Top Ten Birds of Costa Rica: #9 Great Tinamou

 

Great Tinamou - Tirimbina, Costa Rica

The Great Tinamou Tinamus major is a direct opposite to the first bird in this series - the Blue-throated Toucanet (blog post here). Tinamous are reclusive, rather than conspicuous, and their colours are muted instead of showy. While the Blue-throated Toucanet is restricted to a small area of Central America, the Great Tinamou ranges across much of the Neotropics - see the GBIF distribution map here. So, why is it on my list?

Well - while tinamous are relatively common birds, this doesn't mean that they are easy to see. Several years ago, I spent two weeks exploring the forests of Ecuador without even a glimpse, even though we heard a few calling away in the undergrowth. 

So a close encounter with a Great Tinamou in Costa Rica's Tirimbina rainforest reserve was one of the highlights of my trip. And the circumstances of that encounter will be very familiar to anyone who has birded the rainforests of the Neotropics.

We had come across a swarm of army ants moving through the forest. For most forest invertebrates, these swarms are lethal. Anything in their path gets despatched swiftly, and they'll even have a go at a human who is inadvertently standing in their path. The ants aren't just on the ground; they also climb onto low and medium height bushes and trees, passing through the rainforest at multiple levels. Potential prey has to get out of the way quickly, and the swarm's movement is accompanied by the sound of a gentle pattering, like rain. This is the sound of bugs and other insects dropping onto the forest floor in a bid to escape a grisly fate. It rarely works: more ants will be down there waiting for them. 

Army Ant column - Tirimbina rainforest reserve

The chance to pick up an easy meal is what attracts a suite of birds - known as ant-followers - to these swarms. The Neotropics contain a wide range of these. But to correct a common misconception, these antbirds, antshrikes and their companions are not seeking to feed on the ants themselves. It is those displaced insects that draw them in. At Tirimbina, the Great Tinamou was one of a number of birds following the ant swarm, the others being Plain-breasted and Northern Barred Woodcreepers, Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds, an Olive-backed Quail-Dove (itself a star sighting) and a pair of Black-throated Trogons (female pictured below). Find an ant swarm and you will find the birds! A Central American Agouti briefly showed up as well, although it may just have been wondering what all of the fuss was about.

Black-throated Trogon - another ant-follower at Tirimbina 

Amidst all of this, it was a happy moment when a lone Great Tinamou emerged hesitatingly onto the trail behind us. Our guide Pat O'Donnell had heard it calling, but we weren't sure whether we would get a view. However, the tinamou wasn't at all unnerved by our presence, indeed, it started walking towards us rather than making a hasty exit. While obviously wary of possible threats, it seemed to be both confident and very much at home in its environment. We stood completely still - I think that I was holding my breath - while its large eyes sized us up. And then it stalked away, melting back into the trail-side vegetation. Magical!

Tinamous are unusual birds. Although looking like grouse and similar gamebirds, their are more closely related to the ratites, the group that includes Ostriches and Rheas. Like Ostriches, the males incubate eggs and look after young chicks in their early days. But unlike those families, tinamous can fly, albeit not very well. They can't run particularly fast either, so their defensive strategy relies upon camouflage. This explains why birders find them so hard to see. Unfortunately, a cyptic lifestyle hasn't prevented tinamous from being a target for hunters. As such, your best chance of seeing one is in a protected forest. Which brings me back to Costa Rica in general, and Tirimbina in particular.

Tirimbina Rainforest Reserve - bridge over the Sarapiqui River

As you'll see from these blog posts, Costa Rica has an enviable network of protected forests. Some, like Pocosol from my last post, are high in the hills, with challenging 4WD access tracks. But Tirimbina rainforest reserve (website here) is easily accessible, with a car park located on a main road (route 126), a lodge and good facilities for day visitors like ourselves. A massive Black Witch Moth Ascalapha odorata in the men's toilets was an added bonus.

Black Witch Moth - Tirimbina toilets

It helps that most of the forest at Tirimbina is separated from the settled area by the Sarapiqui River, although this means that you do have to cross a slightly unnerving bridge. It's worth pausing while you do that, by the way; there are great views of the river, and the only Fasciated Tiger Heron of our trip was standing just downstream.   

Fasciated Tiger-Heron - Tirimbina

And it wasn't only birds. As well as the agouti, we saw two of Costa Rica's four species of primates from the forest's trails. First, a troop of Mantled Howler Monkeys, one of whom came down for a closer look ...

Mantled Howler Monkey - Tirimbina

... and, second, our only meeting with Central American Spider Monkeys, although these remained high in the canopy and didn't give such close views:

Central American Spider Monkey - Tirimbina 

That wasn't the end of Tirimbina's wildlife interest, and (no spoilers) we may well return here for a later blog in this series. But for me, the Great Tinamou encounter was a moment that will linger long in the memory. So I'll leave you with a photo of it giving us one last look before it exiting stage right.

Departing Great Tinamou