Costa Rican coffee rightfully enjoys a world-wide reputation for its great taste. But now for the first time, I assume, one of our feathered friends seems to have joined the ranks of lovers of local coffee. Take a look at John’s shot of an Ochre-bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus) that actually came inside the house to take possession of John’s favourite coffee mug:

This dull-plumaged little flycatcher, which lacks conspicuous field marks, is found on both Caribbean and Pacific sides of the country. It is rarely seen above 1200 m, which helps to explain why I have recorded it only once at my own house here in San Antonio. Its preferred diet includes much more fruit than insects, but this is the case with many other tropical flycatcher species. The Ochre-bellied Flycatcher is a common species found from southern Mexico south to the Amazon region of South America. One behavioural trait that helps for identification is its habit of ‘twitching one wing and raising it over its back‘ (see Stiles & Skutch, A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica).