The most challenging toucan
The Yellow-eared Toucanet is the most difficult toucan to see in Costa Rica. These birds are small (just 36–38 cm; 175–245 g) and they spend all of their time high in the canopy, feeding on ficus seeds. Usually the only way to know if they're around is by their call and you're lucky to see one well.
These small toucans are resident at Tapir Valley, but only rarely seen.
But this all changed for a short time in December, 2024.
Wet, cold weather
In December of 2024 and January of 2025, there was a large cold front that covered northern Costa Rica for over six weeks. Water levels at Tapir Valley were the highest they'd been for over a decade and the lagoon was overflowing with water.
This cold weather inhibited the blooming of flowers (reducing hummingbird activity) and slowing the ripening of fruits in the primary forest. Fruits that make up the primary diet of the Yellow-eared Toucanet.
Discovering the banana feeders
Yellow-throated Toucans, Keel-billed Toucans, and Collared Aracaris consistently visit the banana feeders at Tapir Valley from October through February. During the rest of the year, there's plenty of food for them in the forest and they have no interest in bananas.
In other locations in Costa Rica, the Northern Emerald Toucanet will visit feeders, but those are a higher elevation bird and we don't see those at Tapir Valley.
The elusive Yellow-eared Toucanet has (as far as I know) never been reported at a banana feeder, but a male appeared there briefing around mid-December.
He was shy and intimidated by the larger toucans and we thought this was a fluke.
It was not a fluke.
A regular visitor
On Christmas Eve, the male had gained some confidence that the feeder area was safe, and first tried to eat some banana. It seemed that he was not familiar with this fruit, and it took him a bit to figure out how a banana worked!
Becoming comfortable
It didn't take him long to figure out bananas and he then became a daily visitor to the feeders. Because they're so small, he didn't try to compete with the larger birds at the main feeder, but would visit closer to the platform.
This bird was literally perching and feeding less than a meter away from us!
My previous experience with this bird had always been in primary forest, where these birds are usually high up in the canopy and extremely difficult to see, let alone photograph. To spend ten minutes with one, just an arm's length away, was an incredible experience.
A new behavior
This encounter with an amazing bird then became even more astounding: he was so content and felt so safe, he began making these little, contented "chrrr" calls after he'd have a bite of banana; almost like a purr!
Hoping to capture this, I took my audio recording gear out and finally had a day where the heavy rain relented and I was able to capture these calls.
How long will he stay?
As of January 20, the male is still visiting first thing in the morning. We believe that he and his mate are currently nesting and he's availing himself of the easy calories to take back to the nest for the female. We assume that once the ficus ripens in the forest that he'll stop visiting the feeders. But the weather is still cold and wet, so we're curious to see long this amazing bird continues to visit us.
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The Yellow-eared Toucanet
January 20, 2025
Mike Melton
The Bijagua area of Costa Rica is one of my favorite places in the world. The climate, habitats, and diversity of species is incredible here and I have spent thousands of hours walking slowly through the forest, finding hidden gems.