T & T Part 5: The Bird Magnet

Where should you look if you only had a little time to watch birds in Trinidad?  Find a Wild Tobacco tree (Acnistus arborescens) and a comfortable place to sit... then enjoy!

Probably the most common bird you will see are the tiny Bananaquits. 

 While 'common' can sometimes mean they aren't appreciated as much as more unusual birds, I never-the-less found them to be quite cute and fun to watch.

Another fairly common bird were the Purple Honeycreepers.

The males are a gorgeous blue-purple and the females are green with striped fronts and blue mustaches!

If I had to pick a favorite, I think she would be it!  Such unique coloring!

Next we have another Honeycreeper.  Its name is the Green Honeycreeper.

I'm not sure I would describe the color as 'green' (the book says it is "shiny bluish green").

But the female is all green.

Next is a Bay-headed Tanager.

And then a male Blue Dacnis.

The female Blue Dacnis doesn't look much like the male... she is green with a blue head.

As compared to another bird in the tanager family that's all blue... the Blue-Grey Tanager.

Then there's the Turquoise Tanager... which is really multi-colored!

And, the Silver-beaked Tanager...

Another bird that's listed on the "Tanager and Allies" plate in my field guide is a small bird with an impressive-sounding name, the Violaceous Euphonia.

 Finally, to close out the tanagers, we have the plainer but still pretty Palm Tanager.

Lots of other kinds of birds seem to love the fruit of the Wild Tobacco tree as well.

Above is one of the larger birds we'll see in the Wild Tobacco, a Spectacled Thrush (9 1/2").  Below, one of the smallest -- a Golden-headed Manakin (3 1/2").

A Tropical Mockingbird makes an appearance.

 Crested Oropendolas swoop in and out of the tree as well.

The birds are flying off, so I will, too.

Oh, wait!  Here's one more creature enjoying the Wild Tobacco fruit- a Red-tailed Squirrel!