CENTRAL AMERICA 
Oark-rutnped Petrel is rarely reported in Costa Rica, and there 
have been no reports since its taxonomic split into Galapagos 
Petrel and Hawaiian Petrel-until now. This bird, presumed to 
be a Galapagos Petrel on the basis of a dark axillary smudge 
and bill size, was seen 158 kilometers northeast of Cocos Is- 
land on 1 May 2009. Photograph by Kevin Easley. 
Found among Wedge-tailed Shearwaters about 45 kilome- 
ters off the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa 
Rica, this Christmas Shearwater was one of two seen on a 3 
April 2009 pelagic trip. Several recorded last spring off the 
Nicoya and Osa Peninsulas provided the first documented 
records for Costa Rica. This may prove to be yet another 
species that occurs regularly off the Pacific coast of Central 
America, at least seasonally. Photograph by Jim Wolfe. 
A spectacular immature Gray-bellied Hawk, one of the least 
known raptors of South America, appeared at Finca La 
Selva, Costa Rica for one day in summer 2008, establishing 
the first documented record for North America. Intensive 
searches by birders later that day and subsequently over a 
nine-month period finally paid off on 24 March 2009 (here), 
when it was re-found less than a kilometer away from the 
original site. The condition of its plumage suggested that it 
was about to molt into its decidedly different, more accip- 
iter-like adult plumage. Photograph by Richard Garrigues. 
This American Golden-Plover, still in basic plumage, was photographed 500 
kilometers south of the Costa Rican mainland on Cocos Island 27 April 2009. 
Photograph by Kevin Easley. 
shelf. On the other hand, of 63 Masked/Naz- 
ca Boobies seen at sea during a pelagic trip to 
Cocos I. with crossings on 26 Apr and 1 May, 
25 were confidently identified as Nazca and 
only 2 as Masked (KE et al). However, all 
sightings of both species were in deep water. 
Corroborating Fli findings in spring 2008, 
the breeding boobies on Cocos I., however, 
were all Masked: 15 ads. were in the colony 
on Roca Dos Amigos Grande, and 10 ads. and 
an imm. were on Roca Muela, a new site 3 km 
from Dos Amigos, although nesting status on 
the latter islets was not established. 
IBISES THROUGH PHALAROPES 
Very rare for El Salvador, an imm, Plegadis 
ibis visited L. Giiija, Santa Ana 20 Mar (ph. 
NH, LP), probably the same individual found 
there in Jan. No facial markings were evident, 
suggesting an identification of White-faced 
Ibis, which has been recorded just once be- 
fore in the country, but photographs were in- 
conclusive. A subad. Jabiru was seen in a dry- 
ing pond just n. of the Rio Tar- 
coles bridge near Carara, Puntare- 
nas 19-22 Apr (AS, ph. AZ). 
Jabiru is rare on the Pacific slope 
of Costa Rica outside the Rio 
Tempisque basin. Rare on the 
Guatemalan Pacific slope, a Gray- 
headed Kite was seen in Los Tar- 
rales Reserve, Suchitepequez 14 
Apr OLL. EB, LLL), In El Sal- 
vador, where there are few 
records, a pair was seen in the 
Barra de Santiago Protected Area, 
Ahuachapdn 17 May (ph. CF). A 
pair seen last spring about 150 
km to the e. was the first in seven 
years. A juv. Pearl Kite at Playa 
Icacal in Intipuca, La Union 1 Mar 
(OK, ph. JVD, RJ, LG, MR) was 
the first to be reported in El Sal- 
vador. Another Pearl Kite, age un- 
determined, was found 4 km sw. 
of Choluteca in Choluteca, near 
the Gulf of Fonseca, 22 Apr (ph. 
ME), a first documented record 
for Honduras. For both of these 
sightings, the nearest known resi- 
dent population is on the 
Cosigiiina Pen. in nw. Nicaragua. 
Very rare in Panama, a Black-col- 
lared Hawk perched in a tree by 
the Rio Mono near L. Bayano, 
Panama 31 May (DM, ph. BA, ph. 
KK, ph. RM) was the first report- 
ed from that locality. 
The imm. Gray-bellied Hawk, 
believed to be a “one-day visitor” 
to La Selva, Heredia last Jun, 
resurfaced 24 Mar (MC, ph. RG). After bird- 
ers eager to see this rare visitor from S.A. had 
searched in vain for nine months, it was 
found less than a kilometer from where it was 
first seen. Its now heavily worn back and 
wing contour feathers suggested that it may 
be ready to molt into ad. plumage. Two ad. Sa- 
vanna Hawks seen in fallow rice fields 8 km 
se. of Paso Canoas, Puntarenas 5 Mar (]Z) 
were presumed to be the same pair found 
with an imm. there last winter. On both occa- 
sions, the ads. were vocalizing frequently as if 
a mated pair. 
A Double-striped Thick-knee on a nest at 
Normandia, Usulutdn 28 Feb-1 Mar (ph. CF, 
KL) provided rare documentation of breeding 
in El Salvador. Remarkably, another active 
nest was found on Isla San Sebastian, San 
Dionisio, Usulutdn 3 jun (EM). Southern Lap- 
wing was reported for the first time in La Vir- 
gen de Sarapiqui, Heredia when one was seen 
8 May QA, IM). It is surprising that this is the 
first report for this area of Sarapiqui where 
Swallow-tailed Gull has been seen almost annually off Costa Rica in recent 
years, now that more attention is devoted to pelagic birding, including brief 
expeditions to Cocos Island. This adult, one of three, was seen 29 April 2009 
on rocks along the shoreline of Rocas Dos Amigos, Cocos Island. Two others, 
both adults, were seen at sea, one before dawn 30 kilometers north-north- 
east of Cocos Island 27 April and another, also before dawn, about 72 kilo- 
meters southwest of Punta Guiones on 5 April. Photograph by Jason Horn. 
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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
