Bulletin 319 - Guatemala #5 - Night Birds and Marsh Birds

I went for a third visit to Guatemala in May. Once again, I used the wonderful local guide Knut Eisermann of Cayaya Birding. On this visit, we went to new locations to get different species.

My guide Knut loves the nocturnal birds, so we always look for nightjars and owls. I got 2 new owl species for the trip, both were life birds.

The 8.5" Middle America Screech Owl (Megascops guatemalae) comes in both gray and rufous morphs. This one is the gray morph.

Middle America Screech Owl

The other is the rare 7" Bearded Screech Owl (Megascops barbarus). It is an uncommon resident in just southern Mexico and Guatemala. It was a tough bird as he does not come in to the tape and you have to go to him. We had to walk down a 45 degree slope by flashlight and try not to fall. I had to brace myself against a tree to get the pics. He also has 2 colors and this is obviously the rufous morph.

Bearded Screech Owl

There were also 2 nightjars. The 11.5" Common Paraque (Nyctidromus albicollis) is a common bird in Latin America with a range from south Texas to Brazil. They are best seen right after dusk on the ground. This is my best pic of this bird.

Common Paraque

The other was a life bird, the 8.5" Yucatan Poorwill (Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus), It has a dark brown face and white tip on the long tail.

Yucatan Poorwill

The last night bird was another lifer, the 16" Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis). This is the third of the 7 potoo species and the second with a baby.

Northern Potoo and baby

And a close up.

Northern Potoo and baby

Also I got some photos of a couple of marsh birds. The 9" Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) is a brown bird black neck and a yellow bill. They have large toes to walk across floating vegetation. Here is an adult with several chicks.

Northern Jacana with chicks

And here is a juvenile bird.

Northern Jacana - juvenile

And the last is perhaps the easiest rail to be found. It is the 16" Russet-naped Wood Rail (Aramides albiventris). It is large, quite common and often in the open.

Russet-naped Wood Rail

I have the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 29 of the 216 species of owls

I have photos of 9 of the 98 species of nightjars

I have photos of 3 of the 7 species of potoos

I have photos of 3 of the 8 species of jacanas

I have photos of 14 of the 138 species of rails, coots

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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