Field Guides Tour Report SURINAME Mar 5, 2011 to Mar 19, 2011 Bret Whitney & Dan Lane Nothing but huge granite outcroppings and otherwise unbroken rainforest as far as the eye can see: flying past the Voltzberg on the way back to Paramaribo. (Photo by guide Dan Lane) Many of you probably experienced the same thing: "Hey guys! I'm going to Suriname tomorrow!" "Um. It's in South America!" "Get us a box of Krispy Kreme while you're there, would you?" Well, perhaps that's a bit far fetched, since one can easily buy Krispy Kreme here in Baton Rouge, but you get the idea. Yes, Suriname is a bit off the beaten path. Which, as it turns out, is a good thing for wildlife. So few people go to Suriname, it's really still quite untouched! As we saw from the plane as we flew from the Paramaribo airport to our more distant destinations: there is still a lot of untouched forest out there. Suriname is rather an unusual country for the Americas: rather than Spanish, Portuguese, or (ahem) English, most folks speak a mixture of Dutch, any of several Asian languages (Hindi, Urdu, or Indonesian) and the local creole tongue called Sranan Tongo. The last is a hybrid of many of the other languages listed (including Spanish, Portuguese, and English!) that is the most commonly spoken language of the country...and effectively incomprehensible anywhere else! The people of this small country are equally as varied and from as many surprising origins. It really is a unique place to visit! And let's not forget the wonderful spicy food (presumably also thanks to the Asian influence) to which we were treated by Gracia, our cook! The culture provided a wonderful backdrop to the birding experiences we enjoyed while there. Yes, we saw some precipitation, and yes, some footwear got soggy...but we saw some great stuff in the process! Our tour took us from the capital, Paramaribo (or 'Parbo'), to the Raleigh Falls/Voltzberg area (we stayed on Foengoe Island while here), to Palumeu on the Tapanahoni River, and finally to the Brownsberg massif, where a small amount of elevation allowed us to feel like we were in the mountains. The memories we'll take away from this tour will include the colorful Crimson Topaz that sat low and in the open to lavish us with fine views, the many glowing male Guianan Cocks-of-the-rock that tolerated us so close, the muted colors of an otherwise bold Spotted Antpitta that flew in and perched only a few yards from us, the screaming and recently fledged Spectacled Owl we enjoyed our last night at Brownsberg, the bizarre bald pate and mooing voice of the Capuchinbird, the squealing troop of Bearded Saki monkeys that investigated us from overhead, the surprise Fasciated Tiger-Heron that we Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 1 drank in at Raleigh Falls, the almost hidden-in-plain-sight Zigzag Heron that we relished from our canoe, and the white tail tip of the male Band-tailed Antshrike. There were so many more things we saw in addition to these, and I hope you cherish these memories as much as Bret and I will. Also, I hope you'll come along on another tour with us to experience yet new memories! Keep them bins warm until then! --Dan More information about this itinerary and future departures is available on our web page for Suriname: Wild & Wonderful. KEYS FOR THIS LIST One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant BIRDS Tinamidae (Tinamous) GREAT TINAMOU (Tinamus major) [*] CINEREOUS TINAMOU (Crypturellus cinereus) [*] LITTLE TINAMOU (Crypturellus soui) [*] RED-LEGGED TINAMOU (Crypturellus erythropus) – A species restricted to northern South America, which we heard at close quarters in the white sand woodland near the airport. [*] VARIEGATED TINAMOU (Crypturellus variegatus) [*] Cracidae (Guans, Chachalacas, and Curassows) VARIABLE CHACHALACA (Ortalis motmot) – Called 'Little Chachalaca' at times, the taxonomy of this complex has changed over the past 50 years. But don't let the species name 'motmot' fool you: motmots are still in a different order of birds. MARAIL GUAN (Penelope marail) – Mostly heard in the distance, but a shadowy shape was seen by some in the higher branches off the side of the road at Brownsberg. BLUE-THROATED PIPING-GUAN (Pipile cumanensis) – A few lucky folks caught a glimpse of one on the Voltzberg trail. Odontophoridae (New World Quail) CRESTED BOBWHITE (Colinus cristatus) – Only one or two of us joined Bret in catching a glimpse of this attractive open-country quail. MARBLED WOOD-QUAIL (Odontophorus gujanensis) – Heard a very close quarters one afternoon (just before a major rain!), but the pair refused to show themselves. [*] Fregatidae (Frigatebirds) MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD (Fregata magnificens) Anhingidae (Anhingas) ANHINGA (Anhinga anhinga) Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) ZIGZAG HERON (Zebrilus undulatus) – A nice surprise! One calling off the edge of the Tapanahoni River obliged by coming in and offering us all fine views! Excellent! FASCIATED TIGER-HERON (Tigrisoma fasciatum) – Another surprise was this bird, a youngster perched amid the rapids of a small waterfall. There are few records for Suriname (fewer than 10, it seems), but most are from the Raleigh Falls area. COCOI HERON (Ardea cocoi) GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba) Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 2 SNOWY EGRET (Egretta thula) LITTLE BLUE HERON (Egretta caerulea) TRICOLORED HERON (Egretta tricolor) – Strongly coastal in South America, we saw them at Weg Naar Zee. CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis) STRIATED HERON (Butorides striata) CAPPED HERON (Pilherodius pileatus) – A lovely heron, which (as Hilty puts it) has a French vanilla color about it! BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Nycticorax nycticorax) – Jim spotted one flying over our hotel in Parbo one morning. Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) SCARLET IBIS (Eudocimus ruber) – Another Steve spotting: small flocks flying offshore at Weg Naar Zee. Even at a distance, that striking color is hard to miss! GREEN IBIS (Mesembrinibis cayennensis) – Common along the Tapanahoni River. Cathartidae (New World Vultures) BLACK VULTURE (Coragyps atratus) TURKEY VULTURE (Cathartes aura) LESSER YELLOW-HEADED VULTURE (Cathartes burrovianus) – Great comparisons among the three Cathartes vultures were had on this tour! This one is the yellowhead of the coastal marshes. GREATER YELLOW-HEADED VULTURE (Cathartes melambrotus) – This is the yellowhead of the forest. KING VULTURE (Sarcoramphus papa) – Mostly distant birds, but seen on seven days! Pandionidae (Osprey) OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus) – Northern migrants. Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) GRAY-HEADED KITE (Leptodon cayanensis) HOOK-BILLED KITE (Chondrohierax uncinatus) – A memorable male sitting in a Cecropia, clutching a snail, and chattering triumphantly at Peperpot! SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (Elanoides forficatus) SNAIL KITE (Rostrhamus sociabilis) – Chris, I hope you got the kind of looks you'd been hoping for! SLENDER-BILLED KITE (Helicolestes hamatus) – One seen well at Peperpot. DOUBLE-TOOTHED KITE (Harpagus bidentatus) PLUMBEOUS KITE (Ictinia plumbea) BLACK-COLLARED HAWK (Busarellus nigricollis) – Great views near the coast. Looking for trumpeters? Brownsberg has got to be "the" LONG-WINGED HARRIER (Circus buffoni) – One seen from place -- the Gray-winged Trumpeters parade around the a great distance near the coast was eclipsed by a couple of compound like they own the place! (Photo by guide Dan Lane) sightings at the airport. CRANE HAWK (Geranospiza caerulescens) BLACK-FACED HAWK (Leucopternis melanops) – A great experience with a rather retiring species: two birds came in to playback, giving us lovely scope views. WHITE HAWK (Leucopternis albicollis) RUFOUS CRAB HAWK (Buteogallus aequinoctialis) – A specialty of the north coast of South America, we got some nice views at both coastal sites we visited. GREAT BLACK-HAWK (Buteogallus urubitinga) SAVANNA HAWK (Buteogallus meridionalis) Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 3 ROADSIDE HAWK (Buteo magnirostris) – Strangely rare in Suriname, or just on our tour? GRAY HAWK (Buteo nitidus) – Compared to the last species, this one is remarkably common (hence this remark). SHORT-TAILED HAWK (Buteo brachyurus) – Seen our last two days at Brownsberg. One light and one dark morph. BLACK HAWK-EAGLE (Spizaetus tyrannus) [*] ORNATE HAWK-EAGLE (Spizaetus ornatus) – A distant silhouetted bird seen, and another bird heard. BLACK-AND-WHITE HAWK-EAGLE (Spizaetus melanoleucus) – Again a distant bird seen on the Tapanahoni, but the important field marks were seen. Chris and some others saw another at Brownsberg. Falconidae (Falcons and Caracaras) LINED FOREST-FALCON (Micrastur gilvicollis) – Seen on the Voltzberg trail on two occasions. COLLARED FOREST-FALCON (Micrastur semitorquatus) BLACK CARACARA (Daptrius ater) RED-THROATED CARACARA (Ibycter americanus) – A good looking bird... but MAN do they need voice coaching! YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA (Milvago chimachima) – Common near the coast. LAUGHING FALCON (Herpetotheres cachinnans) – Steve's sharp eye caught sight of one near the coast. BAT FALCON (Falco rufigularis) PEREGRINE FALCON (Falco peregrinus) – Peter V saw the first one at Marienburg. Two others seen later. Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots) RUSSET-CROWNED CRAKE (Anurolimnas viridis) – One or two folks caught a glimpse of this grassland crake. Strange that they weren't more obliging. Psophiidae