bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

Another colorful bird from Ecuador, an Orange-breasted Fruiteater. Aptly named this bird eats small berries and fruits which it swallows whole. They will actively eat a number of these berries and then fly to a favored perch. There they will sit quietly while they digest these berries. Perfect for photography! More importantly, the birds then regurgitate the seeds to the ground below, thus serving as a very important factor in the spreading of the seeds of individual plants in the rain forest. In the Northern Hemisphere, we are accustomed to plants spreading their seeds via the wind. Deep within the rain forest, there is little to no wind-ever! Therefore the plants had to devise another way to spread their seeds and the birds and plants evolved together; the bird gets a meal and the plant gets its seeds spread far and wide.
This shot was taken in the Mashpi-Amagusa Reserve in NW Ecuador.
I took several shots of this bird in the "field guide" type of pose out in the open, but I liked this one with a little more sense of "place".
Shot with a Canon R5, 600 mm f/4.0 lens, ISO 1250.

(Download)

11bravo

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Looks like you had a fantastic trip bajadreamer.

Don

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Beautiful once again! I would love to do a trip like that!

Grump's Photos Loc: Dunedin FL

Looks like the camera wasn't fooled, and locked right onto the bird. Two thumbs up for a very interesting photo. Thanks for posting!
Andy

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Beautiful bird.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Hasslla

Great shot! I hope to visit that area in the future. Was your trip connected to the Puembo Bird Garden, mentioned in a previous post? Or a separate group?

bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

Same trip. Deb and I do not use tour groups when we go to Ecuador. We find it is not necessary to pay extra to have someone set up the trip for us. One huge advantage to going to a country like Ecuador or Costa Rica is there is huge infrastructure to accommodate tourists. Lots of lodges, private parks, etc, that you can go to on your own without paying someone to merely take you to a lodge. If you have any questions about planning a trip, PM me. We have been there many times and have some degree of knowledge about places to go and what to do.
By setting up the trip yourself you will find that your cost of going will be 1/3-1/2 of what it would be to go on an organized tour.
The internet makes it very easy to do your own research on lodges, transportation, etc. Lots of information and even videos on every lodge. Also, many of the local people at each lodge are happy to give you advice and even set up guides, day trips, etc for you without charging.

bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

It was. It will take me some time to process all the images, but we are ready to return. We love Ecuador.

bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

You should go. We find that it costs about 1/3-1/2 of what it would cost to go to Hawaii. Logistics of travel are not more difficult than going to Hawaii either. One of the problems we have with Hawaii is that 95% of the land in Hawaii is private-very limited or no access to the public. Ecuador is the opposite-over 50% of the land has public access. PM me if you have any questions about going. We have been there many times and cannot wait to go back.

bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

Thank you for looking. Yes, you are right. One of the great advantages of newer cameras is the ability to customize autofocus. On this shot I used Spot focus to find the bird and then activated eye tracking and it focused perfectly.

bajadreamer Loc: Baja California Sur

Thank you. Lots of beautiful birds in this area.

MT native Loc: Big Sky Country — Montana

Beautiful capture!!

Bubalola Loc: Big Apple, NY

Great shot, Baja!