Bulletin 428 - Brazil 2023 #9 - Herons, Ibises, Falcon

After 3 trips to Colombia with diminishing returns, it was time to go further afield. Pablo Flores the guide in Colombia is now leading trips to Brazil as well. So my birding buddy Martin Jackson and my daughter Chantel and I decided to go there. We visited the Pantanal, the Atlantic forest in the Sao Paulo area and had 1 day in the Chapada. The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world, so it is teeming with wildlife. The Atlantic Forest is a unique ecosystem from sea level to about 1 mile elevation. It contains 800 species of birds (225 endemic) and 26 species of primates. Unfortunately it also contains 2 mega cities - Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the resulting sprawl and clearing for agriculture since the Portuguese arrived 500 years ago, has wiped out 90%+ of the original forest. About 250 species of amphibians, birds and mammals have gone extinct in the past 400 years. The good news is that many preserves and parks have been set aside to try and preserve the remaining biodiversity.

I had 4 heron photos for the trip, but only one was a lifer. The 16" Striated Heron (Butorides striatus) is the southern cousin of our Green Heron. The neck is gray rather than brown.

Striated Heron

The 26" adult Rufescent Tiger Heron (Tigrisoma lineatum) is an easy ID with his gray back and wings and rufous neck.

Rufescent Tiger Heron - adult

The juvenile is completely striped from head to tail.

Rufescent Tiger Heron - juvenile

The 22" Capped Heron (Pilherodius pileatus) is another easy ID with his white body, pale yellow neck and blue bare facial skin and blue bill. He also has a black cap and 2 long plumes.

Capped Heron

The lifer was the attractive 22" Whistling Heron (Syrigma sibilatrix). He is an easy ID. We saw this bird on each of the last 2 days of the trip, with the second time being quite close by the road.

Whistling Heron

We searched for the Agami and Zigzag Herons, but no luck.

The 30" Plumbeous Ibis (Theristicus caerulescens) is a gray ibis with red legs and a yellow eye. He has a very long shaggy crest.

Plumbeous Ibis

His cousin is the 30" Buff-necked Ibis (Theristicus caudatus). He is also an easy ID.

Buff-necked Ibis

Lastly is the 22" Green Ibis (Mesembrinibis cayennensis). He is all dark green (blacker in juveniles) including the bill. He has shiny green feathers on the back of his neck.

Green Ibis

The 20" Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) is always a delight to see. On all my trips I have seen it perhaps 6 times. It is an easy ID.

Laughing Falcon

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 29 of the 66 species of herons

I have photos of 15 of the 35 species of ibises and spoonbills

I have photos of 18 of the 65 species of falcons

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald

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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

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

Bulletin 220 - Best of 10 years #3 - waders, water and marsh birds

In this edition, I will look at my favorite photos of the groups that include cranes, waterfowl, herons and rails etc. Many ducks are beautiful in the breeding plumage. The first is the amazing Wood Duck. I photographed this bird in Hermann Park in downtown Houston in 2008.

Wood Duck - male

The next one is the Ruddy Duck. The male in breeding plumage is rusty red, with a black and white head, stiff black tail and blue bill. I saw this bird in Carmel California in 2007 and is the only one I have ever seen in this plumage.

Ruddy Duck - male

The next two birds were photographed in Barrow Alaska in 2010. The male King Eider has a colorful face.

King Eider - male

The Long-tailed Duck was formerly know as Oldsquaw. The breeding male here has a black head and neck with a white face. The body is brown and of course he has long spiky tail feathers.

Long-tailed Duck - male

The Nene is the state bird of Hawaii and it is a handsome goose. The easiest place to see it is on Kauai as there are no introduced mongoose. They can be seen around the resorts etc. On Hawaii and Maui, they are high up on the mountains to avoid predation by the mongoose, so are much more difficult to find.

Nene

The 52 " Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America. It is also one of the rarest birds in the world with a wild population less than 500 birds. In the 1941 the population fell to just 23 birds and a joint USA and Canada project was launched to save the species. They summer in northern Alberta and winter on the Texas coast. Attempts are being made to establish other flocks in Florida, Louisiana, and a migratory flock in Wisconsin that was taught to migrate to Florida using an ultralight aircraft as was pioneered in the movie 'Fly Away Home'. See the article in Wikipedia for more info on these efforts.

Whooping Crane
Aransas NWR - Texas

Herons and egrets are very common in the Houston area so we get kind of blase about seeing them, but I have selected 4 for inclusion in my favorites, 2 from my local area, and 2 from Panama.

The most difficult to find member of this family in the USA is the secretive 13" Least Bittern. Fortunately, Anahuac NWR is considered the best place in the USA to look for them. In the summer of 2008, my goal was to get a good photo of this bird. I went there Saturday and Sunday for 2 weekends in a row, but just got some mediocre photos. The next weekend, I tried again. I parked my car at the boardwalk and I guess this bird felt sorry for all my efforts as it climbed up on the reeds to eye level right in front of my car, 15 feet away.

Least Bittern - female

The Reddish Egret is a salt water bird. It occurs around the Gulf coast, and on the Pacific coast from Mexico southwards. Some of the birds are pure white however, and they are rare. Sibley says about 2-7% of the Gulf coast birds are white. None of the Pacific coast birds are. This bird was reported on Bolivar flats in July 2008, and I went the next weekend and found it. It is the only pure white morph bird I have ever seen. So how does one ID this all white bird as this species rather than some other common white heron or egret. First by the size, it is large 30" and much taller than 24" Cattle or Snowy Egrets. Also the location, along salt water. But the pink lower mandible is a clue as the Great Egret has a yellow bill. Also the shaggy plumes on the neck and chest are diagnostic for this species.

Reddish Egret - white morph

The Capped Heron is a really pretty bird with its blue skin around the eye, black cap, yellowish neck and long plumes. It is a South American bird whose range extends into Panama. We only saw this one bird, but he sat still and allowed multiple photos.

Capped Heron

The last heron is the Boat-billed Heron. This nocturnal bird uses stays hidden during the day, but the guide in Panama knew of a roosting place and we saw perhaps 20 birds, both adults and juveniles. It is similar to the common Black-crowned Night-Heron, but has the peculiar enormous bill. I think I had seen this bird only once before in Brazil.

Boat-billed Heron - adult

The rails, coots and gallinules make up a family of chicken-like marsh birds. The coots and gallinules are common and easily seen in the open. Rails, however, are secretive and in general hard to see as they stay in the reeds. My best rail photo in the USA is this Virginia Rail that I photographed in Carmel, California in 2010.

Virginia Rail

The most easily seen rail in the Central America is the 15" Gray-necked Wood-Rail. I had seen it several times before, but on the Costa Rica trip, I got my fist photo of this bird.

Gray-necked Wood-Rail

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2015 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 192 - Panama #3 - Waders and shorebirds

Lisa and 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. 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.

We saw several of the same herons and egrets that we have in Texas, but also there were 4 new ones.
The first is the smallish (19") elusive Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) This bird appears similar to the Black-crowned Night-Heron, but has a huge bill. As it is nocturnal primarily, it is difficult to find unless you know where they roost. Even roosting, they tend to be deep in the foliage. Our guide knew of a roost and we saw perhaps a dozen birds. I have only seen a single bird before in 4 previous birding trips to the tropics. The range of this bird in Mexico to Argentina.

Boat-billed Heron - adult

The juvenile is brownish.





Boat-billed Heron - juvenile

The next new bird was the beautiful Capped Heron (Pilherodius pileatus). It is IDed by the black cap, yellowish neck and blue bill and facial skin. The range of this bird is from the Canal Zone in Panama south to Brazil.

Capped Heron

The Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) is a tall (40") heron similar in size and color to the Great Blue Heron. However, the neck is white rather than gray. It replaces the Great Blue Heron in South America. We had to take a boat trip to find this bird.

Cocoi Heron

The last of the new herons was the Rufescent Tiger-Heron  (Tigrisoma lineatum). This bird is 27" tall and has a rufous neck.

Rufescent Tiger-Heron

The Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is a dark ibis that occurs in eastern USA and throughout much of the world. It is a rare visitor to Texas, and is listed as uncommon in Panama, but we found a flock in some rice fields. In breeding, it is rufous on the body.

Glossy Ibis - breeding

This bird shows the distinctive facial markings of light lines on a dark face.

Glossy Ibis

n unusual and unknown shorebird (at least to non birders) is a jacana. There are 8 species world wide of this unique bird. They have very elongated toes enabling the bird to walk on lily pads and other floating vegetation. 2 species occur in tropical Americas. The Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana) ranges from Panama to South America. The birds have yellow wing linings which can be seen in flight. The bird is IDed by black body, red face and yellow tip of bill.



Wattled Jacana - adult

Here is one in flight showing the yellow wing linings.



Wattled Jacana - adult

The juvenile has a striped neck, and is brown and white. Notice the long toes.

Wattled Jacana - juvenile

We also saw a downy chick.

Wattled Jacana - chick

And another photo with his foot up, showing he is all toes.

Wattled Jacana - chick

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.