STL DPB STILL IN THE FOREST - BIRD BRAIN

There is a particular guide who works with the hotel where we stay in Monteverde. His name is Jorge but everyone calls him Koky. We've met him on previous visits and he's absolutely brilliant. Koky has vision that puts Superman to shame. He picks out wildlife where all I see is leaves. Some of that is because he knows all their sounds and can do a human form of echolocation.

Koky spotted this specimen called a motmot bird. He told us that in Costa Rican slang the name generally refers to someone who is, um, a bit dim. It doesn't bother the bird a bit if I get quite close with my camera. What that means for predators I don't know. Nor do I know what the strange paddle-shaped tail is about.