Tag Archives: Nature tours

The little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) is a small heron. It breeds in the Gulf states of the US, through Central America and the Caribbean south to Peru and Uruguay. It is a resident breeder in most of its range, but some northern breeders migrate to the southeastern US or beyond in winter. There is post-breeding dispersal to well north of the nesting range, as far as the Canada–US border.

The genus lipaugus refers to the gray color of this bird and derives from the Greek term lipauges which means dark. The epitheus weberi was dedicated to Walter H. Weber for his great contribution to the Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología (SAO) and for promoting the study and conservation of the birds of Colombia. The name in English (Chestnut-capped Piha) refers to its most contrasting morphological characteristic (Coronilla castaña) and the name in Spanish (Piha Antioqueña) refers to the department of Antioquia, the only region of Colombia where this bird has been found.

It is a small hummingbird with a short beak, endemic to the biogeographic Choco. It has an iridescent purple pectoral crescent and conspicuous, mainly white inner rectrices. Its name Urosticte means spotted tail and derives from the Greek roots oura = tail and stiktos = spotted. The Benjamin Pitet was established in honor of the naturalist and merchant John Benjamin Leadbeater.

This family has some characteristics by which it stands, first, plumage coloration is more or less similar to the habitat in which it lives what serves to camouflage themselves, therefore prevail plumages coffee shades, reddish, gray, beige or black and white, and sometimes presents lists, barred or stained patterns; second, they are highlighted by the arrangement of the tail usually kept in a perpendicular and rigid position at the time they are perched or singing.

The keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), also known as sulfur-breasted toucan or rainbow-billed toucan, is a colorful Latin American member of the toucan family. It is the national bird of Belize. The species is found in tropical jungles from southern Mexico to Colombia. It is an omnivorous forest bird that feeds on fruits, seeds, insects, invertebrates, lizards, snakes, and small birds and their eggs.

It is the only hummingbird in the highlands with completely white underparts. Her name Amazilia was established in honor of Amazili, who was an Inca heroine in Jeam Marmontel’s novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l’Empire du Pérou. His French epithet was established in honor of Francia Bourcier, the daughter of the naturalist Jules Bourcier, an expert in hummingbirds.

Bird from the highlands of the Andes, silent and inconspicuous despite its large size. Momotus comes from the specific name Ramphastos momota and the epithet Aequatorialis is a term from the Latin language that means equatorial.

The black-thighed puffleg (Eriocnemis derbyi) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found at humid forest edge and ravines in the Andean highlands of Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is threatened by habitat loss. As suggested by its name, the feathering around its legs is black, which is unique among the pufflegs. Otherwise its plumage is green with a contrastingly black tail.

For a long time, it was considered an endemic species to Colombia although recently a population was found in the north of Ecuador. Its name Grallaria derives from the modern Latin grallarius = stiltwalker and the epithet rufocinerea from the Latin roots rufus = rufous and cinereus = ash gray.