Bulletin 425 - Brazil 2023 #6 - warblers, vireos, finches

 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 3 new warblers for the trip. The 5.3" Riverbank Warbler (Basileuterus rivularis) is olive above with a gray cap and buffy flanks. The buffy flanks separate it from 2 very similar warblers.

Riverbank Warbler

Next is the 5.8" Flavescent Warbler (Myiothlypis flaveolus). Ir is an easy ID as the only all yellow warbler in the area.

Flavescent Warbler

The 5.5" male Southern Yellowthroat (Geothylpis velata) has a gray crown, olive back and bright yellow breast. The male here has, the black mask typical for yellowthroats.

Southern Yellowthroat - male

There were 3 members of the vireo family, 2 of which were new. The 6" Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclaris gujanensis) is a very common bird in the Neotropics. It has the thick vireo bill and the orange eye stripes.

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

The 4.8"  Ashy-headed Greenlet (Hylophilus pectoralis) is olive above, yellow below and has a gray head.

Ashy-headed Greenlet

The 5" Rufous-crowned Greenlet (Hylophilus poicilotis) is similar to the previous bird but he has a reddish cap.

Rufous-crowned Greenlet

The euphonias are members of the finch family. I had 3 new ones for the trip. The 4.5" male Violaceous Euphonia (Euphonia violacea) has a purplish head, blue back and wings and the underside is bright yellow.

Violaceous Euphonia - male

The 4" male Purple-throated Euphonia (Euphonia chlorotica) is similar to the one above but he has a purple throat. He also has a yellow forehead, but he was so high up in the tree that it does not show up in the photo.

Purple-throated Euphonia - male

Lastly is the most beautiful bird for this bulletin. The 4.5" male Chestnut-bellied Euphonia (Euphonia pectoralis) is an easy ID. He is all blue except for the brown belly and a yellow shoulder patch.

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia - male

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

I have photos of 80 of the 120 species of New World warblers

I have photos of 27 of the 62 species of vireos

I have photos of 62 of the 221 species of finches

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald

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Bulletin 238 - Ecuador #2 - Warblers and Vireos

The parulidae family of birds is the New World warblers. These are favorites of many birders around the world who come to see the spectacle of spring migration on the Gulf Coast and other inland locations as millions of these small birds make their way north to breed.

The IOU currently lists 120 species of warbler, but 2 species are likely extinct. The number of species has grown in the last 20 years through splits. The Yellow-rumped Warbler and Adelaide's Warbler were both split into 3 species and the Yellow-throated Warbler into 2 species. Several species have been removed and reclassified as well. Currently the Sibley's Guide lists 50 species that occur in North America and there are a few vagrants that pop up along the Mexican border from time to time.

I have photographed 64 of them. On the Ecuador trip, I got 7 new species and 6 were lifers.

The Olive-crowned Yellowthroat (Geothlypis semiflava) is olive above, yellow below and the male has the typical black mask.

Olive-crowned Yellowthroat - male

The Myiothlypis genus has 17 species of warblers. All but one are confined to South America. I photographed 4 of them. The Buff-rumped Warbler (Myiothlypis fulvicaada) also lives as far north as Honduras and this is the one that I had seen before but never photographed.

Buff-rumped Warbler

The Citrine Warbler (Myiothlypis luteoviridis) is olive above, yellowish below and has a bright yellow arc over the eye. This one was a surprise as I didn't know I had the photo until I got home. Anyone who has birded in the tropics will have seen these mixed flocks that suddenly show up and there may be a dozen active birds of 8 or more species. When that happens, I just try to get several photos of the birds while the guide is also trying to ID them. We didn't have this on the checklist at the end of the day, so he didn't see it.

Citrine Warbler

The Black-crested Warbler  (Myiothlypis nigrocristata) is olive above, streaked yellow below and has a black crown. He also has a black line through the eye.

Black-crested Warbler

The Gray-and-gold Warbler (Myiothlypis fraseri) is easily recognized by his name. He has a gray head and back and bright yellow underparts. This bird along with the Buff-rumped Warbler above were right outside the lodge at Buenaventura.

Gray-and-gold Warbler

The Spectacled Redstart (Myioborus melanocephalus) was in the mist in the cloud forest at Tapichalaca. He has a black head with rufous crown, gray back, and yellow underparts and spectacles.

Spectacled Redstart

The final species was the Three-banded Warbler (Basileuterus trifasciatus). It is olive above, yellow below and has a striped head and face

Three-banded Warbler

To see all of the warblers I have photographed, go to the Warbler family section with this link.

The vireo family has 63 species all but 10 of which are in the New World. Most of them are rather drab. I photographed 2 new ones on the Ecuador trip.

The first is the Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis). I first saw this bird in my initial visit to the tropics in Belize in 1993 and the name always stuck in my head. I was pleased to finally get a photo of it. It is colorful with olive back, yellow throat and rufous above the eye. He has a very thick bill as well.

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

The Olivaceous Greenlet (Hylophilus olivaceus) is olive above, yellow below and a bright orange eye.

Olivaceous Greenlet

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.