It's Like Looking In A Mirror

In June, Lindsay and I, joined by Lindsay's parents, took a vacation to Costa Rica. This was our second visit to the rich coast, and this time our travels took us to Guanacaste on the Pacific side of the country. We are still going through photos, so more will show up here as we have time to get through them all.

On our first visit to Costa Rica back in 2007, the hatching Green Sea Turtles were the overwhelming highlight of our trip. This time, though, the primates provided some of the most memorable moments. We saw three of the four species of monkeys that Costa Rica has to offer; we did not see the smallest species, Central American Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri oerstedii), and we didn't get photographs of the largest species, Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). The three species that we saw all have prehensile tails that are used as one-fingered fifth limbs, allowing them to move with swift agility through the treetops.

Nearly every day on our week-long trip, we heard the grunting and roaring of Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta palliata) from our hotel room. We also saw these large platyrrhines on three or four occasions during our day trips. Our best looks were along our drive to a boat tour through Palo Verde National Park on the Tempisque River. Mantled Howler Monkeys have a geographical range from Mexico to Ecuador and live for up to 15 to 20 years.


Some sources consider Mantled Howler Monkeys the largest species of monkey in Costa Rica, at least by weight, as large males can weigh up to 22 lbs. Other sources say that this species only gets to 16 lbs., and that therefore the Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, which gets up to 18 lbs., is the largest monkey in the country. Geoffroy's Spider Monkeys are more slender than Mantled Howler Monkeys, however. Mantled Howler Monkeys are strictly vegetarians that live in groups usually ranging from four to 40 individuals. These groups have home ranges of 25 to 150 acres. The adjective "howler" in the common name of this species comes from the loud noises that are made by the males (most often at surise and sunset) to communicate with group members and define territories; these communicating sounds can be heard up to three miles away. When disturbed by people, Mantled Howler Monkeys are known to throw feces with precise accuracy.

While on our boat tour at Palo Verde National Park, we had some nice looks at White-faced Capuchins (Cebus capucinus). This species is known from Honduras to Ecuador and has a life span of more than 50 years.


White-faced Capuchins, also known as White-headed Capuchins, are middle-of-the-road in terms of size in relation to other Costa Rican monkeys, weighing approximately 8 lbs. Unlike the Mantled Howler Monkey, White-faced Capuchins are omnivores, feeding on fruit, leaves, insects, and even small mammals and other vertebrates. They live in troops that can consist of up to 40 individuals and have home ranges of 79 to 210 acres. Whereas Mantled Howler Monkeys have not been observed using tools, White-faced Capuchins, which are said to be highly intelligent, have been seen using tools to obtain food and as weapons, and they also apparently use certain plants as herbal medicines by rubbing them on their fur. White-faced Capuchins get their common name from the resemblance of their coloration to the cowls worn by Capuchin friars. If you have seen the Friends episodes where Ross has a pet monkey, this species likely looks familiar to you, as Marcel was a capuchin monkey.

Stay tuned for more photographs and commentary from Costa Rica.

Til Death Do Us Part

In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday I wanted to share with you a true love story. This story begins high in the canopy of a Costa Rican Rainforest. Here is where a female first saw from across the tree-tops the most wonderful shades of scarlet with accents of blue and yellow. She immediately fell in love when she looked into his light yellow eyes and he felt the same way. The two then began their lifelong journey together. Who are they? They are the Scarlet Macaw family.



Scarlet Macaw's are very unique in the fact that they are among the few bird species that mate for life. This may not seem very impressive, however, their life span is approximately 70 years. Macaw's form monogamous relationships and tend to breed young about every 2-3 years. They are also unique in the fact that both the males and the females take active parts in raising the young. Male birds can often be seen hunting for and feeding the young. The young birds and their parents then live together as a family until the young have reached sexual maturity and go to find a mate of their own.

The even more impressive part is that if one of the partners dies, the other will never seek another mate. It has also been said that often times if one bird dies the other bird will die soon after even if the bird was in perfect health. Brings controversy to the question of can one die of a broken heart!

The above picture (not the best quality) is a pair of mating Scarlet Macaw's that we saw in Carara National Park when we were on our anniversary trip to Costa Rica.

Happy Valentine's Day to all and may you find a lifetime of happiness with your Macaw!

Tourists Save the Lives of 37

This extended cold weather has me thinking about warmer places.

In November 2007, Lindsay and I took a two week vacation to Costa Rica. Although birds and plants were our primary targets, a group of 3 inch long shelled reptiles in Tortuguero ("the region of turtles") stole the show.

We woke around 4 AM the morning of November 3 for a chance to see Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings emerging from eggs and making their way to the Caribbean Sea. You're probably thinking, "Why would these lunatics wake up so early on vacation to see some silly turtles?" These aren't your ordinary turtles. Green Sea Turtles have a long history... in fact, there is evidence that they were around at the same time as the dinosaurs... and they have an even more interesting life history. More on that in a bit.

Green Sea Turtles can move fast - 35 mph, in fact, when swimming. That's not too bad for a reptile that can weigh up to 500 pounds when full grown. Another impressive fact is that they can go up to 2 hours without breathing when sleeping! Although juvenile Green Sea Turtles are carnivorous, adults feed only on plants. They spend most of their long lives (they have been known to live up to 80 years) in the water, covering nearly one thousand miles to get to feeding territories, but females have to be on land to lay eggs. Here's the amazing part... a Green Sea Turtle will go back to the same beach on which she was born at least 25 years previously to lay eggs! After building the nest and laying eggs, the adult female moves back to sea, leaving the eggs and hatchlings to fend for themselves. This is not at all an easy task for the young ones, considering the numerous predators (wild dogs, birds, crabs, etc.) that stalk the beaches looking for lunch. The eggs incubate for 2 months before the hatchlings emerge. When they emerge, they immediately head towards the sea, a trip that seems like a marathon and an obstacle course all in one.

That unforgettable November morning, we walked along the beach donning headlamps and wielding cameras with the sun still breaching the horizon. Our guide Rebecca examined numerous empty nests. Portions of egg shells were scattered in several places where either a wild dog had dug up eggs or turtles had already emerged.

Finally, Rebecca found a nest where she was able to feel turtle heads. She wiped the sand off of the top few turtles and they began the long journey of approximately 200 feet from nest to the Caribbean.

Due to the stresses mentioned earlier, only ~1% of the hatchlings actually survive. Individuals from our group walked with the newly emerged turtles as they made their way to the water. Then more turtles began to emerge. And more.

In the hour or so that we watched, 37 babies emerged from the nest and fought their way through footprints in the sand, over debris, and into the sea. This was a small nest; sometimes, up to 100 hatchlings will emerge.

It felt good to be the guardian for a few of these turtles for the first 20 minutes or so of their lives, but it was exhausting watching them make this arduous journey.