Red-breasted Blackbird
The Red-breasted Blackbird Sturnella militaris is in the New World family Icteridae. It is in the same genus as the meadowlarks. It is unrelated to the European Blackbird which is a thrush.
It is resident from southwestern Costa Rica which it has recently colonized.
Like other meadowlarks, it is a bird associated with open country, including moist grasslands, pasture and cultivation, preferably with the odd bush or fence post for males to use as a songpost. In display the male flies up to 33 ft in the air, then parachutes down on folded wings whilst singing a wheezing song, ti-ti-pee-pee-KWAAAAAA.
This bird was photographed (at a considerable distance) in the pastures around the Esquinas Rain Forest lodge.
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