San Isidro Owl (Ciccaba sp)

The San Isidro Owl was once thought to be a subspecies of the Black-banded Owl, but now is considered by many to be a species on its own.  There still isn’t a lot of information out there so I’ll share what I can find.

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Most people see them readily at Cabanas San Isidro in Ecuador.  I haven’t heard of them being found anywhere else.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT SAN ISIDRO OWLS

HBW Alive

The Owl Pages

Bird in Paradise

Lost in Birding

VIDEOS

A perplexed owl wonders why everyone is looking at him,

 

 

 

Birding The Grounds Of Cabanas San Isidro

Although the weather wasn’t in our favour during our brief visit to Cabanas San Isidro, we did see some pretty cool birds.  We arrived in the afternoon to pouring rain and spent most of our time out on the balcony where we could shelter and hope some birds would fly by.

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My main target bird was the White-capped Parrot (Pionus seniloides) so after the rain stopped, I was hopeful when I finally heard some parrot squawks and a pair fly past us and disappear into the trees.  But unfortunately they stayed in the foliage and wouldn’t come out and pose for photos.  DSCN2301

After it started getting dark, we headed down to the restaurant to avoid walking in the dark and hung out on the deck watching a few hummingbirds who hadn’t turned in for the night.

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After dinner, we were escorted back to our cabin by the guide but we first stopped off to see the resident San Isidro Owl.  This is possibly a new species although some birding books lump it in with Balck-banded Owls.  They are easy to see as they frequent the trees near the footpath where the street lamps attract insects.  We saw 3 of them in different trees though I really struggled to get a shot in the dark!

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The next morning, our guide was right on time and we didn’t have far to go as birds were all over the trees just outside our cabin.  Here’s a pretty Masked Trogon.DSCN2357a

A dramatic looking Green (Inca) Jay

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There’s a small platform on top of a cabin that gives a nice view over the surrounding canopy.DSCN2394 DSCN2395 DSCN2401a

We then headed down a muddy path where sometimes you can see Antpittas.  While walking down, I slipped in the mud and fell pretty hard.  I instinctively tried to protect my camera (I was holding the Canon 60D and my husband was holding the Nikon which was not harmed) but the camera still hit the ground and the viewfinder cracked.  There was mud all over the camera.  Since we were already down there, we tried to call the antpitta in but he didn’t show up.  At this point, I wanted to clean the camera so we went back to the dining room and I did my best to clean it.

I was really glad I had two cameras for the trip as the Canon just didn’t focus well after the accident.  For example these photos were taken with the Nikon.DSCN2414a DSCN2420 DSCN2422 DSCN2425 DSCN2429 DSCN2433 DSCN2436a DSCN2438

The photos below were taken with the Canon after the accident.IMG_4811 IMG_4813 IMG_4822 IMG_4824 IMG_4826

I did the best I could under the circumstances.  They do have a very impressive bird list so I will share it here because odds are you will have better luck than I did!

Cabanas San Isidro Bird List

Birding in Ecuador

Green Jay aka Inca Jay (Cyanocorax yncas)

The Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) is a bird species of the New World jays, and is found in both North and South America.  The taxonomy is a bit confusing.  They are usually lumped with Inca Jay (C. yncas yncas) of South America. Adding to the confusion in classification, the Green Jay is then used as the species name, even though the Inca Jay is the nominate subspecies.

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They have a large range extending from the southern tip of Texas down to Bolivia.  Depending on which source you read, the Inca Jay subspecies is the South American range.  I saw them in southern Ecuador in the Podocarpus National Park near Zamora and further north at Wildsumaco and Cabanas San Isidro.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT GREEN/INCA JAYS

Wikipedia Green Jay

Wikipedia Inca Jay

Birdlife

Neotropical Birds

VIDEOS

An Inca Jay with something to say.

And here’s a Green Jay with a song of his own!