Trinidad/Tobago - Day 4 - Devilbird and the Beautiful Scarlet Ibis

2/28/2004 (Saturday)

A special attraction on the Asa Wright property is a breeding colony of the nocturnal Oilbird, or Guacharo (Steatornis caripensis). Located in Dunston Cave, a beautiful riparian grotto, it is the most easily accessible colony known for this species.

Only guests staying at Asa Wright are allowed to go down to the cave. 

Oilbirds are nocturnal feeders on the fruits of the oil palm and tropical laurels. They are the only nocturnal flying fruit-eating birds in the world. They forage at night, with specially adapted eyesight.

We went on the Oilbird Cave walk at 8:30 with Molly. On the way down we got great looks at a Collared Trogan, and fleeting looks at a Plain Antvireo. A Black-faced Antthrush called almost the whole way down, but never revealed itself. 

The trail down to the Oilbird cave was quite steep and slick in some spots as it descended into a wet grotto and streambed. 

At the bottom we were taken two-at-a-time into the cave to view the Oilbirds. 

First we got looks at about ten birds perched on various ledges thirty feet away, and then at a group of six just eight feet overhead. 

The Oilbirds are surprisingly large, with blood red eyes and they make a terrible screaming/choking call; all of which has earned them the nickname of “Devilbird”. 

Oilbirds

  

Venezuela’s indigenous people had long been well acquainted with the birds, and in particular the plump baby guácharo, which are rich with precious fat that could be used for everything from flavoring food to fueling torches. 

Each year, during what they called the oil-harvest, they hiked into the cave and used poles to destroy the nests, killing baby guácharo by the thousands, and then rendered their fat into earthen pots.

Fortunately for the guácharo the people believed the souls of their ancestors dwelled in the deepest recesses of the cave, and refused to disturb them, which meant that only the birds closer to the mouth of the cave met the unfortunate fate of becoming torch fuel. 

Teri and I stayed out hiking until 11:30, but didn’t find anything new.  We showered, ate lunch, and then left for our Caroni Marsh trip at 1:30. Traveling through town once again made us thankful to have a driver. We wouldn’t try to drive it ourselves on a bet. We stopped near the marsh at a canal and saw Pied Water-Tyrant and White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, as well as Wattled Jacana and Yellow-hooded Blackbird. At the marsh visitor center we saw several Scarlet Ibis feeding, and found them to be an unbelievable shade of crimson. Our guide called in both a Rufous-browed Peppershrike and a Black-crested Antshrike. We also had an unidentified flycatcher pop up that confused everyone.

  

Caroni Marsh Visitor Center 

We boarded a wide wooden boat with several full-width bench seats, and headed down a canal to the marsh. 

We saw numerous Little Blue Heron along the way, as well as crabs and a small school of four-eyed fish. 

The little "bubbles" in the water are four-eyed fish. 

The four-eyed fish have eyes raised above the top of the head and divided in two different parts, so that they can see below and above the water surface at the same time.

At one point the boatman stopped and pished up a group of Bi-colored Conebills. The males are much bluer than shown in the T&T field guide plates. This was no real surprise as the plates in the book were proving to be pretty bad. Farther down we stopped under a tree that had a “tree boa” curled up on a branch. 

Tree Boa

Finally, we anchored the boat opposite one of the roost islands used by the Scarlet Ibis and other egrets and herons. The tide was low, so we were told that the ibis would be feeding later into the evening than normal. Shortly before dark the Scarlet Ibis began flying into the roost island in groups ranging from four to thirty or more. As each group landed the trees of the island began to look like Christmas trees decorated with bright red ornaments. 

After several hundred ibis had landed, we headed back to the launching area, and drove back to Asa Wright, arriving around 7:00.

Our boat ride back at dusk.

We ate dinner, and then watched a slide show on the various fauna of Asa Wright, including bats, other mammals, reptiles, and birds. We then started packing our bags, showered and went to bed.

Next time: Day 5 - The second half of our trip - Tobago.