Recent Photos Gallery - April 2019

This Bornean Orangutan welcomes you to the Recent Photos Gallery for April 2019! Our Borneo tours see this Endangered mammal in the Danum Valley and along the Kinabatangan River, where participant Myles McNally took this fine image on our recent tour with Megan Edwards Crewe.

Black-and-red Broadbill, photographed here by participant Myles McNally, can be a tricky bird to find on the mainland of Southeast Asia, but in Borneo, the species can be a backyard bird—so long as the backyard adjoins excellent forest habitat. The maxilla and edges of the mandible are a day-glow powder blue, almost like laquered enamel.

Any time you see a clouded leopard, it's is a red-letter day (or night)! The Sunda Clouded Leopard is now recognized as a species distinct from mainland Asian clouded leopards; this animal is of subspecies borneensis, endemic to Borneo. Thanks to participant Myles McNally for this wonderful capture.

Proboscis Monkey is a peace-loving primate that eats primarily leaves. Our Borneo tour sees them along the Kinabatangan River, along with other wonders such as Bornean Ground-Cuckoo, Storm’s Stork, Orangutan, and sometimes Large Frogmouth! Thanks to participant Myles McNally for this nice portrait.

Participant Myles McNally took this evocative image in Mount Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site for very good reasons. As hikers begin their ascent of the peak, birders hike the roads and trails, invariably finding thrilling birds the likes of Fruit-hunter, Whitehead’s Broadbill, Bornean Stubtail, and Crimson-headed Partridge.

Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, along with its close relative Black-backed, inhabits forests, where it hunts a variety of insect and vertebrate prey, often near streams. Like many brightly colored species, it can be surprisingly hard to spot until it moves! Thanks to participant Myles McNally for this portrait.

North Philippine Temple-pitviper, formerly Wagler’s Pitviper (now split), is a glorious emerald-colored snake that is devilishly difficult to find in the jungle vegetation it inhabits. Thanks to participant Myles McNally for this nice portrait.

Those who know Acorn Woodpecker from the American West might not think of it as a pan-American bird, found south to South America, where it can be fairly common, even in cities, especially those with plenty of acorns. Thanks to participant Nancy Barnhart for sending in this portrait from the Belize 2019 tour.

Keel-billed Toucan might be the “first” toucan for many North American birders, as its range extends north into Mexico, but it is among the handsomest of its family, Ramphastidae—and there is much competition in this group of (about) 43 species. Nancy Barnhart took this image on the Belize 2019 tour.

Red-lored Parrot can be found, albeit as an introduced species, in southern U.S. border states, but its typical range is from Mexico south to Ecuador. Doug Clarke found this one eating palm fruit on our Belize 2019 tour.

Doug Clarke’s brilliant image of this Russet-naped Wood-Rail on the Belize 2019 tour shows the bird in the process of deploying its protective nictitating membrane, or inner eyelid, a feature of birds, sharks, and reptiles as well as some mammals—such as aardvarks, seals, camels, and Polar Bears.

Widespread in its distribution, from Mexico to Colombia, Tody Motmot is inconspicuous and nowhere common. This smallest member of the 14-member family Momotidae, the shy Tody Motmot is often seen as a furtive, shadowy figure in deep forest, but Doug Clarke found this cooperative bird on our Belize 2019 tour.

Barn Owl is a potential species on many (most?) of the tours we operate, but we seldom see one perched. This Belize bird showed well for the group this year, documented nicely by Doug Clarke.

Like other antshrikes, Barred Antshrike gives the attractive impression of being a tough customer—perhaps owing to the combination of pale eye, spiky crest, and loud vocalizations. Doug Clarke photographed this nice female (subspecies intermedius) on our Belize 2019 tour.

A classic terrestrial tanager (family Thraupidae) of Middle America, Black-headed Saltator frequents gardens and second-growth, pretty much anywhere with thickets where seeds and flowers abound. This bird brightened our Belize 2019 tour, photographed by Doug Clarke.

Participants David and Judy Smith contributed some mighty nice photographs! This Chestnut-naped Antpitta on the Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour this year is another world-class image: look closely and you’ll see how the auriculars are a bit more wine-colored, like the secondaries, compared to the chestnut crown.

A bird fond of palm, nutmeg, and laurel fruits, Long-wattled Umbrellabird is best known for the male’s pompadour crest and outrageous “wattle,” feathers that extend from the throat, over 2 feet long in adults! This young male was photographed by Brian Armstrong on our Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour.

Southwestern Ecuador Specialties is a marvelous tour that includes land preserved by the Jocotoco Foundation. Among the prizes there is Pale-browed Tinamou, here photographed by guide Willy Perez. This shy species is a Tumbesian endemic, found only in western Ecuador and adjacent northwestern Peru.

Participant Brian Armstrong managed to get this Rainbow Starfrontlet at just the right angle to show why it is named both rainbow and starfrontlet. Six subspecies are named, and some of these could be elevated to full-species status. This bird graced the Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour guided by Willy Perez this year.

Looking like a cross between a big bittern and an immature tiger-heron, Pinnated Bittern is very patchily distributed in wetlands with emergent vegetation from Mexico to northern Argentina. David and Judy Smith provide a perfect portrait from the Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour this year.

Among the most attractive of its family of beauties, Golden-crowned Tanager is restricted to high-elevation dense montane forest and elfin woodland from Venezuela (barely) through Ecuador. On the Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour with Willy Perez, David and Judy Smith did the species proud with this image.

Even though it stands only 20 centimeters tall, Pale-legged Hornero has the imposing countenance of a velociraptor. This bird, photographed by David and Judy Smith on the Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour, would be considered Pacific Hornero (Furnarius cinnamomeus) according to some authorities.

The Southwestern Ecuador Specialties tour this year had the pleasure of finding a nest of Plumbeous Kite, with this nearly volant youngster waiting patiently to be fed by its parents. David and Judy Smith contributed this cool shot of a seldom-seen plumage.