRCUS, AT THE PIAZZA, DECK 5, RUBY PRINCESS, 3/18/2024

 

MASKED BOOBY, SEEN FROM RUBY PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP IN CARIBBEAN EN ROUTE FROM TRINIDAD TO ARUBA, 3/18/2024 - NEW SPECIES TO LIFE LIST

   We can ID this bird as a Masked Booby as follows:

• Long, hefty, pointed and pale yellow bill
• Mostly bright white 
• Black tail
• Dark primaries and secondaries
• Black mask

   The Masked Booby nests on small tropical islands, especially ones that are flat and without forests.  The rest of the time it spends at sea.

   The Masked Booby is a new species to our ebird Photographic Life List.  Our ebird Life List now stands at 1,132.

 

TROPICAL SCREECH-OWLS, CARONI SWAMP, SAN JUAN-LAVENTILLE, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3/17/2024

 

LONG-BILLED STARTHROAT, PRIVATE HOME, BLANCHISSEUSE RD, TUNAPUNA-PIARCO, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3/17/2024

 

MALE AMETHYST WOODSTAR, PRIVATE HOME, BLANCHISSEUSE RD, TUNAPUNA-PIARCO, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3/17/2024

   We can ID this hummingbird as a male Amethyst Woodstar as follows:

• Green crown, nape and upper parts
• White neck sides
• Large white spot on sides of rump
• Medium length, straight, black bill
• Depending on the lighting the throat can appear different colors.  In the first and second photo the throat appears black, but in the third photo it appears pinkish.
• In the first photo you can just make out that the tail is forked.

   The Amethyst Woodstar appears in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay and is a rare vagrant to Trinidad.

   The Amethyst Woodstar is a new species to our ebird Photographic Life List.  Our ebird Life List now stands at 1,131.

   

 

FEMALE RUBY-TOPAZ HUMMINGBIRD IN SHADE, PRIVATE HOME, BLANCHISSEUSE RD, TUNAPUNA-PIARCO, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3/17/2024

 

MALE TUFTED COQUETTE, PRIVATE HOME, BLANCHISSEUSE RD, TUNAPUNA-PIARCO, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3/17/2024 - NEW SPECIES TO OUR LIFE LIST

   We can ID this hummingbird as a male Tufted Coquette as follows:

• Orange/rufous crest.  This differentiates the male from the female, which doesn't have this crest.
• Black-spotted orangey plumes that extend from the sides of the neck. Again, the male has these, the female doesn't.
• Short (for a hummingbird) black tipped reddish bill.
• Greenish upperparts with whitish rump band.

   The Tufted Coquette breeds in eastern Venezuela, Trinidad, Guiana and northern Brazil.  It appears to be a local or seasonal migrant, but its movements are not well understood.

   The Tufted Coquette is a new species to our ebird Photographic Life List. Our ebird Life List now stands at 1,130.