BirdNote: Costa Rica's Morning Chorus
Air Date: Week of January 29, 2016
Purple-throated Fruitcrow is found in humid forests from southern Nicaragua south to northwestern Ecuador and to Bolivia. (Photo: Patty McGann FCC)
In Costa Rica, the vibrant colors of a winter sunrise are closely rivaled by the exuberance of its birdsong. BirdNote’s Mary McCann reports that while some of Costa Rica’s bird species hide from sight, their calls are highly distinguishable.
Transcript
BIRDNOTE®/COSTA RICA SUNRISE
MUX - BIRDNOTE® THEME
It’s still early in the winter season, and though it was a monster, we’ve only had one major snowstorm so far in the northeast. But that doesn’t stop some of us from dreaming about waking up somewhere warmer and more enticing…such as the landscape Mary McCann evokes in today’s BirdNote®.
http://birdnote.org/show/costa-rica-winter-sunrise
BirdNote®
Costa Rica Winter Sunrise
[Bay Wren song duet, https://soundcloud.com/encyclopedia-of-life/baywren]
On a winter morning in Costa Rica, a pair of Bay Wrens sings a brisk duet just before sunrise. Though the Bay Wrens stay well hidden in the underbrush, they have all the decibels they need to make themselves known.
Montezuma Oropendolas are highly dimorphic in size. The species is polygynous, and dominant males perform most of the copulations at a colony. (Photo: Robert Shea FCC)
[Bay Wren song duet, https://soundcloud.com/encyclopedia-of-life/baywren]
A breeze wafts in off the Caribbean Sea, less than a mile away, across the tropical lowland forest, fluttering the leaves of a tall giant fig tree hung with flowering bromeliads. Perched in the upper canopy, a small group of Keel-billed Toucans calls out.
[Keel-billed Toucan calls]
Their comically large bills are painted in lime green, turquoise, orange, and magenta. In a nearby tree, Purple-throated Fruit Crows add their voices to the sunrise chorus.
[http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/187913]
The male fruit crows are jet-black with reddish-purple throats. Alongside the fruit crows, a huge oriole-like bird pivots upside down and belts out an electrifying series of notes:
Keel-billed Toucan ordinarily utters a single note, a shrill, frog-like cree which it repeats in a series of about five to seven notes. Hatchlings have a buzzy call, while juvenal toucans whine or emit a wailing sound. (Photo: MLL-FCC)
[http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/127299]
It’s a male Montezuma Oropendola, with one of the most distinctive voices in the tropics.
[http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/127299]
Finally, a Bright-rumped Attila calls from its perch hidden deep in the canopy.
[http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/113384]
The Attila will repeat its maniacal phrases until well after sunrise, reminding us again and again that it’s morning in Costa Rica. I'm Mary McCann.
Twelve subspecies of Bright-rumped Attila are generally recognized across this species’ broad range, stretching from northwest Mexico to northwest South America. Their range spans much of the lowland in the northern two-thirds of the continent. Another population can also be found in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. (Photo: Paul Bedell-FCC)
###
Written by Bob Sundstrom
Bay Wren from Xeno-Canto (XC11512] recorded by Nick Athanas; Keel-billed Toucan from Xeno-Canto recorded by Melinda Wood; Purple-throated Fruitcrow [187913] recorded by P K Donahue, Montezuma Oropendola [127299] recorded by C A Marantz and Bright-rumped Attila [113384] recorded by C A Marantz, all courtesy of The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2016 Tune In to Nature.org January 2016 Narrator: Mary McCann
http://birdnote.org/show/costa-rica-winter-sunrise
CURWOOD: You’ll find pictures of these exotically named and feathered songsters at our website, LOE.org.
Links
More about Costa Rica’s birds on BirdNote
Bay Wren (Cantorchilus nigricapillus) duet
Purple-throated Fruitcrows (Querula purpurata) call
About the Purple-throated Fruitcrow
Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius Montezuma) call
About the Montezuma Oropendola
Living on Earth wants to hear from you!
Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org
Newsletter [Click here]
Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.
NewsletterLiving on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!
Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.
Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.
Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth
© Copyright World Media Foundation. All Rights Reserved
Home | Contact | RSS | Donate | Newsletter
