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E-mail: font@focusonnature.com
Phone: Toll-free in USA 1-800-721-9986
 or 302/529-1876; Fax: 302/529-1085

 

Links to upcoming FONT birding tours 
in Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, and Honduras

"Alexander Skutch,
a Naturalist in Costa Rica"

by Armas Hill
(with a directory of birds in Dr. Skutch's writings)


Alexander Skutch on his Costa Rican property
(photograph by Alan Brady)
 

In January 2005, we conducted a FONT tour in Costa Rica for the first time when Alexander Skutch was no longer alive. When we passed through the southern Costa Rican city of San Isidro de General, it just did not seem the same.
A few kilometers west of that city, we encountered our first Fiery-billed Aracaris of the tour. It reminded me that Alexander Skutch named his homestead, "Los Cosingos", after a local name for that bird (in the photograph below).

Something throughout our January '05 tour that couldn't help but be noticed was the large number of tourists traveling about the country using the book, "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica", co-authored by Alexander Skutch & F. Gary Stiles.
  
Recently, also in January 2005, Ken Allaire, of New York, NY, USA, contributed some more information to this web-site. From his note, we added to the listing below another book: "Trogons, Laughing Falcons, and other Neotropical Birds".
Ken also noted that Skutch's was the only treatment of bill-combat behavior among aracaris that he has found (in the publication the "Condor"), a behavior that Ken has filmed in Panama. 
(A photograph of the Fiery-billed Aracari is above.)
Thank you, Ken, for your contribution, and if anyone else has something that can be added to this tribute to Dr. Skutch, we'd be appreciative. 

The following account I wrote last year (in 2004), following the passing of Alexander Skutch.   
  

In May of 2004, Dr. Alexander Skutch died. He was nearly 100 years of age. In 1904, he was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

Back in 1935, he was in Costa Rica. During November of that year, he stepped off a little trolley in San Jose (Costa Rica's principal city), with a knapsack on his shoulder, and headed toward a small airport, with a ticket in his pocket, for a flight to the small southern Costa Rican city of San Isidro de General. It was near that city where he settled in 1941, naming his farm "Los Cosingos". And it was to be there that he would live for so many years, until his death.  

In one of his many books, "A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm", published in 1980, Skutch wrote of the naming of his farm: "After long cogitation, I called my farm "Los Cusingos", for (the birds,) the Fiery-billed Aracaris, which are found only on the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica and across the border in Panama. I was not totally satisfied with this choice, but settled for it because certain other birds that I admired more lacked names that my neighbors knew and could pronounce. Now I am convinced it was a good choice; these agile colorful toucans have persisted here, while other, less wary birds have disappeared."

This year, Alexander Skutch was buried at his farm "Los Cusingos".

I had the very good fortunate to visit Dr. Skutch at "Los Cusingos" a number of times. My first visit there was in 1983. During our FONT tour this year, in 2004, I opted for the first time when with a tour in the area not to visit. While in the Costa Rican mountains, I met a young lady from Japan, who, with a friend from that country, was enjoying the thrill of seeing a male Resplendent Quetzal. She told me, at the time, that she had just been (as a visiting naturalist herself) at Dr. Skutch's farm, "Los Cusingos". She said, sadly, that he really was quite frail.
 
I remember all of my visits to "Los Cusingos". I always enjoyed the beautiful place and the wonderful birds. But I always enjoyed the most my time with Dr. Skutch. It was more fulfilling for me to sit on a rocking chair on his porch, and listen to him speak, as others were running around the grounds looking at the birds. And I do remember well the time, when even though it was mid-day, he excitedly said to look at the bare tree in front of us. A Turquoise Cotinga was perched there.      


Alexander Skutch in 1983.
(photo by Alan Brady)

Alexander Skutch really was "A Naturalist in Costa Rica". That was the title of what's probably my favorite of his books in my library. It was published in 1971, and relates of some of his tropical travels prior to "Los Cusingos", and then his settling there in southern Costa Rica. In the book, there are a number of black-and-white photographs.
That book is divided in two parts:

Part I: "A Naturalist's Wanderings", with these chapters:
Into the Wilderness
Homemaking Amid the Forests
A Fragrant Summit
Two Drops of Blood
Backwoods Neighbors
The Mountain of Death
The Snake Eater
In Quest of the Quetzal
Winding Creek
The Hummingbird's Brook


Los Cusingos


 Part II: "A Naturalist's Homestead", with the chapters:
A Farm in the Wilderness
The House
The Garden and Its Birds
The Lives of Some Tropical Flowers
The River
Forest Trails
A Last Home of Mystery
The Coffee Grove
Social Insects, Their Homes and Enemies
Farming Without A Plow
Butterflies and Moths
In the Caribbean Lowlands
Conclusion: Vicissitudes of a Valley

Appendix 1: Birds of Los Cusingos and the Valley of El General
Appendix 2: The Author's Published Writings


(photograph by Alan Brady in 1983)

Alexander Skutch was a prolific writer about nature, particularly about birds and other nature of the Neotropics. Back in 1971, in that appendix of "A Naturalist in Costa Rica", 6 previous books were listed (including his renowned "Life Histories of Central American Birds" published in 1954 with the Cooper Ornithological Society), as were an incredible 139 articles that he had written up to that time, beginning in 1926.
I remember when I met with Alexander Skutch in 1999 (when he was well into his nineties), his proudly telling me that he was still writing a couple books. 


Alexander Skutch with Mrs. Skutch and Armas Hill of FONT (left) 
at the  Skutch's home "Los Cusingos" in Costa Rica 
during FONT birding tour in March 1999. 

So many of Dr. Skutch's writings about birds (mostly tropical birds) I find to be interesting and informative. What I plan to do here, and it take a little while to do, is to give a list of particular birds, or bird-groups, noting as reference the Skutch writing relating to the particular bird or group. In those writings, there's a wealth of well-written information.
That will follow, but first, here's another list, of books that Skutch authored, most of them in my library:

"A Naturalist in Costa Rica", 1971, Univ. of Florida Press.
"The Life of the Hummingbird", 1973, by Crown Publishers, Vineyard Books.
"Parent Birds and Their Young", 1976 & 1979, Univ. of Texas Press.
"A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America", 1977, Univ. of Texas Press.
"A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm", 1980, Univ. of California Press.
"Nature through Tropical Windows", 1983, Univ. of California Press.
"Birds of Tropical America", 1983, Univ. of Texas Press.
"Life of the Woodpecker", 1985, Ibis Publishing Co.
"Antbirds & Ovenbirds", 1996, Univ. of Texas Press.
"Trogons, Laughing Falcons, and other Neotropical Birds", 1999, Texas A&M University Press.

In many of Dr. Skutch's books, the drawings and the color illustrations were by Dana Gardner. The color illustrations in "The Life of the Hummingbird" were by Arthur Singer.   

Known to many is the excellent "Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica" co-authored by Alexander Skutch and F. Gary Stiles, published in 1989, and used by many birders visiting Costa Rica today. There are editions in English and Spanish. The color illustrations are by Dana Gardner. Dr. Skutch was surely responsible for much of the good background information in that book relating to the nests and habits of the birds.     


Some other books by Alexander Skutch (not in my library) include:

 "Birds Asleep", illustrated by N. John Scmitt
"Origins of Nature's Beauty"
"Life of the Flycatcher"
"Life of the Tanager"
"Orioles, Blackbirds & their Kin" 


Some of the notable chapters in Skutch's books that have been noted above include:

 In "A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America", 1977:

Through Mexico by Train
Birds on a Guatemalan Mountain
Among Ecuadorian Forests
Through Peruvian Amazonia by Gunboat
The Emerald Land
Bird Watching during a Revolution
The Most Hospitable Tree
Birds on a Venezuelan Farm
Birds and Ants
The Dawn Songs of Tropical Birds
Epilogue: The Appreciative Mind


Some photographs in Costa Rica in 1978,
by Armas Hill


Birds (and Bird-Groups) in Alexander Skutch Writings:

  1. Great Tinamou:  a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  2. Little Tinamou: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  3. Gray-headed Chachalaca: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  4. Marbled Wood-Quail: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  5. Gray-necked Wood-Rail: a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm entitled "The Singing Wood-Rail"

  6. Scaled Pigeon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  7. Red-billed Pigeon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  8. Short-billed Pigeon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  9. Band-tailed Pigeon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  10. White-winged Dove: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  11. Ruddy Ground-Dove: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  12. Squirrel Cuckoo: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  13. Lesser Ground-Cuckoo: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  14. Groove-billed Ani: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (particularly interesting)

  1. Common Potoo: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  2. Hummingbirds: a chapter in A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America, entitled "The Charm of Hummingbirds"

  3. the hummingbirds called Hermits: a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm, entitled "Scarlet Passion-flowers and Hermit Hummingbirds"

  4. Stripe-throated (formerly Little) Hermit: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows"

  1. White-crested Coquette: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows"

  2. Black-headed Trogon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  3. Baird's (or Vermilion-breasted) Trogon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (this species nearly endemic to the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica)

  4. Mountain (or Mexican) Trogon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (a species in the highlands of Guatemala)

  5. Black-throated Trogon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (this species ranges from Honduras to Argentina)

  6. Collared Trogon: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  7. Orange-bellied Trogon: in the chapter re Collared Trogon in Birds of Tropical America

  8. Resplendent Quetzal: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (a lot of good info)

  9. Amazon Kingfisher: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  10. Green Kingfisher: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  11. Turquoise-browed Motmot: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America


  1. Broad-billed Motmot: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  2. Rufous Motmot: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  3. Blue-crowned (or Blue-diademed) Motmot: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  1. Blue-throated (Green) Motmot: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (species occurs in the mountains of Guatemala & Honduras)

  2. Rufous-tailed Jacamar: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  3. Puffbirds (particularly the White-whiskered Puffbird or Softwing): a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm, entitled "The Patient Puffbirds"

  4. Black-breasted Puffbird: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America (species occurs in the former Canal Zone in Panama)

  5. Prong-billed Barbet: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  6. Keel-billed (or Rainbow-billed) Toucan: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America

  7. Collared Aracari: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America


  1. Fiery-billed Aracari (the bird "Los Cusingos"): a chapter in Birds of Tropical America


  1. Emerald Toucanet: a chapter in Birds of Tropical America


  1. Golden-naped Woodpecker: a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm, entitled "Family Life of the Golden-naped Woodpecker" (this species occurs on the Pacific side of southern Costa Rica and adjacent Panama)


  1. Woodcreepers: a chapter in A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America, entitled "The Woodcreepers of Tropical America"

  2. Bicolored Antbird: a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm

  3. Black-faced Ant-thrush: a chapter in Antbirds & Ovenbirds

  4. Cotingas: a chapter in A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America, entitled "The Cotingas: A Study in Contrasts"

  5. Boat-billed Flycatcher: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows"

  6. Blue-and-white Swallow: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows"

  7. the House Wren: two chapters in "Nature through Tropical Windows", relating respectively to the bird's first-year & second-year

  8. Bananaquit: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows" 

  9. Speckled Tanager: a chapter in A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm

  10. Black-striped Sparrow: a chapter in "Nature through Tropical Windows"


Birds during Previous FONT Tours in Costa Rica

Mammals & some other Wildlife in Central America

 


A Costa Rican rainbow during a FONT tour.

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