Green Honeycreeper / Chlorophanes spiza, male, Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad, 2017

Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow. Very windy this evening.

I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.

This photo of a male Green Honeycreeper was taken on 20 March 2017, the last day of our trip to Trinidad & Tobago. The common name comes from the female, which is a very definite green, unlike the turquoise of the male. Photo of a female can be seen in Comments below.

"The green honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. It is the only member of the genus Chlorophanes.

The male is mainly blue-tinged green with a black head and a mostly bright yellow bill. The female green honeycreeper is grass-green, paler on the throat, and lacks the male's iridescence and black head. Immatures are plumaged similar to females.

This is a forest canopy species. The female green honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs for 13 days. It is less heavily dependent on nectar than the other honeycreepers, fruit being its main food (60%), with nectar (20%) and insects (15%) as less important components of its diet." From Wikipedia.

"This adventure was only the second holiday of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going.

Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could choose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! We were so lucky with our flights, as we were just in time to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!

What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous.

The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up the mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a minibus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way.

I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.

This is a video that I came across on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it.

youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M

I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015.

youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk

Taken in: Trinidad and Tobago / Tunapuna/Piarco / La Pastora (show map)

Taken on: March 20, 2017

Tags:

Trinidad

island

West Indies

Asa Wright Nature Centre

nature

wildlife

ornithology

avian

bird

Green Honeycreeper

Chlorophanes spiza

Genus: Chlorophanes

male

adult

side view

perched

tree

branch

Pico Pico tree

colour

colourful

tropical

neotropical

rainforest

leaves

foliage

bokeh

outdoor

20 March 2017

Panasonic

Lumix

FZ200

FZ200#4

annkelliott

Anne Elliott

P1160077 « less

Sets appears in: • Trinidad & Tobago trip, 12-21 March 2017 • Birds of Trinidad & Tobago more » • Trinidad, March 2017 • Green Honeycreeper « less

Groups appears in: • Birds • Panasonic FZ series more » • Bird Lovers • PHOTOGRAPHERS OF CANADA • NATUREPIX • Birds , Birds Birds • Bird Fanatics! (No Limits) • Unlimited Birds • Beauty of Nature • *I Love Birds* • All things beautiful in Nature (no humans or man made objects) • Nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors • The Nature Conservancy • Nature and Photography • N A T U R E [no limits] • BIRDS ARE BEAUTIFUL. • " COLORS OF NATURE (no B&W!, no people, no manmade things) • Birding In The Wild • Neotropical Birds • The Birds Of Flickr • Birdshare • CARBON FOOTPRINT [Nature Photography] (NO PETS!!) • Birds of the world/ Oiseaux du monde • Panasonic Lumix Lovers • Panasonic LUMIX FZ28/FZ38/FZ40/FZ47/FZ100/FZ150/FZ200/FZ70 • Any kind of wildlife/nature • " BIRDS OF PLANET EARTH (BIRDS ONLY, NO PEOPLE, NO B&W) • Panasonic FZ 200 - Successor to the FZ 150 • Photographers from around the world • Asa Wright Nature Center, Trinidad and Tobago « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ200, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, 108mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-FZ200
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	108mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 12.0 Windows
Show full info

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