El Salvador Birds -Julio Acosta

29/10/2024

One dream...

24/10/2024

Last weekend we had a great morning birding at RAMSAR SIte Cerron Grande with Sierra and Tom. It was a raptor morning!!!! We saw a group of "Azacuanes" the way native people call the raptor migration of the fall in which there were Turkey Vultures, Broad-winged Hawks, Swainson´s Hawks, Peregrine Falcon and even a Hooked--billed Kite as well as a Common Black Hawk, a Gray Hawk, a Crested Caracara (photos) and a Roadside Hawk and even for some seconds a Collared Forest Falcon moving from inside a spot of forest to another one. It was also a Kingfisher morning, in less than half an hour we spotted Amazon Kingfisher, Ringed Kingfisher (photos), Green Kingfisher and the migratory one Belted Kingfisher. It was an awesome birding morning!

22/10/2024

Is El Salvador a birding destination? Well...

18/10/2024

Sparkling tailed Hummingbird at Casa Colibrí - Apaneca . September/October 2024.

17/10/2024

Last week we had a great sunset birding tour at RAMSAR Site Suchitlan lake with ana amazing group from U.S.A. We had a Kingfisher afternoon we saw a Belted Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher and a Ringed Kingfisher (photo) as well as many other species, we also found (photos9 Mangorve swallows, and a group of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks about to roost on a big "Conacaste" tree. Great tour!

04/10/2024

Yesterday, as part of the scouting process for the upcoming production of a new documentary on El Salvador´s nature, we drive six hours from San Salvador to a magical place where a king lives. This amazing paradise is on the North-East corner of the country and it is known because of its rich biodiversity from unique dwarf conifer forests to amazing mammals and birds. I had high expectations to meet the king of this place but as we got there it was nowhere to be seen... Suddenly coming through gray clouds it showed up in front of us to give us a glimpse of its majesty: The King Vulture.

03/10/2024

Yesterday morning we had a great birding walk at El Espino Ecopárk with Noemie and Ruth. We spotted some amazing bird species such as eh Lesson´s motmot, the White-throated Magpie Jay and the Cinnamon Hummingbird among many other species. It was a great morning to spot butterflies as well.

28/09/2024

It´s International Coffee Day! El Salvador´s coffee is one of the best of the world! Let's celebrate it! The secondary forests that provide shade to the coffee plantation are key for the conservation of multiple species. Not only birds but amphibians, reptiles, insects and mammals do get the benefits of this important agricultural product in our country. One of the most remarkable residents of this forests is the close to endemic Blue and White Mockingbird that inhabits coffee plantations and cloud forests above 1500 above sea level in Chiapas (México), Guatemala, El Salvador as well as Honduras, and british TV presenter Nigel Marven and I had the chance to spot one while visiting a coffee plantation in Apaneca in Western El Salvador. Thanks to our friends of Eduardo & master barista Jonathan (El Salvador´s barista champion 2018 & 2019) for receiving us in their amazing cafe. .

28/09/2024

Our second birding stop with Rebecca and Michael was El Boqueron National Park on the edge of the crater of San Salvador volcano. Among some other species we spotted the highlight species were this Mexican Violetear and the recent arrived migratory Wilson´s Warbler and Townsend´s Warbler.

28/09/2024

Yesterday we had an amazing birding morning with Rebecca and Michael from U.S.A at out first stop: El Espino Ecopark, in the surroundings of San Salvador city. Among many other species we spotted the highlights were: a handsome male Gartered Trogon, a Streak-backed Oriole and the Lesson´s motmot.

25/09/2024

Last weekend we had a couple of great birding days with Andrew and Jennifer. We stayed at Casa Colibrí - Apaneca where we had the chance to see the incredible Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird (in season every month of September at the lodge) as well as many other birds. We also explored the nearby crater of Laguna Verde with an amazing cloud forest where we had among many other species a male Barred Antshrike and the Golden-crowned Warbler. Later we went down to the RAMSAR site of Barra de Santiago (Only one where we had many amazing species such the juvenile Common Black Hawk and a Collared Plover among many other species in the amazing mangrove canals, intertidal mudflats and coastal scrub of the site.

16/09/2024

Last Wednesday we had an amazing sunset birding tour at Suchitlan Lake RAMSAR Site with Dwayne, Sam, Linda and Joanna with their tour leader Richard. We had the chance to spot the rare juvenile Bare-throated Tiger Heron as well as Snowy Egret, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and Black-crowned Night Heron and a Common Black Hawk among many other species.

10/09/2024

A beautiful and rare hummingbird at Casa Colibrí - Apaneca .

09/09/2024

Festival de los Farolitos in Apaneca.

31/08/2024

Second morning birding with Bob & Tony at Casa Colibrí - Apaneca and Laguna Verde in the mountains of Western El Salvador. We had a nice birding session from the porch with 5 species of hummingbirds: Berylline Hummingbird, Canivet´s Emerald, Rivoli´s hummingbird, Mexican Violetear and Rufous Sabrewing. Around the crater lagoon we had a nice walk in which we could spot for some seconds the close to endemic Blue and White Mockingbird. The highlight species of the morning were the Rufous Sabrewing, the Crescent-chested Warbler and the Dusky-capped Flycatcher among many other species. Bob and Tony had two wonderful nights at Casa Colibri birding around at an amazing cloud forest full of birds. It was a great pleasure for us to have you as our guests!

31/08/2024

New video!

A compilation of the highlight bird species we recorded through our trail cameras by the pond and the hummingbird bath along August 2024. The pond camera doe...

30/08/2024

Our next birding walk was the trail around Laguna Verde, an extinct crater that Casa Colibrí - Apaneca overlooks. We had an amazing experience with Bob and Tony as we were able to see one of the most secretive birds in the tropics: the Yellow-billed Cacique as well as a beautiful female Barred Antshrike and the Rufous-browed Peppershrike among many other species. After we head to the town of Ataco in the Route of Flowers where they had the chance to had an amazing lunch and try some of the best coffees in the world. We finished the day in the lookout by Casa Colibri enjoying an amazing sea of clouds at Sunset.

29/08/2024

We had a great morning birding with Bob and Tony from the porch of Casa Colibrí - Apaneca taking a look at the forest around and our hummingbird garden. The highlights were a couple of Emerald Toucanets, the Brown-backed Solitaires and in our garden 4 species of hummingbird: Rivoli´s Hummingbird, Mexican Violetear, Rufous Sabrewing and Canivet´s Emerald.

28/08/2024

We had an amazing birding weekend with Bob and Tony from Texas and Iowa! From the aiport we headed to our first stop close to the capital city at Bicentenario Park where we enjoyed a productive mid-afternoon birding session and the stars of it were the hummingbirds: Long-billed Starthroat and Green-breasted Mango as well as the White-throated Magpie-Jay among many other species spotted. We finished the day tasting our national dish, PUPUSAS, cooked in the authentic way with firewood and on a clay grill at the colonial town of Izalco on our way to our lodge Casa Colibrí - Apaneca

28/08/2024

Last Friday I had the chance to be part of the 2nd Environmental Journalism and Commnunication Congress. We had amazing and inspiring presentations on how to captivate the people and inspire them to protect our planet. Thanks to FIAES for the great opportunity.

23/08/2024

A compilation of the highlight bird species we recorded through our trail camera by the pond along July 2024. The pond camera does not stop surprising us at Casa Colibri HUmmingbird Garden and MIni Birding Lodge and now we added a flower and a bath camera. The new species in the footage for this month is the White-winged Tanager.

A compilation of the highlight bird species we recorded through our trail camera by the pond along July 2024. The pond camera does not stop surprising us at ...

27/06/2024

TUPÁ Y LOS TUCANES
Cuando Tupá creó el mundo, hizo la tierra y el cielo, lo ríos, los mares, las plantas y los animales. Cuando terminó, con mucho cariño, puso a las personas para que vivieran allí. La gente armó sus casas, formó familia y se alimentó de los frutos de la naturaleza. Vivían contentos y unidos, aprendieron a fabricar canoas y pasaban mucho tiempo en los ríos. Los más chiquitos jugaban a la orilla mientras sus mamás los miraban felices.
Pero había algo diferente allí. Como estaba todo recién creado, todavía no había colores. El dios Tupá tenía que elegir de qué color sería cada cosa. Así, todo era gris. Cuando Tupá decidió los colores, se puso a pensar a quiénes mandar para que pintaran todo. Pensó en los animales más cuidadosos, como las tortugas. Pero se dio cuenta de que iban a tardar mucho. Entonces pensó en los yaguaretés, que corren muy rápido, pero se dio cuenta de que la gente se iba a asustar con ellos. Así que siguió pensando y diciendo: - Los zorros son muy traviesos; los monos demasiados juguetones, las nutrias a cada rato se van al agua; los osos hormigueros son muy lentos y los loros, muy distraídos.
Se quedó serio Tupá viendo que no tenía a quienes mandar como pintores. Hasta que una idea llegó a su mente para resolver el problema. Tupá creó unas aves con alas grandes y fuertes para volar sin cansarse, ojos bien grandes para ver bien y un pico en forma de pincel. Las hizo volar hasta él y les mostró la fuente de los colores de donde sacarían las pinturas para colorear el mundo. Luego las mandó a cumplir la misión.
Después de pintar todo volvieron con Tupá. Él les agradeció y les endureció los picos para que pudieran comer las frutas de los árboles. Aquellos picos que todavía tienen en sus picos la pintura que usaron para hacer más bella la naturaleza. Esas aves son los Tucanes.

Tradición Oral del Mito de Creación Guaraní.

27/06/2024

Nuevo Video!

A compilation of the highlight bird species we recorded through our trail camera by the pond during the first three weeks of June 2024. The pond camera does ...