Bulletin 386 - Colombia 2021 #3 - Water Birds

 I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.

Much of the trip was on or near the water - in the Orinoco basin, Caribbean coast and some mountain lakes and streams. We did see a lot of herons, egrets and ducks that we have in the USA, so I did not bother to photograph them. So here are the more interesting ones. The first 3 were in the Orinoco part of the trip.

The 17" Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex) was the only gull or tern we saw in the Orinoco region which was very surprising to me.

 Large-billed Tern

The beautiful 21" Capped Heron (Pilherodius pileatus) with his long plumes and blue face, he is an easy ID.

Capped Heron

Lastly is the peculiar 24" Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin). This prehistoric looking bird is endemic to Amazonia. It is the only bird in its family.

Hoatzin

The 2 interesting ducks were in the Andes. The  18" Andean Teal (Anas andium) is a gray brown bird on paramo lakes

Andean Teal

The exciting duck was a close encounter with the 16" Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata). We stopped on a bridge across a 30' stream where the guide had seen the ducks before. Well as luck would have it, the pair was about 30 yards upstream from the bridge. As we watched, they swam and drifted down until they were right below us.

Torrent Duck

The last 3 birds were on the Caribbean coast in northeastern Colombia. There is a flamingo preserve, but at the time of year we were there, we were lucky to find a half dozen birds. Here is an adult 47 " American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).

American Flamingo

and a juvenile.

American Flamingo - juvenile

The 24" Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is white as a juvenile and then gets his color as he matures. There is some question if the White Ibis and this species are a single species. Time will tell as details are worked out.

Scarlet Ibis

The last was the 39" Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). This is an immature with all the white. It is always a treat to see these pelagic birds.

Magnificent Frigatebird - juvenile

We also saw a Parasitic Jaeger but I did not get a photo. It seems so far south for that species.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2021 David McDonald

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Bulletin 272 - Ecuador 2016 #6 - Water Birds and Night Birds

These are the places visited. At the end of each bird description, I will give the 2 letter code where the photo was taken.

Shiripuno Lodge in Amazon  (SH)
Archidona a town on the east slope  (AR)
San Isidro Lodge at a higher elevation on east slope (SI)
Guango Lodge even higher on east slope (GU)
Antisana reserve on the paramo    (AN)
Mindo area on west slope has several close reserves that we visited (MI)

These birds are associated with water - lakes, rivers etc or are nocturnal.

This is the first trip where I saw several ducks. The 16" Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata) is a resident of swift flowing rivers in the mountains. They stand on rocks in the river and dip their head under the water to look for fish. When one is sighted, they dive in to pursue it. How they survive being bashed around in the rapids is a miracle. The male is mostly white with a brown back and a red bill.  SI

Torrent Duck - male

The female is all brown.   SI

Torrent Duck - female

The lakes on the paramo (tundra) host some resident ducks. The 16" Andean Teal (Anas andium) is a plain brown duck. We found a family group.  AN

Andean Teal - family

The 16" male Andean Duck (Oxyura ferruginea) is almost identical to our Ruddy Duck, but the breeding male has an all black head and lacks the white patch below the eye.   AN

Andean Duck

As one would expect, there is also a coot there, the Andean Coot (Fulica ardesiaca) is identical to the American Coot. However, it is the only coot in Ecuador, so the ID is easy.  AN

Andean Coot

The 12" Silvery Grebe (Podiceps occipitalis) is a rare resident of highland lakes. It is gray and white and has a red eye.  AN

Silvery Grebe

Dippers are are the only aquatic songbirds. Watching the tiny 6" White-capped Dipper (Cinclus leucocephalus) buffeted by waves and spray as they pick food washed onto the rocks is an amazing experience. The sexes are similar and the ID is easy as no other small bird is in that habitat standing on the rocks in a swift flowing stream.   GU

White-capped Dipper

The last water associated bird is the strange huge (25") Hoatzin (Opissthocomus hoazin). This spiky crested prehistoric looking bird lives along slow moving oxbow streams in the Amazon. The sexes are similar and it is the only member of the hoatzin family.   SH

Hoatzin

We only saw 4 nocturnal birds for the trip. The only owl was the mystery San Isidro Owl. It is a mystery bird as it is identical with the Black-and-white Owl of the western slope, but this bird is at San Isidro Lodge on the east slope where it is not supposed to be. The similar bird on the east slope is the Black-banded Owl which is more black than white on the underparts. Here is a discussion of the bird. Perhaps time will tell if it is a new species.  SI

San Isidro Owl

The next 2 were real treats as the guide knew where they were roosting or nesting so they could be seen in the daylight. This 8" Blackish Nightjar (Nyctipolus nigrescens) has been roosting during the day at this same location for 2 years! He sits on a rock just 20 feet from a fairly busy highway.  AR

Blackish Nightjar

The other is the Lyre-tailed Nightjar (Uropsalis lyra). This is another rare find as the range map shows only 6 dots on the map of Ecuador. The female is 10" long, but the male has 25" long tail feathers. This female is actually on her nest. The two babies were not visible when I was there. The rufous collar is the ID mark for this bird.  MI

Lyre-tailed Nightjar - female on nest

The last night bird is the 21" Great Potoo (Nyctibius grandis). Potoos are a 7 species family of nightjar like birds. They roost during the day in trees such that they resemble a broken limb and become nearly invisible. This whitish bird is only the second potoo I have photographed. With his large head, he almost looks like an owl.  SH

Great Potoo

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.