Justin Blachman

Habitat & Diet

 

• The Cocos Finch thrives in the lush, tropical rainforest covering most of Cocos Island.  Although the lush, tropical rainforest is where the Cocos Finch is predominatly found, the species is also found around Hibiscus thickets and distrubed vegetation around the coasts

• Unlike many other birds, Cocos Finch seems to be more of a generalist in their foraging habits.  Instead of having their entire population perform one technique/behavior, different individuals tend to do different activities.  For example, one Cocos Finch might forage on insects while another will forage on soft fruit and nectar.  This appears to be the result of the lack of competition on Cocos Island

 

Behavior

 

• Like I stated in the habitat paragraph, the Cocos Finch's each tend to prefer a different individual behavior.  Instead of them all performing the same activity like eating nectar, some eat nectar while others prefer insects.

 

• There is little known about the reproduction of the Cocos Finch, but there appears to be two eggs per nest, and nesting occurs year round, peacking in the months between January and May.

 

• Like the other three bird species endemic to Costa Rica, their population seems to be steady and stable, but because of the small area they inhabit, there is fear of one catastrophic event wiping out the entire population