Central America and Mexico 2022
Ethan spent several months going all around Mexico and Central America in 2022. It was his first real birding trip and even though he didn’t really have an idea about what he was doing, he still managed to get some pictures and develop the concepts that would become this collection.
A Slaty-Tailed Trogon guarding the confusingly named Stone Bridge. An amazing wing panel.
Another nice Trogon. Ethan was minding his own business when in a dramatic role reversal, this Black-Headed Trogon perched in a nearby tree and began watching him.
Some cryptic birds that Ethan managed to catch by surprise. On the left a Common Pauraque and on the right a Streak-Headed Woodcreeper.
Ethan is a big fan of hummingbird names. This Canivet’s Emerald was taken seconds into an intense downpour that Ethan barely managed to save his camera from. He has noticed that he often gets good photographs moments before the rain. A coincidence or could the birds be distracted?
A couple of the “Hermit” hummingbirds, named for their drab colors. On the left the Stripe-Throated Hermit and on the right the Long-Billed Hermit.
Hummingbirds are much easier when they are sitting still. From left to right is a White-Necked Jacobin (named for its obvious resemblance to a Dominican friar), the island endemic Cozumel Emerald, and the disappointingly named Violet-Bellied Hummingbird.
On the left a Mangrove Swallow chasing a boat on Lake Arenal. On the right a Chestnut-Headed Oropendola flying over the Panama Canal.
Two birds that seemed to Ethan to have mysteriously appeared from nowhere. On the left a Tiny Hawk which was a lot less cute and a lot more world-weary than Ethan expected and on the left a majestic King Vulture.
An assortment of interesting birds. From left to right the Three-Wattled Bellbird, the iconic Keel-Billed Toucan, and the taxonomically interesting Royal Flycatcher seen in the ruins of Tikal.
Some more, very friendly, birds from Tikal. On the left a Red-Lored Parrot and on the right a Roadside Hawk.
Two Tyrant Flycatchers with good names. The Southern Beardless Tyrannulet on the left and the Bright-Rumped Atilla on the right. Ethan thinks both of these birds look untrustworthy and sinister. Especially the Atilla.
A Hooded Warbler finally stands still for a moment. Now it is trapped forever.
Some birds form Panama. The Red-Crowned Woodpecker (left) and Greater Ani (right).
On the left is the noble but overhunted Great Curassow. On the right is the extremely elusive Uniform Crake. It ran across the trail right in front of Ethan, scaring him a little bit which explains the slight blurriness.
A frankly resplendent Resplendent Quetzal from the shore of Lake Atitlán. The search for this bird left Ethan extremely sleep deprived but it was all worth it to witness one of the more majestic birds he will ever be likely to meet.
A Isthmian Wren (left) and a Sinaloa Wren (right) both of whom Ethan barely managed to photograph. They are a couple of the more evocatively named Wrens Ethan has encountered but his favorite is the Happy Wren, which tragically did manage to evade his camera.
A Brown Booby with a snack.
A pair of Baja California endemics. On the left Belding’s Yellowthroat and on the right the Gray Thrasher. A stray dog bit Ethan while he was searching for these guys but fortunately for him the dog was very small and old so he mostly just felt bad for the dog’s embarrassingly pathetic attempt to puncture his skin.
A Turquoise-Browed Motmot from the ruins of Copán. A family that Ethan somehow was not familiar with when he set off. He quickly met his first one, a Lesson’s Motmot pointed out by a helpful gardener in Quintana Roo, and fell in love.
Also from Copán are a pair of Scarlet Macaws. (They are widely known to live here I am not a snitch.) Ethan personally decided to leave this as the last picture.