“A Lifer” means “first time seen species” and this is my first new bird in quite a while! (# 189 in my CR bird gallery) 🙂 He was on the ground in my garden (or front yard) and I first thought it was a young Yigüirro – Clay-colored Thrush, but it is instead a juvenile or immature Pale-vented Thrush. As they get older they lose those two rows of little orange spots and the belly turns whitish. In Costa Rica they are seen only in the low foothills of the Central Valley (like where I live), so not your every day bird all over Costa Rica! 🙂 And I got only one useable photo the first sighting (read on for the better 2nd sighting) . . .
Then, the next day, I saw this same juvenile in a tree waiting for Mom to come feed him as you can see that she did in these two shots the day after the above photo . . .
All four of my photos are in my new Pale-vented Thrush Gallery and read more about this Pale-vented Thrush, Turdus obsoletus on eBird. They are found only from Costa Rica to Ecuador, Southern Central America and Northern South America, nature’s “sweet spot” between the North & South Americas. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!