Blue-crowned Motmot

The Blue-crowned Motmot is one of my favorite birds found in Costa Rica. As with the Pygmy Owl, it has an easy call to replicate. They have a confiding nature and call with a soft double hoot "woop-woop'. This guy was perching right under our nose as we stopped and scanned an area we thought might be a good haven for motmots. As we sat there waiting for something to happen, for quite a while I may add, a glimpse of color finally caught my eye. Less than 10 feet away, 2 motmots perched on a low branch stared at us. We took hundreds of photos as one of them sat for the whole session. Unusually, seeing motmots during the day is a treat. We were lucky enough to have 2 of them in nice lighting! What a striking bird! For fine details, click on photo for large view!