Bulletin 422 - Brazil 2023 #3 - rails, plovers, snipe

 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.

We notched an astounding 5 species of rails on the trip and 4 were new for me. The  11" Blackish Rail (Pardirallus nigricans) was the one I had seen in Colombia. It has a charcoal head and breast with brown wings and a yellow bill.

Blackish Rail 

There were 2 new species of wood rails. These are the easiest to see as often they are  walking around  in the open. The 15" Grey-cowled Wood Rail (Aramides cajaneus). This rail is IDed by the brown body and grey neck and head. It was split from Grey-necked Wood Rail.

Grey-cowled Wood Rail

His cousin the Slaty-breasted Wood Rail (Aramides saracura) is similar but is completely grey on his breast and belly.

Slaty-breasted Wood Rail

The most exciting were a couple of crakes coming to a feeding station in Intervales Park. They are normally exceedingly difficult to see. The 6" Red-and-white Crake (Laterallus leucopyrrhus) is a sparrow-sized rail with a rufous head and back with a clean white breast and barred belly. The legs are pink. He has a short bill.

Red-and-white Crake

His cousin, the 6" Rufous-sided Crake (Laterallus melanophaius) has a grey-brown head and back. The rusty flanks appear faded compared to the previous one. His bill and legs are dark. You can see form the background that they were both at the same place. Seeing these 2 crakes in the open for a period of time was one of the highlights of the trip. There are 13 crakes in this genus in the Americas and these were the first 2 I have ever seen. 

Now that this place has shown that these elusive birds can be trained to come for free food - I hope other sanctuaries will attempt to make these rails easier to see. This is the same as with the antpittas that were found to come for worms to a feeding station, so many other places set up feeding stations for their local antpittas.

Rufous-sided Crake

The final member of the rail family was a group of 3 12" Purple Gallinules (Porphyrio martinica). One was an adult, but the other 2 at first we thought were Azure Gallinules. But the buffy face and some purple on the flanks show it is an immature. We do not see the molting birds like this in the USA

Purple Gallinule - molting juvenile

The elegant 14" Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) is an easy ID with his wispy crest, black breast and red legs.

Southern Lapwing

The dapper 9" Pied Plover (Hoploxypterus cayanus) is a South American bird found around ponds and on sand bars along rivers, as was this one in the Pantanal.

Pied Plover

Lastly, another new snipe, the 11" Pantanal Snipe (Gallinago paraguaiae). The name was recently changed from South American Snipe. Like all snipes, the guide book says it is difficult to see. However with my luck, it was in the open on a muddy area about 10 yards away. We watched him for about 15 minutes.

Pantanal Snipe

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

I have photos of 24 of the 132 species of Rails, Coots, Gallinules.

I have photos of 31 of the 67 species of Plovers

I have photos of 52 of the 93 species of Sandpipers

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2023 David McDonald

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Bulletin 388 - Colombia 2021 #5 - Shorebirds, Cuckoos

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.

I finally found my target plover in northern Latin America. I have had multiple trips and never even saw this common bird, let alone get a photo. The 6" Collared Plover (Charadius collaris) is similar to our small plovers, but ours all have a white nape. This one has a rufous nape of the neck to distinguish it, as many of ours are migrants to South America. I finally saw it on the coast where we saw the flamingos - just 1 bird but enough to check it off! I spent 20 minutes trying to make sure I got an identifiable photo of this bird.

Collared Plover

The other plover was the beautiful 14" Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis). I had photographed this bird previously, but lapwings are beautiful long legged plovers and I enjoy seeing them.

Southern Lapwing

Another small family of shorebirds is the thick-knees. This family of 10 species has 2 in the Americas. I had a distant photo of this bird before, but improved with several in a field along the road. The 18" Double-striped Thick-knee (Burhinus bistriatus) is the only thick-knee in this area. 

Double-striped Thick-knee

Jacanas are another small family of shorebirds with 2 in the New World. The 9" Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana) is the southern one. We were able to get very close, in the boat, to a bird walking on the floating weeds. It is has rufous wings and back with a black head, neck and breast and red wattles. It is an easy ID.

Wattled Jacana

I photographed 3 cuckoos on the trip, 2 of which were lifers for me. The 18" Greater Ani (Crotophaga major) is an all black bird with a long tail and large bill.

Greater Ani

The 2 new ones were the 11" Dark-billed Cuckoo (Coccygus melacoryphus). It is similar to our Black-billed Cuckoo, but it has a tawny breast.

Dark-billed Cuckoo

The other lifer was the 11" Little Cuckoo (Coccycua minuta). This is a small rufous cuckoo with a yellow bill.

Little Cuckoo

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

I have photos of 30 of the 67 species of Plovers and Lapwings

I have photos of 3 of the 10 species of Thick-knees

I have photos of 5 of the 8 species of Jacanas

I have photos of 25 of the 148 species of Cuckoos

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 #226 - Best of 10 Years #5 - Shorebirds and Seabirds

Shorebirds include sandpipers, plovers etc and are favorites of many birders. Many of them are long distance migrants from the Canadian arctic and Alaska to South America. Here are my favorites form the first 10 years of photography.

The Wandering Tattler is an 11" Pacific coast sandpiper that breeds along streams in Alaska and winters on rocky coasts from California to Mexico. I took this photo in Monterey, California and I just like the composition of the rock, intense blue water behind and the birds yellow legs.

Wandering Tattler

Next is the female Red Phalarope. Phalaropes are sandpipers that swim. The Red Phalarope is pelagic  in that it can be found on the surface of the ocean far offshore. It can be found along both coasts but is rare and occasionally occurs inland. I haven't seen it in Texas. Phalaropes are also unusual in that the female is the more brightly colored of the pair. On a trip to Monterey in the spring, a storm blew a number of birds onto the coast and I found this bird in a pond at the famous Pebble Beach golf club. 

Red Phalarope - female breeding

Third next is the 8"  Buff-breasted Sandpiper. This bird summers in the Canadian arctic and migrates through the central states to South America. It prefers short grassy fields and can be found on sod farms but seldom on the coast. In fact, this is the only one I have ever seen, and it was in Carmel, California where they are a reportable vagrant. I found it myself which is always exciting to be the first to find and report a rarity. He is in the kelp washed up on the beach.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

The Ruff is a Eurasian sandpiper that occasionally shows up along both coasts and a few can be found in Alaska in the summer. The male is unusual in that he has a ruff of feathers on his neck that he uses in displaying. I have seen females occasionally in Texas, but this is the only breeding male I have seen and he was in Barrow Alaska.

Ruff - male breeding

The last sandpiper is the 10" Wilson's Snipe. This is a long-billed shorebird of muddy fields. They are difficult to see on the ground and usually only seen when flushed and flying away. I found this bird in a roadside ditch in Galveston one afternoon when I didn't have my camera as I was at a meeting. I went back the next day with camera and he was there again. I parked my car and go this close-up from 15 feet away through the window.

Wilson's Snipe

Plovers are another family of plump shorebirds closely related to sandpipers. The common one that most people are familiar with is the Killdeer. 

The  9" Mountain Plover is probably the most difficult of the North American plovers to find. It breeds on the plains of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado and winters in central Mexico, although a few are seen in south Texas. It is extremely rare to find on the upper Texas coast. I did find one in Galveston in 1995 and another was not found for 13 years. However, last winter, this one spent several weeks on Bolivar flats and many birders got to see it. I had looked for this bird in California, and south Texas several times to try and photograph it without success.

Mountain Plover

Lapwings are tall plovers, often boldly patterned. Unfortunately for us in North America, there are none. Every other continent has a several resident species. This 14" Southern Lapwing was photographed in Panama.

Southern Lapwing

The Northern Fulmar is an 18" pelagic seabird member of the shearwater family of birds. These birds have a peculiar tube nose. They are found offshore on both oceans. I found this one however in Monterey Harbor, where on the water, he looks like a gull. But the tube on his beak shows that he isn't a gull.

Northern Fulmar

Finding a rare bird by yourself and reporting it and having other birders go to look at it (and confirming it) is still exciting for me even after 25 years of birding. Such was the case of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper above and that Mountain Plover in Galveston in 1995. Well the next 2 birds also fall into that category.

The 37" Northern Gannet is a member of the gannet and booby family of large seabirds. This bird breeds on offshore islands of Atlantic Canada and winters along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, usually well offshore. I had seen it once before in Florida. In late July of 2010, I was driving along the seawall in Galveston and saw a large bird swimming close to the rocks. At first I thought it was a pelican, but as I got closer, obviously the color was wrong. I stopped and got out to see what it was. I realized it was a gannet that shouldn't even be here at this time of year. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but went home and returned with camera. By the time I got back, he had climbed out onto the rocks at the base of the seawall. I climbed down the stairs and went over the rocks to take his photo. I posted it on Texbirds and several others saw him and Wildlife Rescue was called and took him. Unfortunately, one can never find out from the rescue service what was wrong and what happened to the bird.

Northern Gannet

One morning during spring migration in 2008, I crossed over the Bolivar ferry early and stopped at Bolivar flats. I saw this unusual looking 'gull' on the beach. I took some photos and several more as he flew off. I knew it wasn't any gull I was familiar with. I got to High Island and asked the volunteers there to look at it. It was a Pomeraine Jaeger, not a gull. They are closely related to gulls, but now are a separate family. They are oceanic birds that come ashore only to nest, so seeing one on the beach is a reportable rarity.

Pomeraine Jaeger

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