ADVENTURES WITH FRED

Bird in Brief

The Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher (Ptilogonys caudatus)

• Related to waxwings, and have in common a soft, silky plumage

• Found only in the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama, usually from 1,850 meters altitude to the timberline

• Often perch prominently on high exposed twigs

• Male is thrush-sized, with pale gray forehead; yellow crested head, neck, throat and yellow belly; blue-gray back, lower breast and upper belly and black flight and tail feathers

• Female is generally duller in color, with a darker gray forehead, olive body plumage and a shorter, duller black tail

• Forages in small flocks when not breeding, flycatching for small insects or taking small fruits — especially mistletoe — berries and vegetables

• The only known bird species with a specialized gizzard mechanism that removes berry skins and separates for more efficient digestion

• Breeding pairs in mountain forest habitat build lichen cup nest high in a tree, sometimes in loose colonies, for spring nesting

• Both male and female participate in the 15-day incubation of two brown and lilac-blotched gray eggs

• The young fledge 18 to 25 days after hatching, and are fed by both parents

• Known for imitating the calls of 12 other bird species

Source: Beauty of Birds

Each month we'll highlight one of Fred's amazing bird photographs. Click lower right for more information. Complete the puzzle

Photographed in December 2022 at a high elevation in the mountains south of Cartago, Costa Rica.