Costa Rica is a wild place full of wild animals. What those animals are doing, hidden away in the depths of the forest, is mostly unknown. One method of trying to figure out what wildlife is up to is to go into the forest and sit there and watch. Whenever time allows, that’s exactly what I like to do. A few weeks ago, I only had to sit by the edge of stream for thirty minutes to get a sneak peek at the activities of Costa Rica’s wildlife.
As I sat quietly, a neotropical river otter swam into the vicinity. I watched as it chased fish through the water and up against the banks where it trapped them and munched them down. Through this observation I learned that river otters were present in this stream and what method they used to hunt fish. While this particular use of personal observation was successful, it’s usually not the most efficient means of learning about animal behavior. For every interesting observation there’s usually several hours of quiet sitting, watching nothing happen while flies land on your nose.
A much more efficient and effective method of learning about animal behavior is the use of motion sensor camera traps. These little marvels of technology never tire of monitoring the patch of forest they’re pointing at, even if the flies find them as interesting as they find me.
Through the videos that these cameras capture I’ve learned a ton about the behavior of all sorts of creatures, large and small. Most of the observations are pretty straightforward, this little bird eats bugs or that mammal comes out in the evening. After putting in a few years of wildlife monitoring, I’ve started to notice behaviors that are less easily sussed out. Here are a few animal behaviors that are happening behind the scenes.
Roadside Hawks Love Army Ants
There are many species of birds that have an appreciation for army ants. They aren’t particularly wowed by their massive numbers or their high-level organization skills, what they like about them is their ability to get prey species up and moving. When army ants go marching through the forest floor and vegetation they send insects, small mammals, and reptiles scurrying for their lives. Many a small creature that has successfully eluded the swarm of ants has quickly met its maker in the beak of an attentive bird.
Of the many species of birds I’ve recorded hunting alongside army ants, the only bird of prey has been the roadside hawk. We tend to think of raptors soaring through the sky and using their sharp talons and beaks to subdue larger prey items, so it’s interesting that this particular raptor has taken a cue from the antbirds and decided to let the ants do some of its hunting.
Bare-throated Tiger-herons Don’t Mess Around
Bare-throated tiger herons are beautiful birds. Adults stand two and half feet tall with finely striped necks and bright yellow throats. They are also efficient hunters. I’ve recorded many videos of them successfully spearing and gulping down a variety of fish, arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians.
A little lesser-known fact about them, they don’t take any guff from other creatures. If a tiger heron is happy with its particular spot in the hunting ground, it will defend it from intruders with a loud croak and quick stab with its beak. It’s not just other birds that they get nasty with, I’ve recorded them taking a swipe at animals as large as full grown white-tailed deer.
Collared Forest-Falcons vs Agoutis
I’ve recorded many videos of collared forest-falcons, especially when I have camera traps amongst the branches of a tree. I’ve recorded probably thousands of Central American agouti videos, mostly of them walking around on the forest floor. Over the years, I’ve slowly accumulated evidence of a war brewing between the two species. Sometimes it’s a forest-falcon making a diving attempt on an agouti from above.
Sometimes it’s an agouti running full speed at a fleeing forest-falcon. Once it was a kind of weird standoff where they took turns lightly chasing each other. My guess is that agoutis are at the top of the size range of potential prey items for forest-falcons and sometimes it’s worth a shot at going for the kill and sometimes it’s better to just get out of there.
Imagine the number of hours I would have had to sit silently in the forest to piece together these behind-the-scenes interactions. I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy doing that, it’s just that the cameras are much more efficient, plus they allow me to share these interesting behaviors with you. Check out the video below.
About the Author
Vincent Losasso, founder of Guanacaste Wildlife Monitoring, is a biologist who works with camera traps throughout Costa Rica.
