Bulletin 207 - fall birds

I have found some interesting birds the past few weekends. As you may recall, several months ago I featured the Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) in both male and female plumages. They are very common at Anahuac NWR and one can easily see a dozen or more. In the Sibley bird guide, he also shows a juvenile plumaged bird which he lists as being found from July to September. He didn't point out the differences, and I studied the photos for a long time before I saw that the juvenile has white tips on the primary wing feathers. So I looked for a juvie at Anahuac and never saw one.

On Oct 12, I found this bird at LaFitte's Cove on Galveston. He has the white tips!

Common Nighthawk - juvenile
 

Another juvie was a male Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon). These birds tend to be skittish and when you try to approach them for a photo, they fly away. I saw this one on a post in a canal and stopped the car and took the photo out the window. The juveniles have a mahogany brown breast band, that gradually molts to blue the first fall. This one is partially molted.

Belted Kingfisher - juvenile male

One of the rarer warblers in Houston is the Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia). I have probably seen it fewer than 5 times in 25 years here. I got my only photos in Michigan last summer. Here is a first winter plumaged bird at LaFitte's Cove on Oct 19th. Because it was the first juvenile plumaged bird, I wasn't sure what the ID was. Several experts confirmed it. The grayish hood is discernible and along with the dark breast band points to either Mourning or Connecticut, but the yellow throat is the field mark for Mourning.



Mourning warbler - 1st winter

The black streaky breast band is seen better in this photo. There is also a partial white eye ring which is lacking in the adults to add to the confusion. This is the first juvenile I have ever seen, and without a photo to review afterwards, I would not have known which bird it was.





Mourning warbler - 1st winter



Another juvenile was a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) who flew in and landed overhead at LaFitte's Cove. He was so close, I couldn't get the whole bird in the photo.

Cooper's Hawk - juvenile

 The last photo is of a skink I saw at the drip in Lafitte's Cove. It is a Broad-headed Skink juvenile. It is very colorful with orange head and blue and purple tail. The ID was made by a Texas reptile expert. When birds are slow, I photo other nature. This was a life reptile for me.

Broad-headed Skink - juvenile

 

 

 Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

Lisa Kelly-McDonald lisajanekelly67@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2014 David McDonald & Lisa Kelly-McDonald

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Bulletin 190 - Panama #1 - Cuckoos and Kingfishers

I had the pleasure of 7 days birding in central Panama in early February. We hired a guide to show us around and find the birds. Also, he was our chauffeur, which, on seeing the traffic in the country, was a blessing. The guide was Gonzalo Horna, whom we found on the Birding Pal web site. Gonzalo knew his birds and where to find them. You can contact him by his email.

Panama is a tiny country about the size of the state of South Carolina or the province of New Brunswick. Yet it has a bird population of 978 species in the guide book, or almost 10% of all the birds in the world! North America (USA and Canada) has about 725 species.

We photographed lots of birds. The neotropics have several families of birds that don't make it to the USA or Canada, so I will present them by families and describe those that are unfamiliar to most people who haven't had the pleasure of birding the tropics.

We found 4 species of cuckoos. Most cuckoos have long tails. The 3 species of anis are members of the cuckoo family and all 3 are in Panama. By the way, if you do crossword puzzles, a favorite is a 3 letter word for cuckoo (ANI). 2 of these birds can be found in extreme southern USA. The sexes are similar in all anis.

The Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) is black with a long tail and large bill without ridges. It is about 13" in length. It can be seen in south Florida, but the population is declining rapidly.



Smooth-billed Ani

His cousin, the Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris) is smaller at 12" long, and has ridges on his upper mandible. It also can be found in the USA, in south Texas.

Groove-billed Ani

The last is the Greater Ani (Crotophaga major). It is the largest at 18" in length. It is IDed by the long tail, white eye, and ridge on upper mandible.

Greater Ani

Kingfishers are a worldwide family. Six species occur in the Americas and all 6 can be found in Panama. We saw 4 of them, and got photos of 3, all of which also are in the USA, 3 only occur in south Texas.

The most common and well known to North Americans is the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata). In Panama however, it is listed as an uncommon visitor. This is a female with the brown band.

Belted Kingfisher - female

The Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) is the largest of the green colored kingfishers at 12". It has been seen in south Texas only twice, so is very rare in the ABA area. It is a male with the brown on chest.

Amazon Kingfisher - male

Lastly, is the small (7") Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana). It is a fairly common bird in south Texas, aspecially along the Rio Grande. The male has brown on the chest.

Green Kingfisher - male

The female lacks the brown on the chest.



Green Kingfisher - female

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2014 David McDonald

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