branch near the heliconia cluster is a hummingbird
with a long, down- turned bill, a Long- billed Hermit
(Phaethornis longirostris; plate 4- 29). There are several
hermit species throughout the Neotropics, and they are
typically birds of the forest understory and gaps. This
group of hummingbirds typically moves from flower
clump to flower clump along an established route, a
foraging behavior called trap lining.
We notice dense clumps of thin, spindly trees with
huge, umbrella- like lobed leaves. These distinctive
trees, whose slender trunks are reminiscent of
bamboo, seem to occur wherever an opening exists,
and they are particularly common along roadsides.
They are cecropias (Cecropia spp.; plate 4- 30), among
the most abundant tree species on disturbed sites. We
will look at these in more detail later (chapter 7), butPlate 4- 25. Scanning the branches in the understory rewards
us with a White- whiskered Puffbird (Malacoptila panamensis),
perched motionlessly as it waits for a potential prey item to
fly within reach. It is, like the Streaked Flycatcher, another
sit- and- wait predator. This is a “typical” binocular view of an
understory species. Many such species are easy to overlook.
Photo by John Kricher.Plate 4- 24. A Streaked Flycatcher (Myiodynastes maculatus)
perched in the shady understory. Like most flycatchers it
is a sit- and- wait predator, perching quietly until it sights a
potential prey item and then flying out to snatch it. Photo by
John Kricher.
Plate 4- 26. A woodpecker? No, it’s a woodcreeper, a
member of the large Furnariidae family, the ovenbirds
and woodcreepers. This Northern Barred Woodcreeper
(Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae) is one of the larger species.
Woodcreepers do not hammer on wood as woodpeckers do;
they use their beaks to probe for animal food among the bark
and epiphytes. Photo by John Kricher.
Plate 4- 27. The Chestnut- backed Antbird (Poliocrania
[Myrmeciza] exsul) is an understory species that is often vocal
but hard to see clearly. This view, a small visual hole between
many branches and leaves, reveals the bird clearly. Antbirds
do not eat ants, and many of them do not follow ant swarms;
those that do eat arthropods flushed by the marauding ants.
Photo by John Kricher.66 chapter 4 finding animals in rain forest