February 11, 2013 – Species of the day: Hairy-legged myotis (Myotis keaysi)

Species of the day : Hairy-legged myotis (Myotis keaysi). We captured this bat at dawn when we were setting up our mistnets to capture hummingbirds in a nearby forest fragment. It is quite a small bat species that inhabits a wide range of forest types from Mexico all the way into South America. It gets its name from the presence of thick brownish-gray fur on the flight membrane that stretches between its legs. He was not very happy to have been captured and kept trying to curl up into a ball and bite onto his own feet!

February 6, 2013 Species of the Day: Blue-crowned motmot

Species of the day: Blue-crowned motmot! This particular bird flew into one of our hummingbird nets today. Adam took it out; it thanked him by pooping quite severely on his hand and then biting him. Motmots are predators, but don’t seem to be very picky in their diets – everything from ants and spiders to bats! They sit on branches and wait for something tasty to come along.

February 3 Species of the Day: Heliconia psittacorum

Heliconia psittacorum! Some people think plants aren’t as fun as animals, but heliconia are pretty spectacular and have many mysteries. Notice how the yellow flowers are curved and seem to match the shape of some of the hummingbird species’ bills? The mystery we are trying to figure out is why humans don’t seem to be able to pollinate heliconia when hummingbirds seem to have no problem…