The extraordinary long bill and tongue is evident in these photos. This is an uncommon species that we only encountered once on our trip. It has an odd distribution with three disconnected populations comprising seven subspecies, several of which were formerly considered to be separate species. Surprisingly little seems to be known about its life history and according to HBW its nest is unknown. This is the southernmost race B. l. melanosterna characterized by mostly pale lower mandible, yellow eyering and whitish chin.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LX5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter)