Christian Artuso: Birds, Wildlife

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch in Manitoba

2012-01-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

A great treat today was seeing this Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch - my first time seeing this species in Manitoba (and a while since i saw my last ones in the Rockies). Thanx to the Sangsters of Kenton for this special treat. Four images below...

Seven Snowy Owls of varying ages on the drive also provided some entertainment…

As part of the insanely warm winter we are experiencing, another unusual sighting was a flock of 29 Red-winged Blackbirds on Hwy 21 about 2 km north of Hwy 1. So many unusual records this winter, especially of icterids!

A Taste of Cuba

2011-10-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

A year ago, I was lucky enough to go on a short (9-day) trip to Cuba with a friend, visiting 5 sites: Cayo Coco, Rancho Belen, Zapata Swamp, Soroa and La Guira National Park. It has taken me nearly a year to get caught up on processing these photos enough to put together this blog post. This will be a photo-heavy post, featuring mostly the Cuban endemics and regional specialties in taxonomic sequence. Despite good intensions, I can’t seem to find the time to do a more detailed biogeographical post. Therefore, you might want to click on the first photo to view this post as a slide show.

In addition to the endemics, Cuba is great for watching waterbirds, so let’s start off with just a few of the many we saw: American Flamingo, Reddish Egret and Clapper Rail:

In the endemics, we begin with the non-passerines. The Cuban Black-Hawk (split from Common Black Hawk) is one of three endemic hawks on Cuba (the others being the rare Gundlach’s Hawk, which I saw only briefly, and the almost extinct Cuban Kite, a split from Hook-billed Kite). Here are an adult (in the early morning light) and a juvenile Cuban Black-Hawk. Although seemingly common in the right habitat in Cuba (mangroves and swamps), this species listed as Near-threatened because much of the habitat it specializes in is being drained, fragmented or otherwise degraded:

Cuba is replete with interesting Columbids (pigeons and doves). The shy quail-doves are arguably the most sought after and include gems like the endangered endemic Blue-headed Quail-Dove, which kept just too far away from my lens) and the near-endemic Gray-headed Quail-Dove (a.k.a Gray-fronted Quail-Dove), which is listed as globally Vulnerable (due to habitat loss and hunting), shown here.

Though not endemic, the magnificent Key West Quail-Dove is a true beauty and a difficult species to see as they keep to the dark forest floor. It was only by dint of effort, after a few failed attempts to see one, that, by creeping around on a forest trail just after dawn on our final morning in Cuba, I managed to sneak up on this bird to take this photo. Look closely at the marvelous iridescence!

The Zenaida Dove was relatively easy to see in Cuba, (unlike in the Yucatan Peninsula, where I had once worked hard to see one).

Cuba also has an endemic parakeet, Cuban Parakeet (Vulnerable), and the sad memory of the magnificent endemic Cuban Macaw, which is now extinct. The third Cuban parrot is the Cuban Parrot (a.k.a Rose-throated Parrot or Cuban Amazon) is a near-endemic species that is listed as Near-threatened, (with one extinct, one vulnerable and one near-threatened species, Cuba has done very poorly by its parrots!).

The Great Lizard-Cuckoo is another near-endemic (like the Cuban Parrot it is shared with the Bahamas). This large cuckoo often feeds on the ground, catching lizards and other small prey with their long bill, and it an absolute delight to watch. This flight shot shows some of their hidden colours!

Cuban has some great nightlife too! By, that I means the birds of course! There are two endemic owls: firstly, the unique (monotypic genus Gymnoglaux) Bare-legged Owl, which is something of an avian enigma whose relationship to other owls has been debated (lack of ear tufts, long unfeathered legs, longish tail with only 10 rectrices, song similar to the A-song of the screech-owls but no known B-song, are just some of the puzzling features of this owl),

and the Cuban Pygmy-Owl (shown twice here).

In addition, Cuban is home to the widespread but nonetheless enigmatic Stygian Owl,

And its resident race of Barn Owl (but alas the giant owls and giant barn owls of Cuba’s fossil record are no longer with us).

Cuba and Hispaniola also share another night bird in the Greater Antillean Nightjar, shown here on a day roost (and you’ll need to look twice to see them).

Next come the swifts, including the Antillean Palm-Swift, which is found on several Caribbean islands.

And then, there’re the hummingbirds. The beautiful Cuban Emerald is by far the most common and easy to see. This is a male.

However, all visitors to Cuba should be on the look out for the diminutive endemic Bee Hummingbird (a.k.a Cuban Bee Hummingbird), who, at a mere 5 cm (2 inches) in length, is the smallest bird in the world! Here are two photos of the tiny hummer – the male with the bluish back (this bird is in non-breeding plumage and lacks the pink) about to land on a tiny twig, and a female feeding on small white flowers. The Bee hummingbird is much more difficult to locate than the Cuban Emerald, and seems to require denser forests and edges, and is listed as Near-threatened.

Another Cuban endemic in a monotypic genus (i.e. the only member of its genus) is the truly magnificent Cuban Trogon, affectionately known by the onomatopoeic name tocororo in Cuba and the country’s national bird. Every Cuban I met seemed to have an affinity wit hthis species and to be proud of their national bird. One of my favourite explanations for why it became the national bird is because Cubans think of this bird as an icon of freedom (trogons in general are reputed to be extremely difficult to keep in captivity and it is said that when placed in a cage, the tocororo will fly against the bars to commit suicide rather than live in captivity – too bad the same is not true for the Cuban Grassquit, which is being decimated due to rampant tramping). Here are two views of Cuban Trogon, one from the front and one from the back to show you the unique tail shape and the distinctive colouration of the white breast and red belly, contrasting with the head and mantle… magnificent!

And speaking of unique – the Caribbean has an endemic family, i.e. a family that is found ONLY there – the Todidae (Todies). Interestingly enough, the fossil record shows that this family was once more widespread (European fossils exist) so, more precisely, Todidae is a relictual endemic family. Todies are relatives of kingfishers and rollers (within Coraciiformes) but they are tiny little birds (hence the name), ranging from a mere 9 to 12 cm in total length! There are five species of tody in the world, two on Hispaniola, one of Puerto Rico, one on Jamaica, and this one, the aptly named Cuban Tody. The first time you see this tiny ball of flaming colour, you can hardly believe your eyes! So, once again, I have gone for two photos showing the soft white plumage of the underparts with the suffuse red and blue highlights and the brilliant green of the upperparts and underparts. Seeing a representative of a bird family you have never seen before is always special but the Cuban Tody was extra special for me!

Cuba is home to some stunning woodpeckers, not least of which is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, now presumed extinct and not seen on Cuba since the late 1980s in Cuba’s easternmost province, Guantánamo. I didn’t mount an expedition to look for this species on this trip, tempting though that be! Nonetheless, I was treated to some fantastic looking woodpeckers. Look at this stylish West Indian Woodpecker for example!

An here is yet another Cuban endemic in a monotypic genus (the only bird in the genus Xiphidiopicus), the endemic Cuban Green Woodpecker.

The Fernandina's Flicker is now listed as globally Vulnerable because their already small and fragmented population appears to be in rapid decline.

Moving to the passerines, we start with the flycatchers of course, and on Cuba we find a fascinating selection, starting with the widespread and abundant Cuban Pewee,

the subtle yet classy La Sagra's Flycatcher,

the large Loggerhead Kingbird (note the head shape), that is similar to Eastern Kingbird in appearance (about an inch larger). This one is fearlessly dispatching a tasty morsel.

And one of the key target birds of a visit to Cuba, the Giant Kingbird. This species is superficially similar to the Loggerhead Kingbird but with a rounder head and a much larger bill (also larger overall I feel; however the various field guides disagree on the measurements) but differs in habits and is usually seen high in the canopy. The Giant Kingbird is now classified as globally Endangered due to a massive decline (reasons unknown) that has led to their extirpation on two of the three islands where they occurred (older records from the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos) leaving this species effectively a Cuban endemic. Even in Cuba, the seem to be in some trouble and are no longer present in areas they used to occupy such as Zapata. Consequently, there are believed to be less than 1,000 Giant Kingbirds left on Cuba in a few small and isolated patches, so seeing this species at two sites (Sierra de Najassa and La Guira) was a special privilege. This photo gives you a good sense of the bill proportions.

Another species we worked hard to see on Cuba was the Thick-billed Vireo. Although not globally threatened, on Cuba this species is confined to a few locations (much more common elsewhere, especially smaller islands). It was a windy afternoon when we caught up with this species in a mangrove area on Cayo Paredon Grande (from Cayo Coco) as you can see by this poor bird’s “bad hair day”!

The endemic Cuban Vireo, on the other hand, is widespread and common.

In case you hadn’t already noticed, Cuba is home to some very rare species. One of the rarest extant species is the Zapata Wren, found only in the Ciénaga de Zapata (Zapata Swamp). The Zapata swamp holds the large expanses of sawgrass that this species called home but, curiously, it does not seem to found in all areas of the swamp. The population appears tiny and the global range is miniscule (<1,000 km2), making this species Endangered, and they forms yet another monotypic genus. Even rarer of course is the Zapata Rail which has not been seen in over 10 years and is listed as Critically endangered (the call of this species is not known, previous recordings being misidentifications of other rails). Of course, we did not see the Zapata Rail, but we did track down the ultra-elusive Zapata Wren after a long wait. Here first is a bird singing in their characteristic sawgrass habitat, followed by an extremely rare close up view that few people have had the privilege to enjoy!

Another Cuban endemic species, the Cuban Gnatcatcher, and another one with an odd and patchy distribution in central - eastern Cuba only and mostly along the coast, but locally quite common within their small range. This photo admittedly does not show the distinctive black crescent so well but I just love the way this bird was innocently” studying the spider web at this moment before robbing the spider of a prey item…

And… is this getting predictable?... yet another Cuban endemic with a patchy distribution, the Cuban Solitaire is found only in the mountains of the far west and far east of Cuba and is considered Near-threatened.

The Red-legged Thrush is found on many Caribbean islands. I was blown away by the unique beauty of this thrush, which is placed in the genus Turdus, though I would never have guessed it!

The Bahama Mockingbird is uncommon and local on Cuba, though more common elsewhere. We worked hard to see this one.

Cuba also boasts 3 endemic Wood-warblers, which is fascinating for such a highly migratory family (apparently some Wood-Warbler preferred the sedentary tropical life to the perils and rewards of migration). The Olive-capped Warbler is in the genus Setophaga (formerly in Dendroica) – a highly migratory genus within a migratory family – yet this species has settled down to the life of permanent resident in the montane pine forests. As with the Cuban Soliatire, the distribution of such montane habitat means that this warbler is found only in the far east and far west of the island!

Cuba’s two other endemic Wood-warbler constitute their own genus, i,e,. the genus Teretistris is endemic to Cuba with two allopatric species: the Yellow-headed Warbler (western Cuba) and Oriente Warbler (eastern Cuba).

Cuba has a few neat tanagers as well, though none of them endemic. This is the beautiful Western Spindalis (formerly Stripe-headed Tanager). Spindalis is a Caribbean endemic genus of tanagers with four species - Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica each have an endemic species but the Western Spindalis is more widespread, being found on Cuba, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Cozumel Island just off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula… and occasionally straying to Florida.

The Red-legged Honeycreeper is a truly stunning tanager and very widely distributed, though not so common on Cuba.

Cuba has some beautiful small seed-eating birds including the near-endemic Cuban Bullfinch (Cuba + Grand Cayman),

And the elegant Cuban Grassquit (two photos, male then female), which is a common species in decline due to the cage-bird industry.

The intriguing Zapata Sparrow (a.k.a Cuban Sparrow) is a Cuban endemic Endangered species with a patchy distribution and also belongs to a monotypic genus (do you sense a pattern?)! There really are a lot of unique birds in Cuba! This species though is one of the most fascinating of all as their scientific name, Torreornis inexpectata, attests. The three distinct subspecies in Zapata Swamp (inexpectata), Cayo Coco (varonai), and Guantánamo province (sigmani) look rather different. Here the paler Cayo Coco race (first photo) that occurs mostly in dry scrub is contrasted with the yellowier Zapata race that occurs in sawgrass marshes (the eastern race is said to occur in thorn scrub)…. How’s that for ecological distinction – really makes you want to do genetic work! Although the population in the Zapata Swamp appears relatively stable, the other two populations are said to be in steep decline and habitat loss poses a major threat.

The Red-shouldered Blackbird may look an awful lot like Red-winged Blackbird but this is a Cuban endemic and, yet again one with a rather patchy distribution (only in western Cuba) and really very different from Red-winged Blackbird in terms of behaviour. I found them to be quite skulky and required work to see in the extensive sawgrass areas with scattered shrubs of the Zapata swamp.

The Greater Antillean Grackle is widespread and common and on several Caribbean islands – like so many grackles you have to look closely to appreciate their sheen!

The Cuban Oriole (Icterus melanopsis) was only recently split from the Greater Antillean Oriole (I. dominicensis, now separated as Hispaniolan Oriole) which had, prior to that, been split from the Black-cowled Oriole (I. prosthemelas)! Cuba loves to keep you on your toes…

This is not all the endemic we saw but that is about as many photos as I can squeeze into one post. As I mentioned at the beginning, click on the first image to view as a slideshow… Hope you enjoy this little sample of Cuba’s unique and imperiled avifauna!

Canyons and Monuments

2011-10-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

Youn-Young and I didn’t get to see each other very much over the summer as I was away doing fieldwork, so we took a little over a week to spend some time together and visit some of the places she had always wanted to see – the famous canyon and monument national parks in the southwestern U.S.A.

Driving southwest into eastern Colorado we spent a few hours in arid habitats where I enjoyed sightings of species like Scaled Quail and others that I have not seen many times in my life. In a rather comical moment, this Sage Thrasher and Lark Bunting posed side by side on a wire, permitting an unexpected size comparison.

Another surprise was a pair of Mississippi Kites, which the range maps in my field guides did not show in Colorado… just goes to show how quickly field guides become out of date!

We then planned a drive westward across Colorado with a stop or two in the Gunnison Valley where I wanted to seek out a potential lifer in Gunnison's Sage-Grouse. The scenery here was much more mountainous but also still somewhat dry. Youn-Young’s photo of the canyon rim at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado gives a sense of the shrubby habitat broken by coniferous forest in places that we encountered here.

As it was August, my search for Gunnison's Sage-Grouse consisted of cruising along creeks in dry sage brush habitat (exactly the strategy that had found me my lifer Greater Sage-Grouse in Oregon many years ago) at recommended sites. Sure enough, just south of the town of Gunnison, I spotted a hen with her brood. Amazingly, they were not skittish and allowed us to park on the roadside and photograph them (without getting out of the vehicle). Note the very prominent white tail bands (one of the features that differs from Greater Sage-Grouse).

Higher up we took a short hike in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, where an obliging brood of Dusky Grouse appeared magically on the trail in front of us. The speckled dusky (current name) bluish (recall their former name “Blue Grouse” before the split) plumage of this individual exhibited remarkable camouflage against the mottled rocks.

From here we drove west into eastern Utah to Arches National Park, an extremely arid landscape of red stone and patchy juniper… you get a sense of the grandeur of this place in this photo Youn-Young snuck in of me birding...

There were relatively few birds to be seen in the desert heat although Western Scrub-Jays were an almost constant campground companion…

Black-throated Sparrows also seemed relatively easy to see here, at least in the early morning,

But my real interest was to search any juniper patches for another species I had never seen before - Gray Vireo. At first, I found little else in the juniper but Juniper Titmice and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers; however, after a morning walk I noticed a ravine with a lot of juniper and suggested to Youn-Young that we go over and sit down in the shade there. When we got there, I tried playing the Gray Vireo song, a little speculatively, once on my mp3 player. Lo and behold, with a few minutes, a Gray Vireo flew in and landed above Youn-Young’s head and started scolding her... Oops! Sorry! Before long, I had located what appeared to be a family party and got a few photographic souvenirs of a long-awaited lifer!

Next stop was the spectacular Bryce Canyon! We came for the scenery of course but I was delighted with how birdy this place was – at a higher and cooler elevation with tall coniferous forests (considering the aridity of most of the surrounding landscape).

Mixed species flocks here produced many exciting western species like the handsome Grace's Warbler,

The common and curious Mountain Chickadee,

And three species of nuthatch including the fascinating Pygmy Nuthatch (I was delighted to see them low down on the trunks where I could get quality photos like this one), and many others.

From Bryce, we formulated a plan to go down to the Grand Canyon, which Youn-Young naturally wanted to see, before coming back up through Zion National Park and then homeward via Yellowstone. I insisted that we postpone ur lunch stop until we got to Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona, where I could look for California Condor. We arrived in the early afternoon at it was an unbearable 38°C and Young-Young thought I was crazy! Worse, there was no sign of anything alive except for an inquisitive Say’s Phoebe. I had almost finished lunch when I spotted three specs high above the cliff and nervously found them in my scope… immediately the large white windows on their wings indicated that I was viewing none other than the living phantom, the California Condor. Vermillion cliffs is of course one of the earliest release sites (1996) of the famous reintroduction effort that has kept this species alive… at least for now!

In the sweltering heat it was a relief to climb up to higher elevations at the rim of the Grand Canyon. One certainly learns to appreciate the staggering force of water in a place like this! The Colorado River, with its mighty erosive power, seemed to be miles below us…

Birding in the Grand Canyon area was surprisingly good with treats like Northern Pygmy-Owl, Pinyon Jay and the beautiful Acorn Woodpecker shown here.

Back up into Utah on the return leg, we stopped in at Zion National Park as planned, a landscape of more monumentous red rock and coniferous trees. This beautiful place nonetheless stirred sadness in me when I learnt of its inappropriate renaming to Zion National Park from the former Mukuntuweap National Monument (this word “apparently means “Straight Canyon” in Southern Paiute)… felt like the sad modern history of a continent wrapped up in a simple word swap! The Freemont Cottonwood trees in the canyon provided much appreciated shade and a variety of birds including species like Wild Turkey and Black-chinned Hummingbird and that I had not seen elsewhere on the trip. A second sighting of California Condor here was not much closer than my first sighting, and came only an hour after I had watched a Golden Eagle gracing the cliffs.

In the early morning, while Youn-Young slept in, I went up towards Kolob Reservoir, stopping on the sage brush slopes before dawn in the hopes of a third lifer. I only had to wait until a few minutes after dawn to hear the beautiful song of the Black-chinned Sparrow, though it took many more agonizing minutes until I got good views. In the end I saw quite a few birds, nearly all of them juveniles, as shown here, which lack the black chin that gives this species their common name.

Higher up in the forested areas near the reservoir I found more trip birds like Western Tanager and Virginia Warbler but I wanted to spend more prime time down in the arid scrubland where I could see species like this Phainopepla that I have only seen a few times in my life.

We left Zion and traveled north on the Interstate with a short stop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the edge of Great Salt Lake. The gates were closed but we found a few waterbirds and shorebirds like this Snowy Plover (recently split from the Old World Kentish Plover).

We drove through the night to arrive in the magical world of Grand Teton National Park – since a picture is said to paint 1,000 words, here are three photos (poorly stitched together into one) of the mountain chain that includes Grand Teton (the pointy peak second from left).

On the mountain slope stood lush coniferous forest; however, the flatter valley floor was clad in low shrubs, especially sagebrush, shown here.

And in that sagebrush roamed bison, deer and pronghorn (deer and antelope play). Here is a wide angle photo that tries hopelessly to capture the grandeur of pronghorn feeding in the sagebrush.

And now two with a telephoto lens to show the fine features of those beautiful animals!

Grand Teton was also good for raptors. Swainson's Hawk is not a bird one expects in the mountains (although if you have seen the trailer for the new movie the Big Year you will notice one bizarrely placed in a downhill ski scene) but they are quite at home on the sagebrush flats. This one posed on a fence pole and was unperturbed by my parking the vehicle beside them for a portrait.

Our last stop was to be Yellowstone National Park, famed for its geysers and wildlife viewing opportunities. Indeed Yellowstone was to prove excellent for wildlife watching on this visit (almost as good as the stunning Jasper National Park in Canada to give you a sense of just how good). We enjoyed sightings of mammals such as beaver, coyote, back bear, mule deer, and elk…

I see plenty of black bear in Manitoba so I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to get photos but seeing a total of FIVE Grizzly Bears was an enormous treat! Here is a photo with four of the five (in the Hayden Valley) all at once… a large male is feeding on a bison carcass while a female and two cubs wait their chance…

Another awesome highlight was seeing this timber wolf (grey wolf) in the Lamas Valley. Smaller but even better than the one I had seen in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba this year because I managed to photograph this one. Here are two photos on the wolf walking up a sagebrush slope and then a closer image.

We departed Yellowstone but there was one more order of business – the ascent of the Beartooth Pass and the quest for one more new bird for me – Black Rosy Finch. The Beartooth Pass is just northeast on Yellowstone on the Wyoming – Montana Border, and at 3,337 m ASL (almost 11,000 feet) seemed like the perfect place to look for a high altitude specialist! As we drove up into the rocky alpine zone dotted with snow packs and their pink flushes caused by snow algae (Chamydomonas nivalis) as seen in this photo, I started to feel that I had come to the right place… surely, these dappled browns, greys and pinks would harbour the black and pink gem I was seeking…

Youn-Young wanted us to head back at an appropriate hour and so I only had 90 minutes to search. Walking around the rocks, I saw several American pika, a fascinating, mouse-sized rabbit relative!

However, the only bird I seemed to be able to find was American (Buff-bellied) Pipit. I couldn’t resist trying to get a few photo of the few that were still in breeding plumage as the alpine subspecies are much more colourful than the tundra-breeding subspecies that I usually see.

The clock was ticking and over an hour went by before it happened… I heard a choppy call note from below the summit that I strongly suspected was Black Rosy Finch. Walking quickly across a boulder field I stared down in a wide rocky ravine and far below me caught sight of some small birds on the rocks. No time to waste! I scampered down until finally I caught sight of some all-dark birds feeding amongst the rocks and on the pink snow. I was looking for their pink highlights but the first birds I saw well were all juveniles with yellow bills and very little pink (like the one below) that threw me for a loop for just a few seconds until I realised why they didn’t look quite like what I was expecting…

Maneuvering into position, I watched them feeding and finally saw some adults. The Black Rosy Finch below was particularly obliging, landing close to where I sat, and also interesting in that it showed some yellow at the base of the bill but otherwise adult features… I had good intentions to try to photograph the wing feathers to see if i could find a moult limit but I got distracted by a most unexpected Brewer’s Sparrow and missed the moment when the finch flew.

A whirlwind tour and not nearly long enough to appreciate the American southwest but nonetheless packed with fond memories…

Into Wapusk National Park - Part 2

2011-09-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

The tree to tundra transition was also a special place and it was not uncommon to find multiple singing male Smith’s Longspurs (two photos of males) and Harris’s Sparrow here.

Lapland Longspur (photo of male, then female) and American Pipit were also relatively common.

These are four species that require a little work to find in Churchill and seem to be declining there. The Smith’s Longspur is always a target species for visitors to Churchill but requires effort; whereas here we would be greeted with their rich colour and song on a daily basis and we even found a nest (photo).

Travelling downstream, we perceived subtle changes in the bird community. We saw more Bonaparte’s Gulls than previously and then our first Arctic Terns (1 photo perched and one in flight) and then Parasitic Jaegers still relatively far inland.

We began seeing pairs of Semipalmated Plover on the gravel banks, accompanying the abundant Spotted Sandpipers.

Red-breasted Mergansers now became common while Common Mergansers started to become less common.

Some species which had been thinning out since we left the tracks such as Tennessee Warbler dropped out altogether. We had two surprises in store, the first being several sightings of Cedar Waxwing (apparently new for the park), the second being a Northern Mockingbird in the middle of nowhere, hanging out by a Bank Swallow colony in the steep river bank. As the river broadened we saw our first of numerous Canada Goose broods, the goslings being just a few days old. Along with the goslings though came the predators. Up until this point we had seen Bald Eagles but in the lower reaches we eventually found four different pairs of Golden Eagles! At one point, a Golden Eagle came swooping in low right over our heads and plucked a gosling off the water with just one foot (photo shows one mobbed by a Bonaparte’s Gull)! I really wanted to confirm breeding Goldens as there has always been a question of whether this species breeds in Manitoba or is just a non-breeding visitor. Alas, we did not find a nest and even though we always saw two birds at a time, since we could not distinguish male from female, we were left guessing as to what they were doing there, i.e. did they bred locally or had they just moved in for the gosling fest?

The window to paddle the Owl River comfortably is fleeting and the water levels were dropping on a daily basis. Alas, one set of rapids got the better of one canoe, after the lead canoe had gone through no problem. Perhaps a hidden shelf caused the capsize, we weren’t sure, but there were a few anxious moments until Martin and David R. managed to right their canoe and bring it into shore. The canoe was well packed and nothing was lost except Martin’s tripod that had been wedged in (instead of tied in) and his camera in his pocket in a zip lock bag was damaged thanks to a tiny break in the seal.

Martin and Dave on the other side of their dip in the Owl River. Photo: Jill Larkin

As we neared the coast, we had an additional safety concern on our minds – polar bears. We began to erect a polar bear fence around our campsite every night.

Top: camp with an alarm fence for polar bear. Bottom: view of a campsite on a sandy bar by a bend in the river. Photos: Jill Larkin

We may also have begun to look a little weary after teh long morning hikes then the long all-day paddles on a daily basis. I certainly look a little worse for wear in the photo below taken by Jill.

Near the coast, we found our one and only Horned Grebe of the trip and our first American Bitterns in quite a while plus a single Sora. Finally we reached the Parks Canada compound which is located 5 km inland from the Hudson Bay coast and were greeted by an alarmed American Golden Plover, a noisy flicker and the short sweet song of Smith’s Longspurs. Behind the compound we stumbled across a pair of Northern Shrike with 3 fledglings. This photo shows one of the fledglings on the ground.

On the following morning’s point counts, while trudging across a coastal fen, I was delighted to hear the first of seven Yellow Rails and to find a Short-eared Owl (our only owl along the Owl). That afternoon, we all decided to walk the 5 km to the coast, finding several nesting species, many shorebirds and our first Common Eiders and only Red-throated Loon of the trip.

The tide was well out though and when we looked at our GPS we realized we were standing in the bay!

All too soon, we were ready for out chopper ride back to Churchill, (2 photos) where we stayed at the new building of the Northern Studies Centre for a couple of days before boarding the southbound train.

Boarding the chopper and the view on te hway back. Photos: Jill Larkin

As we disembarked the chopper, we were told that four Polar Bears had come off the ice that day. Wow! Martin was keen to see them and, though it took several drives along the coast, we eventually found three of them including one massive individual. We were glad to see them at a safe distance from a vehicle rather than having met one on foot.

The town of Churchill produced birds we had not seen in the park along such as American Crow, House Sparrow and European Starling (that is not entirely true since Jill found a dead starling inside the Owl River compound, which might have been dropped by a passing raptor or accidently brought in with building supplies).

We completed point counts in three atlas squares from the Studies Centre to Twin Lakes but found that the densities of tundra shorebirds and tundra passerines much lower than where we had been in the park. Indeed we did not hear any Smith’s Longspur, Lapland Longspur or Northern Shrike in Churchill, Horned Larks were mysteriously scarce, and we heard only one Harris’s Sparrow – so different from our experience along the Owl River. At least some species like Parasitic Jaeger, Common Eider and Pacific Loon were more common in Churchill and there were also plenty of scoters and eiders. In addition to Polar Bear, we added Beluga, Arctic Hare and Arctic Fox to our mammal list.

The Arctic Fox sighting was partcularly dramatic. I took a whole series of photographs of one trying to steal goslings from Canada Geese but the geese stood their ground…

We also had great sightings of Red Fox with cubs at a den at Churchill but here the Red Foxes we saw were red, unlike the silver and cross foxes we had seen along the owl river.

Nonetheless it was now the end of June, no ice visible on the bay, and the migrants had moved on, so Churchill was quite different than what one would expect from a visit in early June with many fewer species. This was not the time for rarities but rather a time to appreciate those who raise their families here. We did manage to find one Iceland Gull (in close proximity to a Polar Bear) and I had brief views of a Little Gull.

The memories of our fantastic Owl River trip will linger with all of us for years to come I’m sure. I feel that we had exceptional luck on this trip and were privileged to be in such pristine wilderness. What a gem of a park we have! It is true we had to contend with several days of stiff nor’easters that forced us to paddle hard (even though the current was on our side, the wind was occasionally so strong that without paddling one came to a sit still). At least the wind was kind enough to wait until after we had finished point counting every morning before raising itself. The bird gods blessed us with freezing or near freezing nights that kept the bugs down, glorious crisp and calm mornings full of song, water levels that, even though they were dropping, were just right to carry us through, and just the right window of time to get off the river one day before the polar bears started coming off the melting sea ice. However, to chalk that up to luck would be misleading, for this trip was planned in meticulous detail by Bonnie Chartier plus Jill and Sheldon Kowalchuk of Parks Canada and others who know the north, especially Jack Dubois and Kim Monson, who’s experience and knowledge proved invaluable (they were to join us on the river until a last minute conflict made that impossible). Thank you to everyone!

We are already making plans to tackle a different section of the park next year, so this adventure will continue! And we always need volunteers…

From left to right: Jill Larkin, Christian Artuso, Martin Scott, David Raitt, David Britton, Denis Funk. Photo by Jill Larkin

Into Wapusk National Park - Part 1

2011-09-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Wapusk (from the Cree for “white bear” or polar bear) is a truly magnificent national park. Very few people get to enter it (less than 100 on an annual basis and most are researchers). This area is remote and very difficult to access at any time of year (other remote areas see winter traffic but not here). In June 2011, I was part of an expedition into the park for the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas. For two-weeks we paddled our way along the Owl River from the railway line at Herchmer to the Hudson Bay coast, a distance of 100 km as the raven flies but we put on many more clicks with the river twists and turns and our long survey transects across the tundra.
Canoes parked ahead of one of the 64 sets of rapids on the Owl River. Photo by Jill Larkin, used with permission.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of this trip was to go for two weeks without seeing a single piece of litter on the landscape (where else can you do that?). There are strict regulations in the park, right down to what is done with human feces! Moreover, we were not permitted to do anything without a bear monitor (someone with a gun). Along with the wonderful birds, there were many great wildlife sightings including otter, moose, caribou, fox, and wolf – just awesome! Long days were spent trudging across the tundra in the early morning and then paddling for up to six hours or even more to the next campsite – a grueling but exhilarating trip! We are deeply indebted to Parks Canada for making this possible.

On June 13th, Martin Scott and I boarded the train in Gillam and met up with Dave Raitt (coming from The Pas) and Judith King (from Ontario) heading north. We disembarked at the tiny “station” of Herchmer (actually an abandoned town) just over 100 km north of Gillam. Here we waited a day to meet up with Parks Canada staff Jill Larkin and Heather Stewart (in the middle of the night) coming down from Churchill. On June 15th, the six of us loaded up three canoes and, after a few practice paddles, somewhat tentatively cast off on the Owl River for a two-week journey of a lifetime into Wapusk National Park.

Off we paddle in search of birds. Photo by Jill Larkin, used with permission.

Born in Fly Lake and flowing in and out of nearby Owl Lake, roughly 25 km west of the railway line, the Owl River bear northeast and arrives at Hudson Bay approximately 100 km southeast of Cape Churchill. A narrow river with many rapids, it is flanked with boreal forest, dominated by spruces in most sections, surprisingly tall in some areas, but a little more stunted elsewhere. Travelling the river is a little like being on the prairies in the sense that when down on the river one sees only forest but if you disembark and climb the banks you are greeted with a plateau of tundra. In broad sweeping strokes, this reminded of areas of western Manitoba where I have climbed out of the Assiniboine Valley riparian forests to find prairie atop… ah, but the details differed indeed!

A view of the Owl River in asection with steep banks. Photo by Jill Larkin, used with permission.

Near the train line, the forest extends further back well off the river and there are some areas with relatively recent burns, but you don’t have to travel very far to the east to meet the tundra transition and to start picking up species like Smith’s Longspur. A little surprisingly, however, (at least for your truly) there seems to be a bit of a transition back into boreal forest closer to the coast again before the forest finally gives way to the coastal fens and then the intertidal zone where sprawling bear prints send shudders down your spine and the waves deposit memories of era long passed…

… And birds abound! So may highlights, so many smiles creeping across your face, it is a little hard to know where to start… so i will do this chronologically. No sooner had Martin, Dave, Judith and I unloaded the canoe Judith had brought north from the train and piled the bags neatly, I issued to order to point count first and eat later! Well, hey, we were still shy of the four and a half hour after local sunrise cut off – a time that cannot be replaced! Working in teams in different directions along the tracks we counted until the sun climbed too high, recording our first surprises – Pacific Loons and Surf Scoters, which we hadn't expected this far inland. Were they breeding here or waiting for more northern lakes to thaw? Certainly there seemed to be some pair bonding and such shenanigans but we all know that waterfowl don’t wait for the breeding grounds to begin that dance.

For the first time we were greeted by the mournful whistle of Harris’s Sparrows and the fluty song of Gray-cheeked Thrushes and Blackpoll Warblers (male shown in photo below) seemed to be dripping from the trees.

I even found the first of many Willow Ptarmigan along the railway, another species which I was not expecting so far inland in June.

Swampier sections echoed with the buzzy song of Palm Warbler, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Swamp Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow and others, and I found an unexpected Winter Wren in a section of taller trees near the water before a little evening rain ended a long day. As with the Thompson – Gillam section there were a lot of White-winged Crossbills around but here their flight calls were joined by those of Common Redpoll.

The train came by on time (who’d have thunk it?) in the middle of the night, though Judith was the only one to hear it, permitting a dark and drowsy rendez-vous with Jill and Heather. All settled back down for a little more sleep ahead of a long paddle, except Dave and I who set out at 2am for a long walk on the tracks so he could finish the remaining points in one square while I yomped a further 10km to the next square and squeezed in 15 more point counts. The counting was done before 9 am and we assembled to go over the plans and protocols and load the canoes. How are we going to load all this stuff?? Well, it is amazing what a canoe can hold! Thank goodness Heather knew what she was doing!

The river had many twists and turns that would take us, now closer, now further, to our first campsite. Martin counted each rapid that Heather led us through – over 20 on the first day and we didn’t line a single one of them! Northern Waterthrushes, Blackpoll Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Tree Sparrows, Fox Sparrows and others serenaded us as we paddled.

We soon established a pattern camping near a square boundary, or better yet the corner of four squares, then splitting into two groups to do our morning surveys, coming back for a late breakfast before canoeing 20 km or more to the next camp site. In the burnt areas just west of the park boundary and just inside the park we found Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers, Spruce Grouse, Bohemian Waxwings and Common Nighthawks. We found our only Olive-sided Flycatcher just west of the park boundary and it wasn’t too long before we saw our first of several Northern Shrikes.

Rusty Blackbirds were common and often caused me to pause from paddling so I could waypoint them (since they are Special Concern). Just inside the park our walks up and away from the river revealed the magical world of the tundra, clad in the subtle greens, reds, yellows and browns of lichens and other ground covers, soft and bouncy underfoot but not as treacherous as the boreal bogs thanks to the permafrost layer below.

The landscape was dotted with melt water ponds of all sizes where both yellowlegs, snipe, Hudsonian Godwit, Whimbrel, Red-necked Phalarope, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper (photo shows one walking over dew clad tundra), Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, American Golden Plover and other shorebirds displayed with zeal.

As is common among birds that use song to advertise territory, many of the shorebirds would perch on the stunted tree tops to call and display, thereby permitting their voices to carry further across the tundra (see photo in previous posting of the perching bird of Wapusk)

We found all three species of scoter and Long-tailed Duck on some of the larger ponds, often in pairs, and sometimes behaving suspiciously as though they had a nest to conceal. On one occasion, a female Black Scoter slinking away furtively along the shoreline while a male looked anxiously on from the middle of the pond caused us to divert our energy briefly away from point counting and into nest searching but we didn’t find the nest and realizing that the birds were stressed we decided to vacate the area. I really wanted to confirm breeding for the scoters but alas “P for pair” was the highest we could muster. I was able to find nests of other species such as Tundra Swan, some of the shorebirds and some of the ground-nesting passerines.

To be continued...

Perching Birds of Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada

2011-09-02T19:32:00.001-07:00

If you think that the term “perching birds” is synonymous with the passerines, try a trip to the Hudson Bay coast area (these photos from Wapusk National Park, Manitoba Canada) and you may be surprised who is perched on the treetops...

(from left to right: Bonaparte’s Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, Willow Ptarmigan, Hudsonian Godwit)

more detailed posts from this area to follow!

Guest Blog: The Land That Gives Life

2011-08-28T07:18:00.001-07:00

I was asked by Jeff Wells to do a guest blog posting on the topic of our recent bird surveys on the eastside of Lake Winnipeg. This can be accessed at:

http://www.borealbirds.org/blog/?p=870

Great Summer!

2011-07-19T21:19:00.001-07:00

It has been an amazing summer of bird atlassing in numerous remote areas of Manitoba. I will slowly get around to processing the photographic record but, in the meantime, here is my first teaser and one of the many outstanding highlights… do you know who this is?

Barn Swallow Threatened in Canada?

2011-05-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Citing declines (in some areas) by as much as 76% in the past 40 years, COSWEIC recently decided to list the Barn Swallow as Threatened (see: http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct7/sct7_3_17_e.cfm).

Barn Swallow is one of several common insectivorous species experiencing declines and the cause is the subject of much debate. It remains unclear whether habitat change, insect distribution, abundance and phenology, or climate are at the root of these declines. Barn Swallow began declining in the mid 1980s; however, their present population is still generally considered to be higher in Canada now than before Europeans altered the landscape so drastically. Furthermore, the sources of the data available to assess swallow declines reveal biases and needs to taken with a large grain of salt. It will be interesting to watch the reaction to this listing both in Canada and in the international scientific community. This and several other recent COSEWIC decisions; for example, the recent listing of Bobolink and other species where COSEWIC's assessment differed radically from Birdlife International despite relying on largely the same data sets, have the potential to result in a tarnishing of our reputation… or perhaps provoking a wider discussion on what it means to call a species "Threatened"!

Barn Swallows perch just outside the entrance to Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretative Centre, Manitoba (perhaps to greet Peter Pyle or other visitors on the day)…

Band-tailed Pigeon in Winnipeg

2011-05-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

After last year’s White-winged Dove, Manitoba seems to be on a bit of a rare columbid roll with a Band-tailed Pigeon found yesterday in Winnipeg. I managed this shot early this morning, between light rain showers, that shows the neck pattern and a bit of the tail pattern that gives this species their name.

Here come the sparrows...

2011-05-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

In the last week or so the sparrow invasion has been on big time! A little late this year but always very enjoyable. In particular I like to scatter seed and leaf litter together and photograph the sparrows as they come through... here are a few of this spring’s visitors to my yard…

Among the first to arrive are the American Tree Sparrows with their rufous crown and bicoloured bill (they were record late this year and stayed in my yard until the last day of April)

Dark-eyed Juncoes are not too far behind. I lsee a lot of variation in juncos here (but that is worthy of a post on its own so I will stick to a few classic Slate-coloureds here).

The Fox Sparrows are also among the first wave of arrivals. These large sparrows are heading north and don’t stick around here too long. Here are a few views of their rich colouration. The last photo illustrates their classic “feeding hop” – they scratch around in the dirt with a two-footed backward flick that sends dirt flying everywhere and exposes lots of goodies to eat…

Then it is Zono time – i.e. the Zonotrichia sparrows, a genus of large and distinctive sparrows. There are five in the world of which we see three here (White-throated, White-crowned and Harris’s). The White-throated Sparrows are famous for their “Oh Canada” song. There are two major forms, white striped (first) and tan striped (second photo)…

And sometimes they show a little aggression!

In spring migration I see them in my yard alongside their beautiful congenitor, the White-crowned Sparrow...

And the largest of all the Zonotrichia, the mighty Harris’s Sparrow. Their distribution is more restricted than the previous two and they migrate through the center of the continent but not very far east or west (making them much sought-after by some visiting birders to Manitoba).

Among the many smaller sparrows that pass through my yard, I have been graced this year with numerous subtly plumaged Lincoln’s Sparrows – the first photo shows what they look like in profile whereas as the second reveals their distinctive breast pattern (buffy wash, streaks and central spot) and crown pattern.

There have been many other sparrows in my yard such as Song, Swamp, Clay-colored and Chipping; hwoever I thought I should mention a few of my finch visitors too. House Finches are regular breeders in the city but in migration I get to see them side by side with the Purple Finches that are migrating through. Here is a comparison of the males (House first then Purple)...

And now a comparison of the females (House Finch first then Purple Finch).

I’ll leave you to study the difference (or post a comment and shake me out of my laziness to go into the various features to look for)… Of course, that is just and smattering of the birds in my yard in spring migration but I better get some rest…. The warblers are on their way!

Hawks At A Distance

2011-04-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

A sequel to a birding guide? Jerry Liguori follows “Hawks From Every Angle” with “Hawks At A Distance”. An intriguing concept – take a few hundred of the most distant, silhouetted, weird angle photos and combine them into a field guide… not exactly what most readers would expect or desire but very useful to raptor enthusiasts and hawk counters! Less than 200 pages, light and compact – makes me wonder why the whole thing was not included as a subsection in “Hawks From Every Angle”, especially since the two combined make a stronger reference. Part of the compactness comes from only dealing with common species (29 species covered and may of these relegated to an afterthought). Nonetheless, this book does have advantage of being about the right size to throw into a WIDE coat pocket while you sit at a raptor count… and those images are useful in such a situation! Mostly this book is just hundred s of small photos with even smaller subject matter (take a look at these two two-page spreads of Sharp-shinned Hawk)

It is not hard to see how useful those images might be when you get a partial view, brief view or distant view of a raptor… and the text has some useful suggestions to remember in such circumstances. Definitely a step away from the concept of conveying the “beauty” of a given species in favour of practicality. It seems we are seeing a bit of a trend in this regard, although, personally, I still greatly prefer the Birds of Europe type approach that seems to portray both the close up detail and the distant GISS so well in amazingly little space. But hey, it is raptor counting season, so I will give this little book a try as soon as I find time to get to the bridge or the valley…

The Crossley ID Guide - a review

2011-02-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

The new Crossley ID Guide has been touted as a revolution in field guide layout so I was very keen to take a look. The thing that needs to be said right off the bat; however, is that at 20 x 25.5 cm (8 x 10 inches) and with 529 pages and weighing 2 kg, the Crossley ID Guide is NOT a field guide! It is however a very useful reference for home consultation.

The Crossley Guide covers U.S.A and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains and has a photomontage for each species with a brief text discussing status, habitat and ID, and a range map (maps a little outdated for parts of Canada as so often the case). Though it is natural to market this as a “new” concept, it is of course is a very old concept that has been revisited with new technology, i.e. with photos rather than illustrations. It differs from other recently published photo-based guides in the placement of each species in a "three-dimensional" montage. Each plate can be likened to a museum diorama, packed with illustrations of the species in question in numerous postures (including many flight shots) and all the main plumage types. In most cases, all the major plumage types are well illustrated, with a handful of exceptions, e.g. the ptarmigans. Most of the plumages are labeled, with just a few errors of omission. It is an extraordinary achievement to have assembled so many photographs of so many species, including vagrants and accidentals and including ultra skulkers like Yellow Rail and Black Rail, though of course Crossley borrowed some photos from friends. Most of the photos are excellent; only a few being pixellated or soft or poorly exposed. The photomontages are crowded but this is a deliberate choice to pack in as much information as possible. Some birds are hidden in the background, which provides for a certain element of “fun” and realism. For the most part they are flawlessly executed and show the relevant ID features to good effect (there are a few exceptions, e.g. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper). The text is succinct and generally useful, though would benefit from augmentation in a few cases. Arrows to point to key ID features or other such highlights are not used.

This book does not follow a taxonomic arrangement of species, which decreases the utility for experienced birders (makes it harder to find things) but is possibly useful to beginners. The governing principle seems to similarity of appearance. In the layout of the photomontages themselves, great attention has been paid to aesthetics, even over utility. Many easy to identify species get full-page treatment whereas others that are more difficult to identify get much less space and consequently less detail. I find that decision perplexing. Furthermore, confusingly similar species are not always placed side by side, which also seems incomprehensible. Occasionally two or more species are shown together in one corner of the same plate for comparative purposes but this technique could have, and I feel should have, been used much more, especially in groups like waterfowl and seabirds.

Here are two examples of two-page spreads to give you a sense of the concept. The Sedge Wren + Marsh Wren is discussed below under “Specific Criticisms” and the “Forster’s Tern + Common Tern” is discussed under ‘Specific Advantages”.

Detailed comments provided below:

Specific criticisms:
· The background photo for the Marsh Wren and Sedge Wren are very poorly chosen. The Marsh Wren shows some birds appropriately perched on reeds in the foreground but the background is a sedge meadow, i.e. the right habitat for Sedge Wren and the wrong habitat for Marsh Wren. Conversely the Sedge Wren is shown in a cattail marsh, great habitat for Marsh Wren but wrong for Sedge Wren. This suggests the author is unfamiliar with these species and gives the reader a completely inaccurate impression.
· The photomontage for the Common Ringed Plover should have been placed opposite Semipalmated Plover for ease of comparison. Instead we find Mountain Plover occupying that space. A bizarre choice especially given that the book is not arranged taxonomically. The author has achieved an incredible feat in having a photo of both Semiplamtaed Plover and Common Ringed Plover head on with one foot raised so as to be able to show the differences in the inner webbing (that gives the Semipalmated Plover their name); however, inexplicably, he chose to crop the raised foot at the page edge and ruin the comparison. There are numerous other examples of poor placement, e.g. Bay-breasted Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler, Connecticut Warbler and Mourning Warbler and others.
· Though I fully admit it is difficult to take photos of different species in identical postures, I think there are several examples where the photos used in the plate were poorly chosen or poorly positioned. This is true in some cases with flight shots where one is hoping to compare “apples with apples” in terms of a field mark such as wingtip pattern but despite the large number of photos used, the dissimilarities in posture make comparison difficult. An example of a pair of common species where this could be better done is Downy Woodpecker versus Hairy Woodpecker. All the field marks are shown but the images could be better chosen and better positioned on the plate to highlight the differences in bill size and, especially, tail pattern.
· Position on plate of similar age / sex / plumage should be more consistent to enable easier comparisons of similar species. Examples of this include the two-fold spread of Black-bellied Plover versus American Golden-Plover, the comparison of Lazuli Bunting versus Indigo Bunting, and the Chimney Swift versus Vaux’s Swift distinction (marred by poor layout, underexposed photos and unequal sizes, especially tiny size of the latter, that makes comparison extremely difficult).
· Some plumages are missing (not many). The Ross’s Gull plate does not show a bird in full alternate plumage but rather a bird where the collar is curiously faded. Likewise the only photo of a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in full breeding plumage is very small and backgrounded. A few others, e.g. some warblers, have bird photos that are labeled as breeding plumage but which are not quite in full breeding plumage. The worn plumage of Black-capped Chickadee is not shown (nor any photo of that species that shows how buffy they can be in the flanks in summer and winter)
· More attention should be paid to size of species relative to other species, especially similar looking species on neighbouring plates. For example, the American Three-toed Woodepcker looks larger than the Black-backed Woodpecker when the reverse is true
· One of the Eurasian Collared-Doves looks like a domestic variety or Ringed Turtle-Dove (though the undertail is partially obscured)
· A flight shot of a roding American Woodcock should have been included
· The Western Willet is shown in the type of habitat one would find this bird in winter (on a sandy beach), whereas the Eastern Willet appears in summer habitat. This was done because the western Willets winter further north and can be seen through the winter in U.S.A; however, these two subspecies exhibit considerable ecological differences which pertains especially to their breeding habitat selection (they overlap much more in passage and winter in terms of habitat utilised) so a good opportunity was missed to demonstrate how the western Willet “fits” their habitat and a reader who is not familiar with the species could get rather confused as to why the “prairie breeding” form is being shown on the coast! (still, great to see the plumage differences between western and eastern Willets illustrated)
· The text of Red-naped Sapsucker says the species occurs in the Black Hills and rare elsewhere in “our region” but the background photo looks like the Rocky Mountains and does not look at all like Red-naped Sapsucker habitat.

Specific advantages:
· Wonderful to see different subspecies side by side in photos. This alone is enough to make this book a useful reference resource! (e.g. Greater White-fronted Goose)
· Great to see male and female difference defined for so many species where the difference is subtle (e.g. Common Nighthawk)
· Generally excellent effort to show each species’ association with their habitat, although done better in some cases than others
· Some of the two-fold spreads are a wonderful way to study differences; for example, Warbling Vireo versus Philadelphia Vireo, though I thought it should have included a more yellowish Warbling Vireo as well.
· Likewise, the two-page spread of Common Tern versus Forster’s Tern is an example of a carefully planned and well-executed comparison of two similar species, showing key features such as upperwing and underwing pattern. Although there is a statement in the text of Forster’s Tern that reads “Diagnostic dark mask in most plumages”, which is counterfactual and unhelpful (requires A LOT of qualification!).
· Text generally very useful although not all of the terms used in the text are defined in the bird topography section, which beginners will find frustrating.
· Generally attractive appearance could generate interest amongst younger readers and encourage them to start scanning everyday scenes for birds

In summary, I’ll keep a copy at home and will consult regularly but won’t throw it into my backpack!

Owls en route...

2011-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

People sometimes asked me why, after having lived in so many countries, I would now live in frigid Manitoba, Canada. Aside from having an awesome job working towards developing citizen science and for conservation, there are some perks to being this close to the magnificent boreal forest, even if it is brutally cold. Recently I traveled to a few spots in Manitoba to do atlas presentations and workshops and en route got to see one of the things that makes living in Manitoba so appealing – lots of owls! The photos below are from a short “owl prowl” yesterday with some students from University College of the North – they were in for quite a treat!

Here is the Great Gray Owl we saw (or Great Grey Owl if you prefer) near Pinawa, Manitoba. Perched out in the light snow, this handsome phantom of the boreal forest was not in the least worried about our presence. Notice how they tuck their feet under the body feathers when perched to reduce exposure to bare parts.

Here is the same bird listening intently while hunting…

And why not zoom in for a close up of that face (which we discussed as the students watched the owl in the spotting scope). The large, flat face is shaped like a pair of satellite dishes (separated by a ridge down the middle of the face) with a ruff of stiff feathers around the outside and a pattern of concentric circles. This face, beautiful though it be, is not designed for beauty (nor for aerodynamics) but rather for… LISTENING! Great Grays have asymmetrical ears (one higher and one lower) and they use the slight difference in timing in the arrival of a sound to one ear over the other to pinpoint prey that they cannot see; for example, a vole under the snow. The satellite dish-like shape of the face and the stiff feathers surrounding it funnel sound to the ears. The separation of each half of the face further enhances their ability to pinpoint prey. With this face, Great Grays can hear the movements of a vole that is several feet under the snow. Their long legs help them to plunge through the snow but it is their precision hearing that enables them to capture prey they cannot see.

Great Grays also have such a magical “soft” and leisurely flight style that I never tire of trying to capture photos of them in flight, or launching into flight… here are a few samples from yesterday. Here are a few flight shots I took yesterday. The first three illustrate take off…

And this photo shows the "turn, drop and launch" technique. If you look closely at the secondaries you can see the different feather generations indicating an adult bird…

We also had fantastic looks at four Northern Hawk Owls. After some instruction, the students were even getting the search image down and spotting their own owls! When this Northern hawk Owl chose to fly right over our heads it was great to “hear” everyone’s smiling faces while I clicked a few flight shots…

These are the perks of my job!

Quick Quizz - Why are they fighting?

2011-02-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hey folks - we'll get back to Peru as soon as I can squeeze a little time but meanwhile thought I'd keep you on your toes with this one. Look at this series of photos of a Loggerhead Kingbird and a Northern Mockingbird and see if you can figure out what they are fighting about (then scroll down for the answer)

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The answer is a katydid (just behind the dead palm frond) - if you spotted this, well done! if not, I cropped out the katydid below

The Northern Mockingbird got the tasty morsel on this occasion...

Peru: Part 6 - Deeper Down Into the Cloud Forest

2011-01-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

The mid elevation cloud forests (from approximately 1000 m ASL up to around 1800 m ASL) are particularly rich in species. The forest structures changes subtly with altitude (e.g. the trees typically get taller at lower elevations) and so, even though some species are found across a wide altitudinal belt, others have a very narrow altitudinal range. The range maps of many of the more specialised species look like a thin north/south line. The two images below give you a sense of this magnificent forest. In the first image you can see the famous Manu Road, carved out of the side of the steep mountain valley. Notice the humidity and the patches of midst. In the second you can see the lower section of the valley as it widens and just a hint of the Madre De Dios River at the bottom.

Some dazzling gems can be found in these elevations, so why not start this post with one of the most famous of this ecosystem – the Andean Cock-of-the Rock. The dazzling large red contigids make a cacophony when on the lek as they dance and squabble for position. Here are a series of photos of males strutting their stuff at one of the leks along the Manu Road. Two photos with flash and two without to give you a sense of how lighting work in the dark understorey of the tall forest.

The fruiteaters are suboscine relatives of the Cock-of-the-Rocks, a group of mostly green contingids, many with colourful head patterns that are adapted to feeding on fruit in the canopy. The coloud combination of a predominantly green body with marking and other colours in the head area is common among many tropical canopy-dwelling frugivores from several families (birds as diverse as barbets, parrots, fruit-pigeons, leafbirds, tanagers and others). This combination offers good camouflage since green birds can be incredible difficult to see in the leaves, while also leaving room for the vibrant colours often associated with sexual selection. This is the Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater.

The foliage-gleaners on the other hand seem to spend a lot of time proving dead leaves and are typically reddish brown in colour. Here a Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner demonstrates their versatility. The first photo shows a classic pose that illustrates well the GISS of this group, the second shot shows this bird utilizing their skill as acrobats to take advantage of nectar, a rich food source, while the last photo shows this birds having just pried an insect prey item from dead leaves.

The handsome Lined Antshrike mostly stays well hidden in the vegetation but this one popped up just long enough for a photo…

There are many flycatchers in the mid elevations! From this diminutive understorey-dwelling Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant...

To the large, canopy-dwelling Golden-crowned Flycatcher,

And almost everything in between, including the common and conspicuous and incredibly handsome Cinnamon Flycatcher of open areas and mostly midstorey and the subanopy

The elegant midstorey insectivore, Slaty-capped Flycatcher...

The stylish Streak-necked Flycatcher is also mostly found in the midstorey but, despite their name, they are a fruit-eater (yes, that’s right, some of the New World flycatchers don’t eat insects).

The Peruvian Tyrannulet is also primarily a frugivore and is most commonly found at the forest edge, though sometimes they move with mixed species flocks. That is only a handful of the flycatcher diversity found here!

Speaking of diversity… the mid elevations hold a stupefying array of tanagers and mixed species flocks great the observer with an explosion of colour. The following is a selection of some of the tanagers that move through the forest, often with multiple species foraging together in flocks that leave the observer scrambling to try and account for all present! We start with possibly the gaudiest of all large avian genera, the Tangara tanagers. Here is one of my favourites and a true Andean gem – the Golden Tanager!

From gold to blue – here is the aptly named Paradise Tanager

Why not gold and blue together – the Saffron-crowned Tanager

Somewhat similar but yet so distinct, just wait 'til you find a Flame-faced Tanager in your binoculars (you’ll be the one with the flaming face!) – two views of this stunner!

The stylish Blue-necked Tanager puts in a appearance...

Somewhere in the vast nebulous hue between blue and green, the Beryl-spangled Tanager...

And right alongside them, the Metallic-green Tanager (and you thought colourful birds were always easy to identify?)

Some of the Tanagra tanagers are more subtly coloured, like this Spotted Tanager

And some even make use of black as part of their unique uniform… apologies for the poor quality photo of this Silver-backed Tanager.

Of course, there are other genera of tanagers present in these flocks too. I never quite managed a good photo of the phenomenally vibrant Orange-eared Tanager.

The Vermillion Tanager looks superficially like some of the North American Piranga (e.g. Scarlet Tanager) but is a true tanager (not a cardinal like the Piranga).

A tanager by any other name… this Black-eared Hemispingus is also a tanager.

And this bird… well, this bird… yes, a tanager but unlike any other really… the classy Magpie Tanager. Here are two photo, the first showing the distinct shape and the second showing the plumage pattern up close and personal…

In addition to tanagers, there are other families that join mixed species flocks like this Slate-throated Redstart, a.k.a. Slate-throated Whitestart, a wood-warbler… If you have seen this species in Central America you may know that the Central American birds have red bellies whilst the Andean birds have yellow bellies.

And even when you don’t find a flock, there is colour to be found. This is the White-fronted Nunbird. The nunbirds and puffbirds are a uniquely Neotropical family of near-passerines related to woodpeckers.

Every time you stumble upon a trogon you are in for a treat – they always appear to have such vibrant colours… This is a Collared Trogon (yes, I used flash for this photo).

A real bonus find on the Manu Road for me was this female Lyre-tailed Nightjar brooding a large chick. She had chosen a straw roof for a nest-site and was covered from above by a corrugated piece of sheet metal. I took this photo in the pouring rain but she remained high and dry.

There are plenty of hummers too like the elegant Long-tailed Sylph. This is a juvenile male whose tail has not reached full length (see my older post on Colombian hummers for a look at an adult male).

And here is a Sapphire-spangled Emerald – a gem no doubt though the name is perhaps a touch of overkill.

And there are plenty of mammals in these forest too though they are harder to see. Here is a Common Wooly-Monkey taking a fistful of fruit.

I was elated to see the rare, elusive and nocturnal Andean Night-Monkey while owling one night…

Then imagine our amazement to find one of these seldom seen animals by day…

Just goes to show that you never know what you might see in the seemingly dark and impenetrable cloud forest…

Net we drop down into the Upper Tropical Zone and towards the Peruvian lowlands. That will be the last area we visit in this series – at least until I find a way to get into the Amazonian lowlands on a future trip.

Peru: Part 5 - Cloud Forest

2011-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

As you descend out of the elfin forest the trees begin to get larger and larger and covered in mosses. You are entering into the mysterious cloud forest, so named because of the mist that so often shrouds these lush and humid tropical forests. Cloud forests have extraordinary biodiversity but difficult viewing conditions and hide some of the world’s most secretive species. Peru's cloud forests in particular are home to a veritable multitude of avian enigmas, several of which are featured in this post. You can spend hours in these habitats and see very little or you can luck into a mixed flocks where the trees seem to be dripping with birds and you don’t know where to look. Here are three images to give you a sense of this habitat, starting with a wide angle and then zooming in to show some of the structural complexity of this habitat type.

The next photo shows you how large the trees can be. To offer some perspective, the Crimson-bellied Woodpecker in this photo is 35 cm in length (just a little smaller than Pileated Woodpecker but in the same genus as Ivory-billed Woodpecker).

Get prepared for a lot of rain in this habitat... and for a lot of wet birds! In the next photo, as in several others in this series of posts from the eastern Andes you will notice the rain falling on the seemingly oblivious subject. This is an Andean Guan, who sat still for a long time during this rain shower. The guans and chachalacas may look similar in some respects to pheasants but they have much more arboreal habits, as shown here.

There are raptors in the cloud forest, although they can be hard to see. Often they remain concealed in the subcanopy. Sometimes you get lucky to observe them perched on emergent trees or flying above the canopy. This bird was one of the highlights of my trip to Peru – the extremely rare and localized Semicollared Hawk, which we unexpectedly saw in northern Peru, an apparent range extension of several hundred kilometres for this species.

Hummingbird diversity in the eastern Andes is simply staggering but once again in the dense forest these little gems can be hard to see, especially the ones that dart through the undergrowth. Here is a Green-fronted Lancebill in a sea of green. I particularly like this photo because it shows the dense and dark green world that these beautiful birds live in. Green-fronted Lancebill live along forested streams, usually in the lower storey of the forest. They exhibit a behaviour known as “traplining”, which means visiting a series of feeding locations in a series. This interesting alternative strategy (as opposed to say defending a small territory to keep out competitors for example) is found in several hummingbird species and other birds.

The Sparkling Violetear is one of the most widespread and common hummers in the Andes.

The Chestnut-breasted Coronet is much les common and has a rather unique plumage for a hummer. The throat does have some iridescence though not visible here.

The Bronzy Inca lacks iridescence altogether. Though they lack colour, they are an impressive bird to watch, that is if you can find them in the dark forest.

The Sapphire-vented Puffleg does have iridescent plumage, but in a unusual spot – the undertail coverts. Here I used a little fill flash to highlight the feature that gives this species their name.

The Royal Sunangel was discovered on the same 1976 expedition that discovered Long-whiskered Owlet (and a third species we will meet in just a moment). Endemic to a small area of northern Peru and extreme southern Ecuador, this endangered species is truly breathtaking in their glistening navy blue uniform. Finding this bird feeding in shrubbery at the forest edge was a very special moment!

But perhaps the biggest prize of all the Peruvian hummingbirds is the endangered, enigmatic, elusive, endemic Marvelous Spatuletail. Confined to a tiny global range in the Utcubamba Valley, this bird is a denizen of the dense humid forests with dense undergrowth. Their tail is reduced to just 4 feathers, two long and straight central rectices and two ridiculously long outer rectrices that are basically just the feather shaft with a very large racket on the end. Their display involved an energetically costly flight pattern that causes the rackets to be suspended high in the air. This first image shows a male with his rackets trailing behind him and the flash gives you a sense of the iridescence...

The second image, without flash, gives some impression of the dark understorey of the forest these birds live in.

This third images shows a little of how the rackets can be suspended in the air in display (and just how long they are)

And here is a juvenile male who has just started to grow his rackets and gain his iridescent crown. Notice how large the rackets are in relation to the bird!

When most people hear the word “quetzal”, they think of the Resplendant Quetzal with their elongated plumes of Central America. There are however five quetzal species: Resplendent, Eared, Pavonine, Crested, White-tipped and this, the Golden-headed Quetzal.

As always in this post series we find ourselves coming back to the suboscine passerines. This time we start with a remarkable elusive group – the ground antbirds (antpittas and antthrushes to be specific). These birds are denizens of the dark forest floor and they are secretive and shy, making them be extremely difficult to see well. This Ochre-fronted Antpitta is one of the small Grallaricula antpittas and is the third big discovery that was made in 1976 in northern Peru (Long-whiskered Owlet, Royal Sunangel and Ochre-fronted Antpitta) and is equally as rare and elusive as the other two – also an endangered range-restricted endemic! I was over the moon to see this male and to get at least record photos (too dark to focus properly). Like the Long-whiskered Owlet, this is another one of those species that very few people in the world have seen.

In these habitats, I like to try an early morning “pitta walk”. That is, walking a forest rtail as quickly and quietly as possible in the hope of surprising a ground bird out on the trail at first light. Many forest ground birds are sensitive to ground vibrations so you need to be as light on your feet as possible – not always easy on a muddy trail. With luck, if you are moving at the right speed and are light of foot, you can surprise one of the forest’s most secretive species as you come around a corner. And so it was, as I snuck around the trail at La Esperanza in the early morning that I chanced upon this Barred Antthrush (again too dark to focus… augh). I know this is a terrible photo but it gives a sense of this mysterious creature. Barred Antthrush are extremely elusive and almost never seen.

The woodcreepers are also suboscines of course but much easier to see than the ground dwellers. This is a Montane Woodcreeper feeding in characteristic fashion, probing the bark and epiphytes for tasty bugs.

Canopy dwellers can be difficult to see in this habitat and quite a few are green in colour and blend with the foliage. This is the superb Green-and-black Fruiteater (a member of the Contigidae family).

Some of the flycatchers are greenish too. Here a Bolivian Tyrannulet forages in the rain.

And this Sierran Elaenia moves through the understorey revealing their crown patch

In a bamboo thicket lurks one of Peru’s most sought after flycatchers, the tiny Johnson’s Tody-Flycatcher (a.k.a Johnson’s Tody-Tyant), which was first described as recently as 2001. This colourful but skulking species was formerly Lulu’s Tody-Tyrant but was renamed to honour of the discoverer after his passing. It can take a fair but of work to get a look at this range-restricted endemic species in their preferred bamboo thickets. This species is listed as Vulnerable.

Another flycatcher found in bamboo and dense undergrowth is the Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant. Here is my attempt at an artistic effect to show the complicated structure of the undergrowth using flash bouncing off the bamboo.

Out on the cliff faces and more exposed rocky slopes where the vegetation cannot grow so lush there are other species that find a suitable niche, such as this elegant Rufous-tailed Tyrant.

Of course, there are oscine passerines here too. A few examples include this Black-faced Brush Finch lurking in the undergrowth.

And this Three-striped Warbler.

And, in addition to birds there are many fascinating mammals in these habitats although the thick and lush vegetation makes them difficult to see in most cases. This is a photo of a Yellow-tailed Wooly-Monkey taken near La Esperanza (a site dedicated to their conservation). The Yellow-tailed Wooly-Monkey is one of the rarest primates on the planet and I consider myself exceptionally fortunate to have seen them! The history of our knowledge of this species gives you some sense of their extreme rarity. The Yellow-tailed Wooly-Monkey was described in 1812 from a skin taken from a local man but the lack of observations in the wild cause some to fear it extinct until 1974 when one was found being kept as a pet. Recently, these beautiful primates were found in the La Esperanza area and efforts are being made for their conservation there (see http://www.neoprimate.org).

Farewell 2010

2011-01-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

Note to self: here is the year that was...

2010 Year list = 1018 species seen (↑) from 4 countries, of which
* 580 species from Peru was a huge boost
* ~375 species were lifers
* First bird of the year = Bearded Screech-Owl
* Last bird of the year = Black-throated Blue Warbler

On the way, I:
* saw 2 species in Canada for the first time (=) (Curve-billed Thrasher & Yellow-throated Warbler)
* saw 4 species in Manitoba for the first time (↑) (Rock Wren, Lazuli Bunting, Curve-billed Thrasher & Yellow-throated Warbler)
* submitted 5654 records for 254 Breeding Bird Atlas squares
* completed 383 point counts
* did 1 BBS (=), and co-lead 1 CBC (=)
* submitted 2004 ebird checklists (↑) (5th highest in Canada)
* published one peer-reviewed article and several other articles (↓)

Lots of room for improvement in 2001, but hey, since the first bird of the year was a Barn Owl, it’s gotta be a good year!

ID Challenge #2

2011-01-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

And here, to make everyone feel great, is just what you wanted for New Year - an ID challenge!! See if you can identify the bird in this photo without looking at the few clues below:

Clue 1: I am a common Nearctic (North American) passerine,
Clue 2: This photo is seasonally inappropriate,
Clue 3: Once lumped but maybe soon to be re-split.

Happy New Year!!

Peru: Part 4 - Descent into the Elfin Forest

2010-12-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

As you descend eastward from the altiplano and the sparse vegetation of the high Andes, you notice the humidity increasing and the vegetation becomes covered in moss. Around 3000 m ASL you come into the habitat type often referred to as “elfin forest”. Trees are stunted and gnarled at this high elevation. In a sense it feel a bit like being at treeline in the northern hemisphere because, at least in terms of plant growth, moving up a mountain side can be similar to moving north, although in the case of the elfin forests, the cold winds and nutrient poor soils are apparently the major factor in determining the extent of plant growth.

I wish I had managed some photos of the beautiful elfin forest but every time I was in this habitat type it was extremely foggy. So I thought I would start this post with this photo of a Red-crested Cotinga sitting atop a high elevation shrub with the cloud-covered Andean slope looming in the background.

And here is a closer look at this impressive bird. The cotingas are a fascinating, mostly-frugivorous Neotropical family (recall the Peruvian Plantcutter from my post on the dry forest). The Red-crested Cotinga may not be quite as colourful as some of the all blue members of this family, or some of the mostly green members (the fruiteaters), or some of the large and bizarre cotingids we will meet later in this series like umbrellabirds and cock-of-the-rock, but they are sleek and stylish in the grey plumage with erectable red crest. As with many cotingas, they like to sit on very high perches. On this particular occasion (unlike so many of my break-neck experiences trying to photograph cotingas), I was on a ridge and so didn’t have to look up very high into the small treetops to get his photo.

A little lower in elevation one meets the Red-crested Cotinga’s cousin, the Chestnut-crested Cotinga. This first photo shows this cotinga, once again, perched high in the canopy. On this occasion I was looking out across a forested valley. You will notice the heavily moss-laden branches in this humid habitat. The second photo shows the plumage to better effect; however, in both cases, the crest us held flat and so it is a little bit difficult to see the feature that earned this species their name.

Sticking with the suboscine passerines for a while, here is one of my favourite ovenbirds (family Furnariidae), creeping around the mossy branches, the Pearled Treerunner. Like the vast majority of their family they are clad in cryptic browns and soft reddish-browns, but the exceptional distinctive “pearl” markings make this bird extremely attractive. I particularly appreciate the white teardrop-shaped spots bordered in black of the underparts (only a few are visible in this photo). This species creeps along the moss-covered branches of the elfin forest, sometimes moving in mixed species flocks. You may notice the stiff, pointed tail feathers of this bird. They can use their stiff tail to brace themselves when necessary (a bit like a woodpecker), an adaptation that can make them seem like a woodcreeper, even though they are not (the woodcreepers are also suboscines but usually placed in their own family, Dendrocolaptidae; however, due to recent genetic evidence many authors now place them within the much larger Furnariidae family).

The Andes are home to a confusing array of small, brown, long-tailed ovenbirds – LBJs with long tails (the term LBJ stands for “little brown job” and usually refers to birds with nondescript brown plumage that are difficult to identify). In the Andes, you have the tit-spinetails, the thistletails, the canasteros (see previous post), the spinetails, the softtails, the thornbirds and others, all of which can have you scratching your head about how to separate one species from another… This bird is a Puna Thistletail. You might think that the sharp little red bib might make identification easy but not so fast – several species of thistletail and canastero show this feature. This little bird was probing the underside of fern fronds in the understorey and allowed me to sneak up to within a few metres away to try and find a window of photographic opportunity.

The elfin forest also hosts several flycatchers including a few species of chat-tyrants, small and rather colourful flycatchers that are mostly found in humid forests and relatively high elevations. They all have a broad supercilium that seems to enhance their character (maybe the way it sets off the eye). Here a Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant takes advantage of the frequent drizzle for a quick shower.

And here is one perched on some roadside rocks, looking for a prey on or near the ground (as they so often do).

One of the most common birds is this habitat (and elsewhere) is the Great Thrush. This large and handsome thrush is a familiar companion in the Andes, even in towns and cities (above about 2500 m ASL).

The dense vegetation affords plenty of hiding places to the skulking Mountain Wren; however, sometimes their curiosity gets the better of them (this one responded to pishing).

One of the real highlights of Andean birding (and elsewhere in the tropics) is the joy of bumping into a mixed species flocks. Suddenly, the trees are alive with birds moving vaguely together, scaring up bugs as they move and capitalizing on their loose group formation to ensure that no tasty morsel is overlooked. Sometimes these flocks contain just a few species, sometimes you can have 20 or more species moving together, in which case, it becomes a mad rush to try and find and identify everybody in the flock before they move on. In the Andes, most mixed flocks will contain several species of tanagers.

Before I start to share some photos of the wonderful Andean tanagers, I feel it is worth embarking on a biogeographical tangent. The tanagers are a truly extraordinary group and more diverse than you might realize; for example, some are extremely colourful, others not at all; some are sexually dimorphic, others not so; some are primarily fruit eaters, some nectar eaters; some primarily seed eaters, some insect eaters and many are omnivores. The fact that they are nine-primaried oscine passerines (not suboscines) would suggest that they probably did not first evolve in South America (the nine-primaried oscines are prevalent in North America) but they are extraordinarily diverse in South America. The tanagers have received a fair bit of genetic attention recently and those readers who follow an AOU (American Ornithologists Union) taxonomy will know that the Piranga “tanagers” (e.g. Scarlet Tanager, Western Tanager) are no longer considered tanagers but rather more closely relate to cardinals. As result of all this genetic attention, some authors such as Burns (1997) propose a Caribbean origin to the tanager family. If true, when they reached the South America, they underwent a radical radiation, i.e. quickly evolved into hundreds of different species occupying different ecological niches. I find it mind-boggling to think of this extraordinary evolution; for example, there are over 100 species of tanager in Peru alone! The following is just a smattering of the tanagers you can enjoy watching in mixed flocks at high elevation (the species composition of tanager flocks changes as you change elevation).

Most of the “mountain-tanager” group are confined to the Andes, which suggests that the geologic upheaval that occurred relatively recently (geologically speaking) in this region gave rise to speciation through processes such as the formation of barriers (e.g. mountain folding) that split gene pools and gave rise to allopatric speciation (imagine a mountain chain being forced up and splitting a population of a given species in two). The Hooded Mountain-Tanager is one of the largest tanagers and a true gem of the high Andes. At 24 cm, this tanager is thrush-sized (roughly the same size as an American Robin or a Redwing) and is a whole load of colour in your binoculars! This photo was taken on a morning that was so foggy it seemed that the water drops were condensing on the birds’ feathers.

The Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager needs no introductions… wowsers!!

Another beauty – the Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager…

The Golden-collared Tanager is yet another stunner that is easy to view as they feed on low fruits in the short elfin forest.

When the fog lifted, I caught a glimpse of the magnificent Blue-and-black Tanager (hey, at least they didn’t call them Black-and-blue Tanager). Some of the high elevation plants have a bluish-green hue so this vibrantly coloured bird can be harder to spot than you might think in a mixed-species flock.

This Rust-and-yellow Tanager is an immature bird that seems to be just starting to moult into adult plumage (the adult has a full rust-coloured head).

Enough tanagers for you? The flowerpiercers go by a different name but they are also a group of tanagers, some of which specialise in nectar feeding (though by no means the only ones). Their hooked bill can be used to poke a hole in the base of a flower and “rob” them of their nectar. This behaviour is likened to theft because this style of feeding means that they don’t act as pollinators for the plant (no pollen gets transferred to their feathers). Maybe the plants will evolve to change this seeming imbalance eventually… This is a Moustached Flowerpiercer feeding in a flowering bush.

And this is a Black-throated Flowerpiercer.

If you recall my point about traveling northward being somewhat similar to traveling up a mountainside, it may not surprise you to learn that North Americans will encounter some familiar species in the high Andes. Admittedly, not a lot and admittedly most of these are boreal migrants but some are resident here. This is a photo of none other than a Sharp-shinned Hawk! The plumage of the Andean birds is highly variable with some looking like the North American birds but others, like the one shown here, having a different underpart colouration; however, this is a Sharp-shinned (well, unless they split them) and they are just as at home in the high Andes as they are in the high latitudes of North America.

Next, we continue our descent and the trees get taller…

Peru: Part 4 - High Elevation Wetlands

2010-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the photo below (which was taken by my wife, Youn-Young Park, and the only photo in this post not taken by me), the valleys between ridges and the high plateaus of the Andes will gather water (even when there is little to go around) and create wetlands, some large some small. Some form expansive reed beds, whereas others have very little vegetation around them. A wide variety of species call these wetlands home.

Among the waterfowl of the high Andes is the distinctive Puna Teal, shown here taking off, which is quite common at large high elevation lakes. The Puna Teal is a relatively recent split from the similar-looking Silver Teal, who occurs further south.

The Speckled Teal was also recently split into two species, the Andean Teal (greyish bill) and the Yellow-billed Teal (yellow bill). No prizes for guessing which species this is…

This next photo shows just how bustling with life some of the high altitude marshes can be: in the foreground a pair of Yellow-billed Pintails and in the background a Puna Ibis stands alert while a Plumbeous Rail makes a dart across an open area. The Yellow-billed Pintail is superficially similar to the Yellow-billed Teal but is larger and has different shape, lacks the dark grayish head and a different underpart pattern.

Here you can see a Puna Ibis in flight. This bird is in basic (non-breeding) plumage. In breeding plumage (alternate plumage) the bill becomes red and the overall colour richer.

And here is a closer look at the distinctive Plumbeous Rail – pinkish legs and a lime green bill, what a colour combination!!

This juvenile Plumbeous Rail has not acquired the adult colour yet…

The Andes have given rise to the evolution of several interesting coot species. This is the Andean Coot (not quite as famous as their cousin the Giant Coot)

Wherever you find high altitude bogs, or relatively open marsh edges and other types of open grassy areas, including agricultural fields (a pasture in this case), there is a good chance of finding the subtly beautiful Andean Lapwing. These large shorebirds (like all lapwings) are related to plovers.

Boreal migrant shorebirds also utilize the high altitude wetlands, mostly as stop-over sites. It is always fun to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar environment and so I took some time to observe this Wilson’s Phalarope (a species that breeds in my neck of the woods in Canada) feeding in typical fashion at a high elevation pool on their way to the “southern cone” of the South American continent.

These wetlands don’t have the gull diversity of the coast but the Andean Gull is very common here.

The Cinereous Harrier is beautifully plumaged and seems to blends in well with the brown reeds. They seem very skill and “harrying” prey by flying very low over the reeds. These two photos are of a female (the male is also well barred below but has a pale grey back).

The Andean Negrito is another one of those Andean flycatchers that has taken to hunting on the ground. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this individual run down invertebrate prey on the exposed mud in the drier parts at the marsh edge. In this photo you can see the relatively long-legged, short-tailed shape of this bird that accompanies this lifestyle (though not as long-legged as a ground-tyrant and also lacking the ground-tyrant's vertical posture).

In the reeds in the wetter portions of the marsh, skulks a rather different flycatcher. You may not think of flycatchers as reed-bed skulkers and you may have the impression that the majority of this large family are not brightly coloured but the Many-colored Rush-Tyrant is not your typical tyrant flycatcher. I wish I had a managed a photo that would show off their spectacular colours to better effect but you still get a sense of the magic of this bird from this poor photo…

The Wren-like Rushbird looks rather like a Marsh Wren, except for the tail shape (and seems to be just a skulky, if not more so). This unique species is a member of the Furnariidae (ovenbird family) but has evolved to fill an ecological niche that is dissimilar from nealy all other furnarids. This species is placed in their own genus (Phleocryptes).

This next photo gives you a sense of how tall some of the reed beds can grow. These birds are Yellow-winged Blackbirds, although the yellow on the wing is often concealed when perched (if you look closely you can see a hint of yellow on the bird that is second from the right).

Here is a photo of a female Yellow-winged Blackbird (notice the resemblance to a female Red-winged Blackbird).

Next we begin our descent of the lush eastern Andes, where biodiversity goes through the roof!

Peru: Part 3 - Ascending the Western Andes

2010-12-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

The ascent of the western slope of the Andes takes one through various dry forest and scrub types, although this is complicated by the numerous river valleys, each with their own effect on precipitation levels depending on their geography and, hence, some of which are very dry and others less so. The microclimates and barriers to dispersal associated with this complicated topography create many centers of endemism in different “pockets” of the Andes. When you view the Andes from the air you get a sense of why this is; for example, here is a photo of the Sacred Valley around Cusco as seen from the air. Notice how the mountains affect the cloud formation pattern and of course the many ridges and their intervening valleys. This north-south “spine” is what creates such diversity of habitats and life forms.

As you climb the western slope of the Andes you reach montane scrub habitats, particularly in rocky areas, which are often very dry and sometimes characterized by having many cacti.Above treeline you reach the dry, windswept Puna grasslands, characterized by bunch grasses and scattered shrubs. This photo shows the dry Apurimac Valley (notice how little vegetation there is) and in the foreground you can see where the montane scrub gives way to Puna grassland.

This photo gives a closer view of a small plateau with Puna grassland (notice the bunch grasses) in the foreground, while the Andes “make weather” in the background.

In these wind swept habitats, it is wise to watch the skies for raptors. Anywhere above approximately 1600 m ASL, one may encounter the large Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle.

The Mountain Caracara also like the dry open habitats of the western Andes but is typically found above 3000 m ASL, though sometimes lower. Caracaras are in the falcon family (Falconidae), not hawks as you might think...

In the montane scrub, this pair of Bare-faced Ground-Doves blend well against the brown rocks. Notice the cactus in this photo (common in this type of habitat).

With the increase in altitude one encounters a different set of hummingbirds. One of the common species in the western Andes is the aptly named Shining Sunbeam. Notice the unusual rufous overall plumage coloration of the sunbeams (genus Aglaeactis).

If the above photo seems out of place to you, then pat yourself on the back. I have to confess to cheating here because this photo was taken on the humid eastern slope of the Andes (the Shining Sunbeam is one of the species that manages to live on both sides). The moisture-depositing fog and moss-covered branches are the give away hint!

Another peculiar hummingbird of the dry montane scrub is the Bearded Mountaineer. This unique large hummer (only species in the genus Oreonympha) has a very attractive green and pink “beard” when seen from a certain angle but also you can see only see the shape and not the colour in this photo.

The largest hummer of all is the Giant Hummingbird, another occupant of the western Andes and also the only member of their genus (Patagona). At 20 - 22 cm in length (same size as a European Starling!) you could be forgiven for not believing that this is a hummingbird. They are so big that their wing beats are noticeably slower than most hummers. Notice the arid hillside in the first photo, typical of the arid habitats they prefer (and of course the bird is perched on a cactus). The second photo is a crop to show the details a little better.

Where there are river valleys that permit trees to grow a little taller in the dry western Andes, one encounters species like the Black-necked Woodpecker. This species is in the genus Colaptes (same as Northern Flicker) and is one a few “flickers” that have greenish plumage (we will meet another one when we get to the lowlands on the east side).

As in the dry western lowlands and foothills, there are also many small seed-eating birds up slope. One of the most common and widespread (in diverse habitat types) is the Hooded Siskin.

The Band-tailed Sierra-Finch is a seed-eating small passerine of montane scrub habitats of the western Andes. Their overall pattern of grey and white plumage is found in several Andean genera.

The male Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch is also grayish overall, whereas female and immatures are browner and streaked. They occur in the western Andes from about 2500m up to over 4500 m ASL. There are enough similar looking species in these habitats in this altitudinal range as to require care with identification.

Although different in colouration to Ash-breasted Sierra- Finch, the Peruvian Sierra-Finch is in the same genus and inhabits similar habitats and a similar altitudinal range. They are often found in small flocks.

Remember those suboscine passerines? There are several interesting examples in the western Andes. One such group is the cansteros (Lit. basket makers). Canasteros are long-tailed ovenbirds that prefer open habitats at high altitude. They derive their name from their nests, made of interwoven sticks. This is the Rusty-fronted Canastero.

And this is the Streak-throated Canastero. Compare these two birds and you will quickly realize that the identification of canasteros can be quite tricky at times!

At the altitudes, the Cream-winged Cinclodes (formerly Bar-winged Cinclodes), relative of the Surf Cinclodes of the coast and similar to that species in plumage, is common in a variety of open-habitat types. I was surprised to find this one in a leaky tunnel along a perilous Andean road.

This Cream-winged Cinclodes is in more typical open habitat and accompanied by a member of another suboscine family (Tyrannidae) the White-browed Ground-Tyrant.

The ground-tyrants are an interesting group of largely terrestrial flycatchers that prefer open habitats (where walking on the ground is easiest). There are several species in the high Andean grasslands and scrub, whilst some of the members of this group find their preferred open habitat closer to the water’s edge or in dry coastal areas. This photo of White-browed Ground-Tyrant shows them in their Puna habitat. Note how yellow (dry) rather than green this habitat is and the combination of short grass, tall tussocks and some scattered shrubs on the slope.

This crop of the same photo shows the bird in more detail. Note their long legs and upright stance, an artifact of their terrestrial habits.

The Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant seems to prefer arid rocky habitats as shown here.

Also in the Andean grasslands are members of a more cosmopolitan group of birds, the pipits. When I first learnt about pipits it was the many Palearctic migratory species, but on every continent, where grassland occurs (i.e. not Antarctica) you will find a pipit or two. This is the Paramo Pipit, revealing their cryptic plumage that keeps them so well camouflaged in the straw-coloured Puna grasslands.

Next, we learn that not all is dry in the high Andes...

Peru: Part 2 - Dry Forests

2010-12-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in “Owls of Peru – Part 2: Arid Habitats” (posted in October), western Peru, i.e. west of the Andes, experiences a formidable rain shadow that creates some of the driest place on earth (technically the driest places occur a little further south in Chile due to the same rain shadow). As I wrote, all the moisture ascending the Andes from the Amazon basin (the prevailing winds are from southeast in this region) gets sucked out on the eastern side as it condenses into rain or snow. By the time the air mass crosses the Andes and descends the western slope, there is almost no moisture left in it. The western Andean foothills and coastal areas are therefore dominated by dry desert-like conditions or tropical dry forests that are much less tall and lush than the humid forests on the eastern slope. These forests are correspondingly lower in biodiversity but they do have their share of endemism as many species evolved here in isolation (cut off from relatives by the mighty Andes). This post offers a glimpse at some of the wildlife of this region.

We start with one of the most famous inhabitants of this region – the White-winged Guan. This species was discovered in 1876 but then not seen again for nearly 100 years and long feared extinct. A tiny population was fortunately rediscovered in northern Peru and since then conservation measures have been put in place including a captive breeding and reintroduction program. Nonetheless they are still classified as critically endangered with probably fewer than 250 individuals in the wild. I took these photos of these beautiful birds at Chaparrí, where a single wild guan was found and then some of the progeny of the captive breeding birds were released, making them easier to see here than elsewhere. The first photo shows a bird foraging in the treetops along a ravine. If you look at this photo you might be surprised by the name White-winged Guan. If you look at the second photo, where the bird has a slightly different posture, you can see a hint of white in the wing – in fact there is a large white patch that is only visible when the wings are open.

Raptor diversity often seems quite high in open habitats and coastal Peru has some beautiful raptors to behold. This is the elegant Pearl Kite.

And this is Savanna Hawk. This species is well adapted to arid habitats of northwestern Peru - their long legs (unfortunately not so visible in this photo) aiding in hunting and in locomotion along the ground.

There are numerous dove species in these dry forests. Here is just one example, the Croaking Ground Dove.

The Pacific Parrotlet is a common species in these dry forests, although their small size and active movements can make them tough to see well without a little luck.

Among the woodpeckers in these habitats, the small and beautiful Scarlet-backed Woodpecker occupies some of the very dry scrub habitats and thorny forests in the coastal regions and foothills (notice how “un-green” the habitat in the background of this photo appears).

The Lineated Woodpecker, on the other hand, is a large woodpecker and hence requires large trees. They tend to prefer riparian (river edge) forest, which in these dry areas is much taller than the surrounding scrub. This species is a congenitor of the Pileated Woodpecker (genus Dryocopus).

Hummingbird diversity is not particularly high in these dry areas but there are enough seasonal flowers and nectar that a few species can make a living here. By far the most common is the Amazilia Hummingbird. This species is one of those where the genus and species names are the same (Amazilia amazilia) and they also carry this name into their common name (Amazilia is a very large genus of hummingbirds with 30 species).

Leucippus is a much smaller genus of hummingbirds (4 species), two of which occur in this area – the Tumbes Hummingbird in the dry forests of northwestern Peru and the the very similar Spot-throated Hummingbird shown here that occurs in the dry Marañon valley at slightly higher elevations.

Here a young Purple-collared Woodstar takes a bath at the now famous mini cascade at Chaparrí. In such dry habitats, water is a very attractive feature to many birds including hummers!

Almost anywhere in South America, diversity is very high in the suboscine passerines. In North America most of our passerines are the oscines (sometimes dubbed “true songbirds”) and there is essentially only one family of suboscines, the Tyrant-Flycatchers. The main difference between the oscines and the suboscines is in the complexity of the syrinx (equivalent of our larynx), which of course gives the songbirds such beautiful voices. Suboscines may not have as complex songs capability as oscines but they can still fill up your senses! Prior to the Great American exchange (when the two continents came into contact), North America was completely dominated by oscines and South America dominated by suboscines. During the Great American Exchange a lot of mixing occurred so that both groups now thrive on both continents; however, the suboscines are still in the majority (just) in most of South America. For example, approximately 55% of Peru’s ~870 passerines species are sub-oscines. So here is a glimpse of this diversity…

Since many readers will be most familiar with the tyrant-flycatchers as example of suboscines, let’s start there. North American readers will be familiar with the genus Myiarchus, to which species like Great Crested Flycatcher and Ash-throated Flycatcher belong. Well, in the driest forest and scrub of northwestern Peru there is a beautiful Myiarchus species, who, to my eye, looks unlike other Myiarchus, viz. Rufous Flycatcher (again notice how arid the scrub in the background of the photo is).

One of the highly sought after endemics of the Tumbes regions (northwesternmost Peru and southwesternmost Ecuador) is the Tumbes Tyrant. This little gem can be very inconspicuous, despite their rich colour. The first photo shows the thorny dry forest they inhabit and the second show the rich colour of this species.

This Yellow-bellied Elaenia was hanging out right in a treed town square, perhaps a little more shady than the surrounding scrub.

Some of the flycatchers in this habitat have evolved to look a little different than the flycatchers most North Americans are used to. Here is one example, the Short-tailed Field-Tyrant. Notice how this species has evolved very long legs, which accompany their predominantly terrestrial habits (foraging by hopping along the ground). Of course they do occasionally perch on shrubs, as shown here, when their short-tailed, lanky profile seems a little out of place. You can see how small this bird is by comparing them to the acacia thorns in the photo.

In Part 1 of this series, I mentioned the ovenbird family. In addition to the miners and cinclodes there are other groups within this large suboscine family. This is a Pacific Hornero, foraging amidst the dry leaf litter. The word hornero is Spanish for oven maker (horno “oven” is cognate of Italian forno, both from Latin fornus; English “furnace” coming from Latin fornax via French and the English word “warm” being derived ultimately from the same Indo-European root). These birds make large oven-shaped mud nests that give them their name and give their family (Furnariidae) its name. Some Peruvians told me that the local legend is that these birds taught the locals how to build their houses (houses are frequently made from adobe in this region).

The antbirds (Thamnophilidae) is another very large suboscine family. Some of this family are myrmecophiles (ant lovers) who follow army ant swarms to feed on any living thing that flees from the advancing ants. In dry habitats, it seem that the antshrikes are the most common representatives of this family (not myrmecophiles). Like so many groups within this family, their names are constructed with the prefix ant- and then the name of another groups of birds they resemble (examples include antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, and others). You will notice the shrike-like hooked bill of this female Collared Antshrike.

And here is her partner (I have not read anywhere that females have a more hooked upper mandible than males but on the few occasions where I observed a pair together that seemed to be the case)...

This male Shumbae Antshrike of the dry Marañon Valley may look A LOT like the male Collared Antshrike above, but recent genetic studies suggest they should perhaps be treated as separate species. Can you spot the differences in plumage?

This female Northern Slaty Antshrike was skulking in the thick shrubs and very difficult to get a good photo of… (the male is the "slaty" one)

Still within the antbird family, this Rufous-fronted Thornbird is constructing their enormous nest out of sticks rather than mud. These little brown jobs are inconspicuous most of the time, except their gigantic nests very often give their presence away (how often can you say it is easier to find a bird’s nest than the birds themselves?).

Another interesting suboscine family from this region are the Crescentchests (Melanopareiidae), formerly placed within the larger Tapaculo (Rhinocryptidae) family. There are only four species of crescentchest in the world and two of them occur in northwestern Peru. This is the Elegant Crescent of the coastal dry forests. Look closely at the wing before you scroll to the next photo.

This is the very similar Marañon Crescentchest of the dry Marañon Valley. Notice the white in the wing of this species as compared to the Elegant Crescentchest. As in the Shumbae Antshrike example, genetic studies and other evidence suggest that many taxa of the Marañon Valley are reproductively isolated from their close relatives of the coastal dry forest and more and more of them are being split as separate species.

This Peruvian Plantcutter is a representative of yet another suboscine family, the Cotingas (Cotingidae). This species is very patchily distributed in dense thorn forest. Unfortunately, in this photo you cannot see the serrations on the bill that give them their name.

Moving now to the oscines, here is an example of a group with a complex vocal repertoire even if they are not known to be beautiful songsters – the Crows and Jays (Corvidae) – yes, that is right, crows and jays are “true songbirds”. This is the stunning White-tailed Jay, which looks extremely similar to the Tufted Jay of Mexico but is much smaller. These birds can look very black and white when in shadow…

But with a little sun, such as on this bird in flight, you can see their "true blue"...

The Long-tailed Mockingbird is a birder's constant companion in dry coastal habitats.

The colourful Peruvian Meadowlark is not quite as common as the mockingbird but always a treat to watch.

There are numerous small seed-eaters in these habitats from several groups. Here are some examples, starting with the Little Inca Finch (this is a juvenile). The Inca finches are in the genus Incaspiza, which contains five species and the whole genus is endemic to Peru, i.e. all five species are found nowhere else... just amazing!!

Some of the seed in the dry forests must be hard to crack – just look at the honking bill of these Parrot-billed Seedeaters (female left, male right)!

The large Cinereous Finch is no slouch at husking seed either. This is another of the endemics of the Tumbesian region.

The Chestnut-throated Seedeater, on the other hand, doesn’t need such brute strength to earn a living.

This is the handsome Collared Warbling Finch with yet another slightly different bill structure for feeding on a different variety of seed.

And this the classy Saffron Finch

And the Red-crested Finch of the Marañon Valley and the Urubamba Valley.

The Tumbes Sparrow is yet another endemic seed-eater of the Tumbesian region. They are in the genus Aimophila along with North American sparrows such as Five-striped Sparrow, Bachman's Sparrow and others)

Naturally, there is more than birds to view in the dry forests. Here are just few examples of other wildlife. The Handsome Sechuran Fox (named after the Sechuran Desert). They are easy to see at Chaparrí as the second close up shows…

And a Collared Pecary

And a Green Iguana, which despite their name are not always green (the young ones are green but adults vary in colour)...

Peru: Part 1 - A Rich Coast

2010-12-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

The plan for my Peru blog series is to start at sea level on the Pacific coast and travel up and over the Andes to the Amazon basin. The journey starts on the rocky coastline and then through the arid scrub and lightly wooded habitats of the western foothills of the Andes under the influence of the enormous rain shadow of the Andean cordillera, along with some of the dry inter-montane valleys, then up to the high plateaus at dizzy elevations before descending the humid eastern slope of the Andes through the moist elfin forests, rich cloud forest, tall upper tropical forest and down into the tropical rainforest of the Amazon basin…

Tropical oceans are often fairly low in productivity, in part (and this is a bit of an over-simplification) because the rich nutrient-loaded cold water remains deep and does not mix with the warm water near the surface, where photosynthesis can occur (plants need light for photosynthesis but they also need nutrients). Unless there are upwellings to mix cold and warm water, tropical waters quickly become nutrient depleted and they therefore cannot support a wide variety of life. People often asked me why the waters off the coast of some tropical destination they have visited seemed so void of life compared to the temperate waters and this is a large part of the answer. The people who ask this question often assume that because tropical terrestrial ecosystems are generally more biodiverse than temperate ones, this might also be the case in marine ecosystems (not true) or they may associate tropical oceans with the amazing diversity of coral reefs. Coral reefs are in fact a remarkable exception to the general pattern of ocean biodiversity, mainly because their nutrients remain “trapped” and recycled in the reef ecosystem rather than sinking to the light-deprived depths of the ocean floor.

Since Peru lies close to the equator, you might expect her waters to be low in productivity. However, off the coast of Peru, the remarkable Humboldt Current brings nutrient-rich cold water northward along the Pacific coast of South America (then west towards the Galapagos) to equatorial latitudes. This upwelling and mixing of cold and warm water, creates the conditions for phytoplankton to thrive, i.e. there is high primary productivity. Where you have high primary productivity, a food chain can form and Peruvian waters therefore draw an astounding array of fish, marine birds and marine mammals. In fact, Peruvian waters support some of the highest biodiversity of any area of the world’s oceans (outside of coral reefs). Consequently, a trip to a Peruvian beach or rocky coastline is bound to be accompanied by sightings of marine birds. This post will highlight a few of them…

One of the first birds you are likely to encounter along the Peruvian coast is the large and spectacular Peruvian Pelican. Although very similar to a Brown Pelican in plumage, the Peruvian Pelican is much larger. When seen up close, as seems so easy to do in Peru, these pelicans are surprisingly colourful and their black and white streaked plumage is particularly handsome!

Penguins (family Spheniscidae) are confined to the nutrient rich cold waters of the southern oceans. Most species are Antarctic or Sub-Antarctic in distribution; however, thanks to the Humboldt Current, there are two species that occur in the tropics close to the equator – the Galapagos Penguin and the Humboldt Penguin that occurs off the Peruvian coast (a third species, the African Penguin, breeds just barely north of the Tropic of Capricorn and hence technically in tropical waters). The Humboldt Penguin is of course named for the current that permits their existence by providing the primary productivity that supports the huge shoals of anchovies that the penguins rely on. The Humboldt Penguin is listed by Birdlife International as Vulnerable to extinction, who suggest their decline is due to incidental take (these birds are often accidentally caught in fishing nets), illegal hunting and capture (for the pet trade believe it or not!!), over-fishing, guano-mining, predation by rats and cats, and global warming, in particular in the form of El Niño, that greatly reduces the normal pattern of upwelling that all marine life in this region depends on.

The penguins are well camouflaged on the coastal rocks. See if you can spot the Humboldt Penguin in this photo alongside the Peruvian Pelicans and others… If not, look at the second photo (cropped in) then back at the first photo again…

Here is a view of these birds swimming just off the coast. They are very difficult to photograph as they don’t surface for long…

Rocky outcrops, headlands and islands are also the home of the Peruvian Booby and you may have spotted one in the first penguin photo above (the lowest bird on the rocks). As you can tell from the shape of their beak, they are superb plunge divers, feeding in the rich coastal waters. They also have a habit of flying by in steady streams of birds, revealing their distinctive sulid shape...

Surely, one of the most spectacular inhabitants of the rocky coast in the Inca Tern. The unique plumage of this bird seems to be a blend of camouflage (against grey rocks)…

... and showiness (what a face pattern - check out that 'stache!!)

If you had super sharp eyes you may also have picked out the flying Inca Terns in the first penguin photo above (look for their dark grey plumage with white trailing edge to wings).

Several shorebirds also make a living on the rocky coast. Feeding at the water’s edge, is a Blackish Oystercatcher (Haematopus ater). They use their long, powerful bill to probe and forage as shown here.

The Blackish Oystercatcher is the South American equivalent of the Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) in the Northern Hemisphere; however, it would take consummate skill to separate these species on plumage!! Here is a scan of an old slide I dug out of a Black Oystercatcher taken on Vancouver Island for comparison – bill structure (Blackish seems to have broader tip), leg colour and possibly mantle colour seem to be some of the only subtle differences…

The Blackish Oystercatchers also share their home with American Oystercatchers. Unlike Black and Blackish Oystercatcher, the American Oystercatchers found in the southern and northern hemispheres are considered conspecific. Here is a pair whipping along the coast…

Cormorants are another group that benefit from the rich coastal waters. In addition to the widespread and common Neotropic Cormorant, there are two species of coastal cormorants in Peru. This is the distinctive Guanay Cormorant.

And this is the stunning Red-legged Cormorant.

Take a closer look at their remarkable eye pattern!

And here is a series of a Red-legged Cormorant coming in to land on the water...

It is not just birds that capitalize on the abundance of plankton and fish in this area. Hauled out on the rocks are also some Southern Sealions.

The sealions offer oppotunities for scavengers like Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture to find an easy meal in the form of scraps and maybe the odd carcass. The Black Vulture in this photo may have been picking parasites off the sealions body, although I could not get close enough to be sure of this...

Gulls are more common in cold waters than in warm waters so the coast of Peru has a surprising number of Gull species for a location so close to the equator. Here is part of the roll call:

Band-tailed Gull (A.K.A Belcher’s Gull), adult then immature,

Gray Gull, accompanied by a Sanderling,

Gray-hooded Gull,

and Kelp Gull, adult perched then immature in flight.

You might not expect to find many passerines along the rocky coast and intertidal zone, but this is home to an exceptional songbird, the Surf Cinclodes. Cinclodes are a member of the very large Neotropical suboscine family Furnariidae. Cinclodes are quite terrestrial in their habits so the Surf Cinclodes has managed to adapt to foraging on coastal rocks and sand (as opposed to the rocks and sandy habitats of deserts and high elevations that some of their relatives exploit). Here are two images of this unique bird taking a break between foraging bouts amist the mussels on the pier…

The “miners” are relatives of the Cinclodes (in the same family) and are clad in the same brown tones and share similar terrestrial habits. Like the cinclodes they are also more diverse at high elevations and, also like the cinclodes group, at least one member has managed to adapt to coastal living. The Coastal Miner is well camouflaged in the open sandy habitats they prefer (not right on the beach but nearby in dune areas). This bird has found a tasty morsel by probing in woody debris.

Before leaving the coast, I want to share a nice surprise I found just a few hundred metres from the ocean – a roosting Lesser Nighthawk, a resident of the coastal strip throughout Peru, that presented a super photo opportunity.

Next, we move back from the coast proper into the surrounding arid scrub and woodlands.

4 Canadian Birds Re-assessed

2010-12-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) has recently re-assessed four Canadian bird species and three of them were classed as having a higher threat status. Below is a quick and dirty summary with one of my photos of each species:

Barn Owl Tyto alba
Eastern population = Endangered. Not changed from previous assessment
Western population = Threatened. Elevated from Special Concern to Threatened (degradation of grassland habitat, conversion of old barns, vehicle collisions)

Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea
Endangered. Elevated from Special Concern to Endangered (habitat loss and degradation)

Sage Thrasher Oreoscoptes montanus
Endangered. Not changed from previous assessment

White-headed Woodpecker Picoides albolarvatus
Endangered. Elevated from Threatened to Endangered (habitat loss and degradation)

For more information, see:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/White+headed+woodpecker+gone+from+Canada/3902171/story.html (the above photo of White-headed Woodpecker used in this story)

http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct7/sct7_3_16_e.cfm

http://ebird.org/content/canada/home/new-canadian-species-at-risk-assessments

Answer - ID Challenge #1

2010-11-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, perhaps I give too many clues but 7 people responded and they all guessed correctly (though many admitted that they wouldn’t have guessed without all my clues) – this is the Sooty morph of Vermillion Flycatcher that is locally common in some parts of South America. For comparison, here are some photos of the “typical” morph. If you look closely you can see the structural similarity, although note that the sooty morph has less of that “shaggy crested” appearance in these photos (due to posture)…

Stay tuned for more challenegs and a series from Peru...

ID challenge #1

2010-11-22T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hi folks! I have decided to spice up this blog with the odd ID challenge, of an international flavour of course. Here is the first ID challenge – you can post your response in comments or send me an email. I will post the answer as a comment in 10 days from the time of posting.

This first one shows a common North American passerine, that many readers will be familiar with, but in an uncommon form that may stump you. Take a look at the two photos below and see how you do... You can click on the photos to view them at a larger size and/or scroll down below the photos for clues if you like…

Who am I?

1. In North American I breed in southern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona (plus a little part of California) but I also occur in the Neotropics

2. I am a highly sexually dimorphic species although either sex may occur in the form shown in these photographs

3. I am about 15cm or 6 inches in length

4. I am very high on the list of “birds to see before you die”

5. Both my scientific genus name and specific name refer to my colour (but not the colour of the form shown here)... in fact I am called the “Ruby Firehead” and I impress everyone I meet!

Who am I?

Northern Saw-whet Owl

2010-11-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

Northern Saw-whet Owls are very common in Manitoba in the breeding season but birders do not usually see a lot of them in migration, unless, that is, you visit a banding station like Delta, where large numbers of migrating Saw-whets are banded every year. So, when one showed up in a friend’s yard, I made the trip across Winnipeg to snap some photos. Here are two portraits of this owl as they are waking up at dusk, having moved from the denser branches where they roosted out onto a more open perch.

Once on the open perch, with a bit more space, the owl began stretching their wings before taking off. This is a typical action that I have seen many species of owls, large and small do - stretching the wing downward at full extension while tensing the body and pushing upward... a good pre-flight work out for the flight muscles!

White-winged Dove in Manitoba

2010-11-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

I will return to posting about Peru as soon as possible but can’t resist adding a couple of quick posts first. A White-winged Dove showed up in Great Falls, Manitoba on 10th November. This is an extreme rarity this far north and represents, more or less, the fifth record for this province (including a couple of unconfirmed reports). Thanks to the remarkable generosity of Heather and Paul Softley, many people got to see this subtly beautiful bird. Here are a few souvenirs…

Parrots of The World

2010-11-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

I was very interested in getting a chance to review the new Princeton Field Guide “Parrots of the World” by Joseph Forshaw because I found the concept of taking a large-format comprehensive identification guide on one cosmopolitan family of birds and turning it into a field guide format intriguing. Part of the mystique of the large-format is the ability to cram in life-history and ecological information that serves as a convenient reference. The field guide format on the other hand is forced to use abbreviated text and rely on the strength of the illustrations.

Fortunately for this book, Frank Knight’s illustrations are excellent and the subject matter lends an exceptional amount of colour. Of course, with only 356 species to illustrate this book could afford the luxury of well-spaced and artistically laid-out plates, which further add to the aesthetic appeal. Best of all, a genuine effort has been made to illustrate all the visually distinct subspecies; for example, 13 subspecies of Rainbow Lorikeet are illustrated over 3 plates! So, with a total of 146 high quality color plates, this book is indeed a visual delight.

I had wondered how useful this book would be as a field guide since, let’s face it, not many birders are likely to carry it into the field! One useful feature is the organization principle based on biogeographical realms — Australasian, Afro-Asian, and Neotropical — which makes it useful as a “post-field” reference guide, i.e. to confirm identifications of species, subspecies, sex or age based on one’s field notes or photographs. After perusing this book and reflecting on its purpose (identification primarily) and presumed target audience, I was surprised to conclude that it works well an identification guide, rather than a comprehensive natural history guide. This is due to the lay out and the considerable detail provided in the illustrations (including perched and the all important flight illustrations showing both dorsal and ventral views), along with a concise text that focuses on field identification and discusses similar species. In addition, the full-colour maps, which illustrate the ranges to the subspecific level (excellent information to have at one’s finger tips), greatly increase the utility of this book.

There were a few aspects that I did not like about this book; for example, I find the nomenclature rather arbitrary and Forshaw’s explanation of the naming principle employed unconvincing. I would have greatly preferred a standard global nomenclature were adopted in its entirety (e.g. IOC or Clements) and alternative names also given. In general, I prefer it when an artists makes an attempt to illustrate the habitat of a species in some way, although this can be tricky and if done poorly can negatively influence the utility of the drawings for identification (if done well it enhances this!). Most of the plates in this book are birds on a tiny slither of a perch against a white background. This works well for the book’s purpose but I prefer the few plates, like some of the Pygmy Parrot plates, that show a little more “interaction” with plants (looks less “bleached”)! The paired flight illustrations that show a dorsal view with one wing outstretched left and a ventral view with one wing outstretched right look terribly unnatural, but it should be noted that they are a practical way to illustrate a lot of information while greatly reducing the space required and it would be hard to show this much detail any other way. My biggest objection is that some of the illustrations are drawn as though the bird were a museum study skin, i.e. ventral and dorsal view with wings folded and legs “suspended” as though the bird was dead and lying on a table… to me, whenever this style was used, it strongly detracted from my enjoyment of the plates and I really see no reason for it at all – perched views from front and back would show exactly the same detail!

Although the text is minimal, as necessary to reduce the book to field guide size, I was glad to see a few other points added to the text such as each species’ status (conveniently and cleverly in red) and a few locations provided where one might see each species, which increase the book’s usefulness. Overall, I consider this book to be a very useful addition to my library and I am sure I will find occasion to use it when struggling with an ID of a colourful family of birds that can sometimes pose surprising identification challenges, for example with flight views only.

An example of one of the plates is shown below, where you can see the features discussed above (click on image for larger view)…

Owls of Peru – Part 3: Humid forests

2010-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Photographing owls in the humid forest is of course much more difficult than in dry forests due the tall and dense vegetation, frequent rain and humidity in the air, and near complete canopy closure that makes it extremely dark and so much harder to see movement and silhouettes. Even though I saw more species of owls in the humid forests, I have fewer species to offer in this post.

One of the highlights of this trip was getting superb and repeat views of Cinnamon Screech-Owl at La Esperanza (as I mentioned in the previous post about Long-whiskered Owlet). The Cinnamon Screech-Owl is a rare and patchily distributed species that seems to be associated with outlying ridges more than with the eastern slope of the main Andean cordillera (unlike their counterpart the Rufescent Screech-Owl). Our first view of this species was the female photographed below (we thought for a second we had found the owlet) but despite being so difficult to see elsewhere, we had multiple sightings at La Esperanza – remarkable! In the next two photos see if you can see the differences between the female (first) and male (second)?

… the male has a deeper colouring overall and darker feathering of the facial disk and perhaps darker streaking as well (and a different voice). Can’t resist sharing a few more photos of this stunningly beautiful, little owl showing the underpart and upperpart colouration (look at the magnificent tail pattern and the barring in the flight feathers too!)…

At a similar elevation to Cinnamon Screech-Owl (slightly lower overall) one can find the much larger Band-bellied Owl. Actually, Band-bellied seems to co-occur with Rufescent Screech-Owl in many areas. I managed to see Band-bellied Owl twice on this trip, once near Moyobamba and again on the Manu Road, but in the tall cloud forest it proved extremely difficult to get photos of this beauty. The photo below was the best I managed. The four species in the genus Pulsatrix (Spectacled, Band-bellied, Short-browed, and Tawny-browed) are all very similar and all sport dark upperparts and breast contrasting with a pale belly and with prominent white or buff face markings that frame the face in “spectacles” of sorts…

The Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl occurs across a wide range of elevation in South America and, at least in my limited experience, seems much more nocturnal in habits than the bird that most North Americans call Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (many now consider the Central and North American taxon to be a separate species called Ridgway’s Pygmy-Owl, although the AOU has not split them yet). These photos were taken in Moyobamba at the same elevation as the Band-bellied Owl. This bird had an interestesting habit of appearing more rufous from certain angles and more brown from other angles...

If you descend the eastern slope of the Andes towards the Amazon basin, you come into the range of the Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl complex. Some authors in fact, now split this species into two: Northern Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl (north of the Amazon) and Southern Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl (south of the Amazon). I was fortunate to get some great looks at Southern Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl on the lower section of the Manu Road near Atalaya. You can see how this species got their name.

I was particularly fortunate to watch this owl consume a cricket (though the views were a bit vertical). Just as I have watched Eastern Screech-Owls do, they seemed to remove certain hard parts first, for example the legs...

That ends this post on the owls of Peru. You can view larger files of these photos at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/index.htm (and other nightbirds of course!).

Owls of Peru – Part 2: Arid Habitats

2010-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Western Peru experiences a formidable rain shadow, which creates a remarkable diversity in habitats. Simply put, all the moisture from the Amazon basin being pushed up the Andes (the prevailing winds are from southeast in this region) gets sucked out on the eastern side as moist air rises and condenses into rain (or snow). This leaves almost nothing for the west side, the leeward side, i.e. as air descends the western slope of the Andes there is no moisture left in it. Maybe your first image of Peru is of lush jungles, but if you are west of the Andes, it should be more like desert and arid scrub or tropical dry forest. So, you might not be expecting to see species like Burrowing Owl as my first Peruvian owl, but the smallish, pale desert subspecies nanodes is common here (much more common than this species is where I live in Manitoba, Canada)...

In the tropical dry forests along the coast (west of the Andes), one of the most common owl species is the diurnal Peruvian Pygmy-Owl. This species comes in a range of colour morphs – here a greyish bird, a brown bird and a rufous bird to show some of the range in colouration.

The Peruvian Pygmy-Owl like all of their congenitors in the genus Glaucidium is tiny (about 16cm though even this dwarfs the Long-whiskered owlet in my previous post which measures a mere 13cm). This photo of a Peruvian Pygmy-Owl being mobbed by an Amazilia Hummingbird should give you a sense of the size.

But don’t be fooled by their size – these little birds pack a lot of punch and can take prey much larger than they are. Can’t you see the feisty personality in their eyes?

As with so many owl species, females are larger than males (female is the lower bird in this pair). In this pair the female has a stronger rufous plumage colour wheras the male is browner but note that colour is not indicative of sex generally.

There are nocturnal owl species in the dry forests too. The Tumbes Screech-Owl (Megascops pacificus) occurs in dry coastal forests of northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador. Some authors consider this to be a subspecies of the Peruvian Screech-Owl (Megascops roboratus). This photo shows a grey morph bird (apparently the rufous morph is rare).

While out at night in Chaparrí, we heard a descending hoot call that struck me as being very similar to one of the alarm calls of Eastern Screech-Owl (a series of descending hoots is given and will escalate to “barks”, rattling calls and bill snapping if a threat persists). Sneaking up slowly, I spotted the owl perched about four feet off the ground and looking straight down. The bird was so intently focused on the ground and giving the alarm call persistently. This lead us to conclude that there must have been something like a snake in the leaf litter that was stressing the owl. We never did see a snake so this is only a guess but we got fantastic looks at the owl, who was so focused on the ground that they seemed oblivious to our presence. Here are a few examples of the photos I got…

Over near Jaén, we had much briefer looks at the Peruvian Screech-Owl, the interior species (or subspecies) that is found in dry intermontane river basins and hillsides, especially in the Marañon Valley. Not a great photo though but compare this bird, which is larger and has a proportionately longer tail, with the previous photos of Tumbes Screech-Owl. There are also differences in song…

The dry forest also extends to considerable elevation along the western slope of the Andes and the intermontane valleys. Up above 1800m ASL, the forests are much more “temperate” than tropical in appearance and this is the home to the very little known Koepcke’s Screech-Owl, discovered by great Neotropical ornithologist Maria Koepcke (she thought this taxa to be a race of Peruvian Screch-Owl) but not described until after her death and named in her honour. Koepcke’s Screech-Owl is very poorly known and very patchily and sparsely distributed, so seeing a pair of Koepcke’s Screech-Owls roosting by day was one of the highlights of this trip. The fact they were in, of all things, an introduced eucalyptus tree, only softened the high ever so slightly…

Since we spotted them in the late afternoon, we waited around for them to get active. They began allopreening (preening each other) and calling softly towards dusk.

These owls were high up in the eucalyptus and in amongst many cluttered twigs and branches. As it turns out my best opportunity to see them up close and personal came about an hour before dawn, when I found this bird out on the prowl. Notice, for example, the heavier markings on the breast and belly (also against a whiter base colouration) compared with Peruvian and Tumbes Screech-Owls. You will also notice the paler bare part colouration. Needless to say I was elated to get these photos of this secretive species.

In the dry Apurimac Valley (Abancay area) there is a currently undescribed taxon of screech-owl that has some consider conspecific with Koepcke’s Screech-Owl, but others favour treatement as a full species (awaiting further study). This taxon is nicknamed the Apurimac Screech-Owl and is paler in colouration and shows differences in voice. Another highlight for me was to see this bird after having seen Koepcke’s Screech-Owl (seeing an undescribed species/taxon is always a thrill even if you are not the one to discover them). So, let me introduce you to the Apurimac Screech-Owl…

Certainly a beautiful bird but is this a full species? Well, the song and calls I heard were similar in pattern to Koepcke's but did seem faster and of a higher frequency and there were some plumage differences (colder grey overall, lacking brown tones and also lacking the ochre/greenish tones in the tarsi and with greyer bare part colouration… though none of these mean very much in and of themselves). Since recently more and more authors are coming to accept that Tumbes and Peruvian Screech-Owls function as reproductively isolated species, it will be interesting to see what the conclusion on the Apurimac versus Koepcke’s Screech-Owls is in the long run. So, I end this post with this photo of a most handsome pair of Apurimac Screech-Owls – one of the mysteries of the Peruvian night!

Stay tuned for some owls of Peru’s humid forests…

Owls of Peru – Part 1: LONG-WHISKERED OWLET

2010-10-19T20:22:00.001-07:00

I recently spent three amazing weeks in Peru. The biodiversity of this region is truly spectacular and I managed to see 562 species in three weeks (contact me for species list). Included in those 562 species were 16 owl taxa, including one of the least known species on the planet and an undescribed species. What could be better than that? Those who know me can vouch for my obsession with owls, but even for an obsessed, all-night owler, that is a fantastic total.

This trip started with an invite from, as it turns out, an equally owl-obsessed birding friend, Alan Van Norman. Alan had organized a trip to Peru with Birding Ecotours that was tailored to look for owls and he invited me to tag along. That offer was too good to refuse, so I joined Alan and Eduardo Omeche for 10 days of owl-searching in the north and then headed for 10 days of birding on my own in the south (a new expereince for me as I usually bird and backpack around on the cheap). I will blog more generally about this trip in the weeks to come but, as usual, let’s start with the nightlife of Peru…

A big part of the inspiration for this trip was the quest for the bird that is sometimes referred to as the holy grail of Neotropical birding – the Long-whiskered Owlet. Discovered in 1976 and only ever seen a handful of times in a tiny area of Peru, the call of this species remained unknown until a few years ago when one was caught in a mist net and placed in a tent, from where the bird started to sing and was recorded. That recording made it possible to search for this bird. So Alan and I dedicated one night at Abra Patricia and three nights at the La Esperanza, a community conservation project where the owlet was found very recently (http://www.neoprimate.org/), searching. Like so many others, at Abra Patricia we had no luck but La Esperanza, well, read on...

La Esperanza requires a long hike in on a steep and extremely muddy trail (it took us 6 – 7 hours to hike in and we had mules for the packs). There are two rustic cabins where you can stay. On our first night we had no luck with the owlet although we had great looks at Cinnamon Screech-Owl (photos below) and heard Rufous-banded Owl and White-throated Screech-Owl. The sighting of the Cinnamon Screech-Owl was interesting because it happened very shortly after Eduardo had played the owlet tape on spec and a pair flew in, possibly in response to the owlet tape. On the second night, we heard the Long-whiskered Owlet call around 8pm. What followed was a long effort to bring the bird in, which seemed to be working. The call got closer and closer and we waited with baited breath. Then, that moment that makes your heart beat fast – two owls flew in! As we got the flashlight on an owl, the two teenagers who were our guides from the community conservation project got excited, telling us we were looking at the owlet. Unfortunately though, Eduardo, Alan and I were all doubtful – something was wrong! When the owl flew away and we discussed the features and looked at photos Alan had taken it became apparent that we had been looking at a Cinnamon Screech-Owl. The fact the we had had two occasions when Cinnamon Screech-Owl respond aggressively to the owlet tape and the fact that the guide had misidentified the bird had us very concerned – maybe some of the reported sightings from La Esperanza were in fact NOT the enigmatic owlet after all. At least we knew that some of the sightings were of the owlet as we had seen the photos but we suspected that this bird is nowhere near as common at the site as our young guide would have had us believe. Since we were there in August (dry season) and all of the precious few sightings of Long-whiskered Owlet we were aware of were between December and May (wet season) there might also be seasonal differences in calling and response rate that were working against us.

With that major let down, everyone slid back down the mountainside to get some rest... well, everyone except me that is – I stayed up all night in a vain effort to find the owlet but didn’t hear so much as a peep. Nightfall on our third and final night in La Esperanza found us in position on a steep slope where we had heard the owlet call the night before. We weren’t waiting long when the rain began (as so often happens when you go out at night in cloud forest). We waited and waited until 10pm or thereabouts when the rain started to let up and then tried searching for the owlet in vain for an hour or so. In the continuing drizzle and processing all that had happened, Alan and Eduardo decided to abandon the search and get some rest. I, on the other hand, was too stubborn to give up… after all, how many times in your life do you get a chance to search for Long-whiskered Owlet?

So, I walked up and down on the steep, narrow, muddy trails, pausing to listen at promising spots - nothing, nothing, nothing! By around 4am the drizzle had stopped and sky was much clearer and a calling Lyre-tailed Nightjar gave hope that the night might come alive. Closer to 4:30, it happened – a moment i won’t soon forget – I heard a Long-whiskered Owlet call from a ridge above me. A few seconds to calm my beating heart and I whipped up the trail as quickly and quietly as I could and up a narrow side trail to get closer to where I had estimated the sounds came from. I paused on the mountainside; a few minutes of intense silence, then, yes, there was the call again and much closer this time. Dawn was approaching and I had to think fast. I worked the trail trying to assess options. Since the owlet was calling from up on the ridge, I concluded my best chance was to find a spot with an opening where I could see uphill. In the dense cloud forest that was no easy task, but there was one spot where I felt I might have a chance. The problem was my spot was on a very steep slope and rather precarious. Calming my emotions, I started a dialogue with the enigma… and the owlet called back! What followed was an agonizing 45 minutes with the owlet calling ever closer to where I was standing.

As always, when searching for owls, your eyes and ears are on “high alert”. After so much staring into the darkness, I caught the silhouette of movement – something small had flown in and landed above my head!! Shining my flashlight, I saw the bird almost immediately - an absolutely diminutive owl! And, as I watched, this tiny little owl pointed their head skyward and called… there was no doubt about it – I was looking at a LONG-WHISKERED OWLET!! I was in ecstasy as I watched the owlet simultaneously raise their head and lower their wings to call, the long whiskers visible with this action. A once-in-a-lifetime moment to see such a secretive bird that has been seen by so very few!

I then tried to take some photos but because the owlet was right above me and I was standing on a steep slope, I was having enormous difficulty holding the light and focusing the camera simultaneously. I certainly wish my companions had been there at that moment! I took a couple of very out-of-focus photos before deciding that the only way was to try to put the light on the ground pointing up. Ordinarily, that might have worked but on this occasion I nearly fell off the mountainside trying - no chance! Of course, with dawn approaching the owlet did not stay there much longer and all I could do was watch it fly off into the night without a good photo to show for it. My souvenir, for what it is worth, is this horribly out of focus photo but I still won’t forget the thrill of finding this mysterious creature! (hey, but it wasn’t an Ivory-billed Woodpecker)…

Well, that photo is not much to look at though at least you can make out the owlet. Even though I missed the photo, this remains one of the best birding moments of my life.

Anyway, I will soon post part 2 of the Owls of Peru but this story could wait no longer. And I promise the next post will have lots of pretty pictures!

Curve-billed Thrasher in Manitoba

2010-09-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

Curve-billed Thrashers have an interesting history of wandering in fall/winter. The phenomenon of fall dispersal has made it difficult to understand the migration patterns of this species. Amazingly one showed up this weekend in Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park – a long way away from their breeding range in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

This bird was originally reported as Bendire’s Thrasher but, as we drove up to the dumpsters where the thrasher was feeding, we quickly realized that this was a Curve-billed Thrasher, the bright orange eye and the decurved all dark bill being the most salient features. You can see this in these two photos. You will also notice how worn the plumage is…

This bird was foraging right in front of our vehicle on the gravel pull-out. It was almost as though we were observing them in a tiny patch of their preferred desert habitat! We had ample opportunity to study the features although the amount of feather wear complicated the picture.

Curve-billed Thrasher subspecific taxonomy is a little complicated but two main groups are recognised - the eastern T. c. curvirostre group (breeds in areas like Texas) and the western T. c. palmeri group (breeds in areas like Arizona). If you study the photos below you can see that this bird had fairly extensive white tail corners (outermost rectrices tipped white), visible from above (first photo) and below (second photo), despite heavy wear, but most visible when the bird flew. This made me think that this birds might be of the eastern subspecies group.

The photo above also shows the spotting on the breast, which showed a fairly pale ground colour creating contrast between the breast spots and background. This also seems consistent with an eastern bird. The wing bars were hard to gauge, this bird being in such heavily worn plumage, but certainly, although they were buffy overall, there was white tips to the outermost greater coverts and outermost median coverts (as opposed to buffy tips as expected in western birds) as you can see in the first of the two photos above (although if you compare with the very first photo of this post you will notice that the white tips on the median coversts on the bird's other side have worn away). I did not manage a good look at the undertail coverts, another useful feature, as the bird was almost always on the ground.

If you are wondering why the bird is on one leg in both of the above photos, they appeared to have an injured right foot. This and the heavily worn plumage makes me think that this bird is not likely going anywhere soon and will stick near the food supply they have found. This bird also exhbited a curious sneezing behaviour - almost as though they were trying to cough up a pellet but repeated constantly.

It is also worth studying the interesting mix of dark and light flight feathers and tail feathers. Even at a glance the birds gives a somewhat striped appearance due to the mix of light brown and dark brown feather. This suggests multiple feather generations and thus an adult bird, although at first glance the buffy "wing bars" seemed to match Sibley's illustration of a juvenile.

On a bird this worn and this far out of range, it is hard to know how to interpret such features. The bird didn't seem all that happy either, though I guess the problem with a decurved bill is that you always wear a frown!

Amazing to see this bird so far out of range!

Some nocturnal eye-candy

2010-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

As a photographer with a passion for owling (going out at night to look for nocturnal species of birds and mammals), I was very excited to learn of the publication of an extremely ambitious new book — Nightjars, Potoos, Frogmouths, Oilbird and Owlet-Nightjars of the World by Nigel Cleere. Nigel was planning to put together a photographic guide of some of the most difficult species to photograph, no easy task! Much as I find them fascinating, I have always found nightjars, potoos and frogmouths much more difficult to photograph than my favourite group, owls. Since many nightjars are so difficult to identify, a book devoted to this group seemed like an absolute must for a night birder like myself. I was therefore very keen to see what it would look like.

This book indeed features some spectacular photography — images that make me green with envy! Of course, there are some very low quality images too, in many cases these being the only images available of certain extremely rare and seldom seen species. There are also some images of birds in the hand, which I personally prefer to avoid at (nearly) all costs, but which again were probably the only images available to illustrate certain field marks. In some cases images of museum specimens are used, which make comparisons against photos of live birds difficult but again there is really no choice.

Nigel’s text is minimal to say the least. The idea is to offer the viewer the opportunity to view multiple photographs of each species side by side to compare ID features and relevant field marks. Personally, I think this is a mistake for two main reasons. Firstly, although I absolutely love looking at bird photography, when it comes to identifying birds, I prefer illustrations. The photographs in this book show too many different states (e.g. live versus dead birds), postures, and lighting effects to permit one to compare apples with apples. In other words, I believe the book’s use for identification of this extremely difficult group would be greatly enhanced with much more discussion on how to separate species X from other similar species (each species has a section on “main confusion species” but I have found this text to be too scant to be useful and not cross-referenced to the photographs). Secondly, since many of the features are so difficult to see well, one finds oneself flipping back and forward between photographs looking at a particular feature on species X and species Y. The chosen layout is just not well suited to an ID reference, or at least is far less useful as an ID reference than some succinct text and/or drawings with or without arrows pointing at the most salient ID features. In short, the choice to make this guide so photo heavy has resulted in a superbly aesthetically pleasing book, almost a coffee-table style of book, except that not all photos were selected on aesthetic grounds (they were selected to cover every species and photo quality therefore varies considerably) but has severely compromised its utility. I have therefore found my colour photocopies of the plates of Handbook of Birds of the World to be more useful than this publication.

The beauty of a newly printed edition like this is of course having a single up-to date reference on the taxonomy of a difficult group. I have always found this type of book to be an extremely useful supplement to regular field guides for trips abroad. For example, before any trip, I consult König’s Owls of the World and make notes on taxonomy, distribution, and salient ID features including song. I tried to use Nightjars, Potoos, Frogmouths, Oilbird and Owlet-Nightjars of the World for this purpose before my latest trip to Peru and found it to be woefully lacking for this purpose because the text was so scant that I did not find any information that I had not already found in other sources (I just got back from Peru so stay tuned for some exciting blog posts). Perhaps, this book would serve better for consultation after a trip when one could compares one’s field notes or photographs to the photos in the book.

I did find this book useful for its taxonomic treatment, though here again I would have liked more text, but other information criteria were so sparse as to severely limit the utility of this book. Most troubling though were the many inaccuracies that have crept into this publication. In particular, if one is going to use such a book as a reference, detailed information on distribution of species is critical. This book contains very scant text on distribution and the range maps are sadly so full of errors as to render them unusable. Here are just a few examples: The map of the Whip-poor-will misses huge chunks of the species range, for example in Manitoba where I live the range map for this species misses out hundreds of square kilometers of some of the portions of the range where Whip-poor-wills are very common. Many other species suffer similar woeful inadequacies, especially Asian species. Worst of all however are the glaring inconsistencies within the book itself, of which it only took me a quick perusal to spot several, e.g. the three images of Bonaparte’s Nightjar were all taken in Way Kambas National Park on the island of Sumatra but according to the range map Way Kambas is outside of the range of this sedentary species. Likewise the photograph of Blyth’s Frogmouth taken at Khao Noi Chuchi in Thailand falls outside of the range as drawn in this book and the photo of Blyth’s Frogmouth from the Genting Highlands was taken at a higher elevation than the altitudinal range given.

In summary, this book falls far short of the high expectations (admittedly, perhaps unfairly high expectations) placed on it. I will be using this book as a coffee-table book, to enjoy some of the delightful photography from time to time but I won’t be consulting it as a reference book – that niche still waits to be filled! I will say though that this book is extremely ambitious in scope and that the concept of a photographic guide to nocturnal species is well worth a dedicated effort. This book was years in the making and clearly a great deal of preparation has gone into it. Perhaps a revised edition with more emphasis on accuracy and a layout that permitted slightly more text would be all that is required.

Late Atlas Rarities +++

2010-08-01T18:46:00.001-07:00

The end of July may not seem like the best time to be atlassing but it can produce some great results! My good friend Jo Swartz and I just completed a short visit to southwestern Manitoba to tie up some loose ends and try to find a new atlas record or two. Here is the first bonus of the weekend - a gorgeous male Lazuli Bunting - quite a rarity in Manitoba. This bird has been on territory since the end of May and was first noted by proud property owners. I was hoping to find a nest and to secure the first documented breeding in the province but, alas, we had to be content to watch the male for several hours and did not find a female this time. Nonetheless, he is quite a bird!

Of course, we knew that the Lazuli Bunting was around - we just had to find him but we had no idea there was also a Northern Mockingbird in the area (another rare bird in Manitoba although not nearly as rare as Lazuli Bunting). As we drive down the highway, I spotted a large, long-tailed mimid on someone's front lawn as we were travelling at high speed. Since the only expected mimids in Manitoba are Gray Catbird and Brown Thrasher, I called it as a Brown Thrasher based on shape (the bird was in shadow as I caught them out of the corner of my eye). Wanting to be sure of the record, we decided to turn around for a better look. Well, as it turned out, this bird was in fact a Northern Mockingbird, and the generous home owners did not object to us sticking around to look for evidence of a nest. Sure enough, we found the bird carrying nesting material (photo below) and a possible nest but no proof of breeding. A real bonus nonetheless!

At Whitewater Lake we looked for breeding evidence of some of the rare egrets and White-faced Ibis that have frequented the site in the last few years as water levels have risen. We indeed saw White-faced Ibis, Great Egret, Cattle Egret and this Snowy Egret but, alas, did not find any juvenile birds that might have confirmed breeding. Can anyone lend me an airboat?

One thing that can be done while atlassing in the late season is to revist areas to try to obtain higher breeding evidence codes. This weekend I was able to increase some of the "possible breeding"codes I had ("S" for singing bird, or "H for bird in suitable "breeding habitat in the breeding season) to higher codes (probable or confirmed breeding). For example, the Grasshopper Sparrow was still singing in his old spot, allowing me to use the code T (bird on territory).

And the same goes for this handsome Black-billed Cuckoo, such a striking image in this wispy Peachleaf Willow (took this photo with my crew on July 13th and heard him in the very same yard on July 30th)...

Now, not all birds have finished breeding at the end of July. I found this Vesper Sparrow nest with four eggs in the grasslands and hastily snapped this record photo before leaving as quickly as possible.

Other birds are a little more advanced but still with young in the nest. While we were waiting for the Northern Mockingbird I heard the song of an Orchard Oriole in the distance. I went a little closer and saw this male fly in towards us with food in his beak that was obviously not for his own consumption... guess, that is what you get for singing with your mouthful!!

Alerted to the possibility of a pair with young, it didn't take us long to spot the female and she led us right to her well-hidden nest in a Shubert Chokecherry. She has just fed the young, who were audible but not visible in the nest, a grasshopper.

Other birds have young out of the nest - it was an agitated parent Upland Sandpiper that alerted me to the presence of four downy young (juveniles) in the grass...

Some young birds have been outside the nest a little longer and have more developed feathers (immatures). This Gray Catbird looks almost like an adult, although if you look closely you can still see the down feather and note how the markings are not fully developed. The "Atlas question" in this situation is always "Is this youngster capable of sustained flight?" If the answer is yes, you can't count it as breeding evidence because you don't know where breeding occured. In this case, the youngster was begging and follwing their parents so I felt it was good enough evidence of local breeding. Won't be long before this one will be fending for themself though!

I am finding atlassing is really opening my eyes to observing behaviour - a great way to improve one's skill!

A taste of atlassing

2010-07-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is the first year of the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas. There has been a LOT going on!! (see http://www.birdatlas.mb.ca/). I thought I would like to share a photographic highlight or two from a summer's worth of atlassing (see the "Atlas Photos" section under the "About the Atlas" tab on the web site for more)...

One of the first nests I found in Riding Mountain National Park this year was of the beautiful Black-backed Woodpecker.

A territorial Connecticut Warbler is always a good find... what a powerful song!

Eastern Phoebe's like to nest under eaves of various human structures and are easy to get confirmed breeding of...

Finding owl nests is mostly a lot of hard work, with the exception of Great Horned Owl nests (their nests are usually easy to find because they start so early in the year when there are no leaves on the trees and they often nest in conspicuous places like old stick nests). here are some of this year's owl finds...

A Short-eared Owl nest

An Eastern Screech-Owl leaving the nest in their typical stealthy fashion (they fly low in the shadows and swoop up into or down away from a nest rather than a direct line flight).

Finding a Great Gray Owl nest was one of the summer highlights for me (as always)!

Great Horned Owl fledglings have a lot of character!

Gray Jays breeding remarkably early and I found fledged young in mid May...

A young Wilson's Phalarope out for a promenade - put that down as FY (fledged young)!

Red-headed Woodpeckers put on a good show this year... This one, seen first flying through the trees...

happened to have a partner...

allowing me to eventually track down the nest site.

A big find was a Loggerhead Shrike on territory just south of Riding Mountain National Park, well north of their expected range...

And as always, atlassing gives you the opportunity to refine your knowledge of different species and their habitat associations... here is a Le Conte's Sparrow singing in typical habitat (along with other marsh buzzers!)

And there is sometimes time for a close-up too!

Waterbirds are relatively easy to atlas - we would find them either nest building like ths pair of Horned Grebes

Or more commonly with fledged young like this Eared Grebe family....

Two heads are better than one - well if you find a pair of birds that is - here is a handsome male and female Evening Grosbeak pair...

I enjoyed doing some grassland atlassing this year. One of my favourite Manitoba Grassland species, the Chestnut-collared Longspur put on a splendid show. Here is some agitated behaviour, an angelic pose, and a nest I found near St Lazare...

Plenty more great finds! An awesome summer contributing to monitoring and conservation.

Floppy ears

2010-07-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Been a crazily busy summer but got loads of atlassing done! Sorry for the lack of blog posts of late! Getting back into the swing now and thought I'd start with this photo of a Long-eared Owl that I took this evening. Usually when Long-eared Owls are alert their ear tufts stand up, but this bird, although clearly aware of my presence, was content to "hang loose"...

Little Brown Rarity

2010-06-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

On May 30th 2010, I was walking back on the Grasshopper Trail at Riding Mountain National Park after having completed a morning exercise with my point count trainees. As we approached the bridge over Lake Audy Dam, who should pop up in front of me but a Rock Wren - the very first one I have seen in Manitoba. We all got to enjoy watching this little brown rarity, even a lifer for a few, as the bird fed along the rocks at the base of the bridge. The neat thing was watching this natural behaviour (Rock Wren on the rocks) even though this bird was hundreds and hundreds of miles off course. You can see what the wren was catching in the second photo.

Quite a treat!

Yet Another Prairie Bird on the Wrong List

2010-05-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

If you recall my post “Another one on the wrong list” (http://artusobirds.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-one-on-wrong-list.html) referring to Chestnut-collared Longspur as being added to the COSEWIC list of threatened species, well, history has repeated itself and nobody is surprised. Today COSEWIC recommended adding Bobolink to the list of Threatened Species.

Like the Chestnut-collared Longspur, the Bobolink is a grassland bird that has suffered significant declines as a result of habitat loss, (changes in) agricultural practices, and pesticide use. The Bobolink is an “Icterid”, i.e. in the group that includes the “New World” blackbirds, “New World” orioles, cowbirds, grackles, meadowlarks, oropendolas and caciques. Quite a few North American blackbirds have suffered from “bird control measures” in cropland areas in their wintering range and at large winter roosts. Both Rusty Blackbird (Special Concern) and Bobolink have suffered declines as a result of this practice.

It is worth pointing out that Bobolink is a little different to some of the other Threatened grassland birds of mixed grass and short grass prairies, such as Sprague’s Pipit and Chestnut-collared Longspur. Bobolinks are found in grasslands, alfalfa fields, pastures and wetland edges as far west and eastern British Columbia; however they also utilize taller vegetation such as the Tall Gras Prairie and the prairie/parkland transition zone and their range extends all the way to the east coast of North America in these tall grass habitats. The plight of the tall grasslands of eastern North America is absolutely dire to say the least and the Bobolink has suffered their most severe declines in the east.

A few of my photos of the beautiful Bobolink are added below. I used two photos of a breeding male and one of a bird in non-breeding plumage. In late summer, males and females in non-breeding plumage look extremely similar. In fact, Bobolinks are unusual in undergoing two complete moults per year. Their rich, cheery, bubbly song (from which their English name is derived) and spectacular display flutter flight have punctuated many a grassy field in parts of Manitoba I have visited and have filled many a morning with joy. It saddens me to see such a “common” bird listed but hopefully this will improve our ability to conserve this grassland treasure.

Peregrine courtship feeding

2010-04-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

I just witnessed a fantastic urban wildlife scene unfold over the brilliant blue skies of western Winnipeg (Atlas code D = probable breeding) so decided to make a quick post. Homeward bound shortly around 6:30pm, I watched a pair of Peregrine Falcons exchange a prey item high above the bustling streets. The presumed male (smaller) was carrying a large, dark brown avian prey item, which may have been a duck or a grebe or because at one point i think i noted a webbed or possibly lobed foot. This bird was engaging in a slow flutter flight of sorts, decelerating until he was almost hovering but still ascending extremely slowly and the presumed female (larger bird) come in from underneath, performing a barrel role about two feet below him just as he let go of the prey so that it fell into her outstretched, inverted talons. Their timing was not perfect this time though, and she fumbled and had to swing back around and intercept the falling prey item, which she did remarkably quickly.

I witnessed all of the above from my car window and, after she took the prey to a high perch and began eating, I swung the car around and found a spot to park and get out the camera. By the time I had done so he had come and perched near where she was eating. Here he is waiting patiently as she eats.

He may look patient enough but he is hungry too!

Eventually she has had her fill and flies off, allowing me to snap a couple of flight shots.

He flies around and walks along the ledge to take his turn at the dinner table, allowing me to try to read his band number – looks like “08” as can be seen in the second shot, (cropped and enlarged).

He then takes his turn (now you can see the band on his other leg)

Finally he decides to fly off, carrying the then mostly dismembered prey item some distance in the same direction that the female had flown.

As he goes, the take-off shot above and this parting photo seem to confirm my suspicion that the prey item is a duck (look at the foot structure).

Always something happening!

The Horned Guan - finding an enigma

2010-04-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

High in the cloud forests on the slopes of the mountains and volcanoes of southwest Mexico and Guatemala, hides a bizarre endemic species that has long been considered one of the great enigmas of ornithology – the Horned Guan. Said to be the sole survivor of a unique and ancient radiation in the cracid family, hence with no other living close relatives, the Horned Guan has puzzled ornithologists since their discovery in 1844. On Christmas day last year, a small group of us made the pilgrimage to climb a Guatemalan volcano, departing in the pitch black well before dawn so as to be at elevation by early morning. The trail was narrow and muddy and, above all, steep. The reward was the lure of seeing this bizarre, little known, seldom seen creature in their natural habitat. Imagine something like a turkey with a large fleshy horn running around, not on the ground, but mostly through the large branches of the tallest cloud forest trees. That might be the best way to describe a Horned Guan to someone who hasn’t seen this amazing animal.

The habitat of the Horned Guan is of course part of the mystique – the glorious cloud forest ion the remotest areas of western Chiapas, Mexico and western Guatemala. The slopes of several Guatemalan volcanoes, may be the best place to look for this species. So the day before our big climb, we found ourselves taking a boat across Lago Atitlan to get to the foot of the volcano. This Lake sits at the base of several volcanoes and once held an endemic subspecies (or possibly species) of grebe, the Atitlan Grebe, a relative of the Pied-billed Grebe. As you cross the lake by boat you see the task ahead – steep volcanoes clad in dense forest – beautiful, inspiring, but also challenging! My friend Melanie tried to capture the mood with this photo of the lake – and one of me for good measure!

That evening we arrived at the base of the volcano – here is the view looking up! The ridge you see in the center of the volcano is the ridge we would climb the following day – six hours straight uphill, at least half of which under the cover of darkness.

So at 3am we stumbled out of bed and made our way to the trailhead. The climb was grueling but the anticipation was palpable. As dawn broke we heard the voices of Black-throated Jays and other target species, but from the narrow trail on the ridge seeing anything at all was difficult and crashing into the forest was even tougher. We worked hard to get brief views of a Tawny-throated Leaftosser but mostly we were focused on finding the guan. Just before 9am, having done little but walk straight up the muddy trail, our guide told us we had reached the lower altitudinal limit of the Horned Guan. Our pulses quickened but when checks of the fruiting trees where the enigma had been most recently seen all proved fruitless (i.e. no fruit and hence no guan), we started to have doubts about our chances of success.

The whole morning passed in this way – we split up and searched every fruiting tree we could find – no guan anywhere. The bird was living up to their reputation of being extremely furtive and difficult to detect despite their enormous size (90cm!). At one of the few places where you could see out through the trees, we looked back across the valley to see Volcán de Fuego living up to his name (Volcano of Fire) – smoke plume serpenting up into the brilliant blue sky!

The day wore on and we knew that, since we still hadn’t seen the guan, we might be coming off the volcano in the dark. One of our group gave up and headed back down. The rest of us split up and remained hopeful, even as with each passing minute hopes faded.

At nearly 3pm, knowing the time to get off the volcano was approaching, and separated from the rest of the group, I heard a noise that was like having my own nervous stomach rumbles removed from my body, amplified, and then played back to resonate in my ear drum and vibrate my jaw bone. As my body shook, there was no doubt – I had just heard the deep, booming, “volcanic” rumbling call of the Horned Guan! I tried to collect my wits and head as quickly and quietly up the trail to look for a way off the ridge towards the source of the boom, knowing full well that the call would be somewhat ventriloqual in nature (i.e. hard to pinpoint the direction it came from) and also knowing that any misstep, such as one that produced a loud noise, might scare off the bird I was trying to see. I also knew that if I did see the bird, alone, I would be extremely unpopular. The others however, were a fair distance uphill.

As I got off the trail and worked my way down, across the ridge, I heard the voice of our guide whispering and directing me towards him. It turns out that while he had been walking off to the side the guan had been walking up the volcano and, upon seeing him, had flown up into a tall tree and made the grunting call that I had heard. The way towards our guide was covered in leaf litter and vines so there were anxious moments as I tried desperately to be quick but quiet. Fortunately, two or three minute later I reached him and crouching to get into position, peering through the foliage, I saw the large dark shape in the canopy – none other than the Horned Guan! My pulse of course was racing so hard that it was hard to hold the binoculars steady to check the red horn and the dazzling red legs. But sitting in the dirt, I found a window through the leaves that allowed me to settle down and enjoy the spectacular view. Here are my first views of this magnificent creature, nestled in the shadows of the large branches of the subcanopy – large but easy to overlook without a clue to their presence.

Ordinarily in that situation I would have been in quite a quandary – stay with the bird or go fetch the others. Fortunately this time, our guide volunteered to get the others when I told him where they were. So, five anxious minutes or more followed as I watched the guan for signs of nerves and got ready to follow the bird if they flew. Amazingly, fortunately, this bird was content to remain in the canopy and moved very little. When I heard my friend footsteps approaching, there were a few more anxious minutes — “please stay just a few minutes more” i said to myself — and indeed, soon all four of us were huddled together on the volcano side staring in awe at trying to refrain from making audible sighs and expressions of pleasure.

Finally of course, the guan did fly, which in itself was a spectacle to watch — they seem to large and heavy and yet they fly with remarkable ease — but amazingly they went in the direction of the main trail. So we followed the movement and then crept along the trail until we got even better views of our prize. The photos that follow really say it all – what a feeling to be right under a bird of this size, listening to their booming call from so close (last photo shows the bird calling) and watching that red fleshy horn glow in the afternoon sun!!

After that we slid back down the mountain in jubilation, sharing jokes about “Christmas turkey” (best Christmas turkey a vegetarian ever had!) and recalling every detail of the sighting with relish!

Improving on a masterpeice

2010-03-31T16:08:00.001-07:00

Like many birders I have long enjoyed thumbing through field guides from exotic locals, marveling at the stunning avian wonders that can be seen there. This day dreamy habit has generated a strong interest in field guides and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a considerable range in quality in field guides. A good field guide enhances your birding experience; a bad one can lead to considerable frustration. If I had to rank the field guides I have read in terms of quality, I would say that beyond any shadow of a doubt, the best ever produced, to date, in my humble opinion (IMHO), is the Birds of Europe by Lars Svensson, Peter Grant, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström (first published in 1999). Naturally, therefore, I was delighted to learn that a second edition has now been released! I should add though that, at the same time as being delighted, there was a little trepidation that they might have messed with a good thing – fortunately that fear was unfounded as overall the GISS of this new edition is much the same as the first!

The second addition is, in a nutshell, an improvement on a masterpiece. The same superb illustrations and ingenious format, cramming in an extraordinary amount of information in a small amount of space and presenting the reader with a wealth of tools to improve field identification. Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström’s illustrations are truly remarkable in their accuracy and beauty and the way they seem to capture the GISS of each species along with the intricate details of plumage and structure.

Allow me to illustrate this with an example — I have added a scan of the illustrations of the European Honey Buzzard. As you can see there are 18 different illustrations for one species crammed into half a plate. The level of detail in both text and illustration is extraordinary and so many of the variations in plumage of this highly variable species are accounted for. Compare the photo I took of this species on the right with the plate and see how identification and ageing and sexing (the bird in this photo is a darker juvenile – note the dark eye among other features). Very few field guides can match this level of detail! If any of thee pictures in this post seem too small to be legible, click on them for a larger version.

Another feature I love about the Birds of Europe is the way they compare and contrast similar species or common versus rare species from various angles and postures. Look at the illustrations for the North American vagrant Spotted Sandpiper (sorry for the poor quality scan). In a tiny amount of space they capture the GISS and illustrate all the subtle difference that enable separation from the Common Sandpiper, which as the name suggests is common in Europe.

Likewise look at this full plate on the three species of golden plovers. Again, so many points of comparison in plumage, posture, age, sex, on the ground versus in flight – you name it! I also love the way they frequently include a “zoomed out” picture that portrays the way one might see the species under field conditions – in this case compare the illustration of a feeding flock with my photo of a loafing flock of European Golden Plovers. These “small” pictures really help one in learning and appreciating GISS. The “floating captions” with the picture also serve to direct the reader’s attention to the key points.

But perhaps above all, is the just the truly extraordinary quality of the illustrations themselves. To illustrate this allow me to juxtapose the illustrations of two North American species, Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs in the Bird of Europe and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. In both cases these two species occupy half a plate and these two field guides are very similar in size. You might expect the North American guide to have more detail or better portray the species but as far as I am concerned, in terms of “capturing the species’ likeness”, quality, detail, comparative merit, and utility in the field, the Birds of Europe is the hand-down winner. In addition to the comparison between these two species, you’ll also notice the comparison with other potentially confusing species, Common Greenshank and Wood Sandpiper, on the same page (in addition to the more detailed treatment of those European species on previous pages) and other useful extras like a size comparison (as viewed from a distance) with a very common species, Common Redshank.

Another useful comparison is these plates of North American Thrushes (Birds of Europe on the left versus National Geographic on the right). Both are excellent for field identification but again the European guide does at least as good, and in my opinion even better, a job of the North American vagrants as the American guide does. The Birds of Europe also makes several comparisons with Song Thrush (not necessary in North America). Small wonder I often keep a copy of the Birds of Europe with me as I bird around the North American continent!

But is this new edition worth buying if you have the old? I would say yes — there are enough good changes to make it worth owning. Of course, this includes treatment of the various splits that have occurred since the publication of the first edition and, clearly, the taxonomic treatment is consistent and carefully considered. The text has been updated and the results of various recent publications as they pertain to field identification incorporated, especially if you are a “larophile” (lover of gulls) – there is a lot of new information on gulls! The maps have also been improved where relevant; for example, I was happy to see that the new map for Rock Partridge had been corrected to show the southern Italian population. Some of the drawings are redone and others added (love the new half plate on scops owls!), with about 16 extra pages from the first edition. The Nearctic Wood-Warblers have been redone by Killian Mullarney in a style that is much more consistent than previously (in the first edition the two plates by Larry McQueen were in a different style than the rest of the book). As always, the additions and changes are treated with superb precision and care (perhaps only the illustration of Yellow Warbler is a little below the usual high standard in terms of capturing the GISS).

Now, even a masterpiece cannot be perfect and, unfortunately, some of the inconsistencies that weakened the first edition have also crept into the second. There are still inconsistencies in the treatment of rarities and vagrants as to whether or not they get included in the main section of the guide or get relegated to the appendix (in which case quite a few are not illustrated). There has been some shuffling of species, especially the introduced ones, with species like Mandarin Duck and Wood Duck moved from the main section to an appendix, but not nearly enough for consistent treatment.

North American readers, many of whom, like me, consider this book a highly valuable resource, will be frustrated that there has still been no effort for consistency in nomenclature. Some Holarctic species are given both British and American English names, e.g. under Lapland Bunting the text reads (Am: Lapland Longspur), and after Slavonian Grebe in brackets we see (Horned Grebe) but many others still lack this “courtesy” such as Goosander, Guillemot and Kentish Plover (Common Merganser, Common Murre and Snowy Plover respectively).

It is wonderful that the book treats new splits so well, but an oversight was made in not indicating their former names or what they were split from. For example, a person who had the first edition and who wanted to compare Little Shearwater will not find it anywhere in the second edition (not even in the index nor anywhere in the text nor is there any table of splits or additions) unless they already know to look for Macronesian Shearwater.

Typesetting is expensive, so perhaps the authors wanted to make some of these changes but space or cost meant sticking with the old. On the whole though, a great amount of care has gone into improving most aspects of this guide and I am delighted to conclude that the very best modern field in the world (IMHO) is now even better! Looks like I am going to need two copies again – one for the book shelf and one for the glove compartment! Maybe it’ll help me find a European stray (in Manitoba not too likely but hey…).

Boreal Owl portrait

2010-03-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Boreal Owl, a.k.a Tengmalm’s Owl, is one of the most secretive residents of the boreal forest and always a real thrill to see. When a species has a different name in British and American English like this it is often a clue that the bird has a Holarctic distribution, as is the case with this species, found in both the Nearctic and Palearctic realms.

About a month ago, I had the good fortune to photograph this Boreal Owl in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. This generous individual posed for a beautiful portrait while sitting in a Jack Pine in the afternoon light – irresistible!

This next shot is a crop of the bird’s face as they hunt. The intent expression may make you think the bird is looking at something but actually they are listening to something under the snow. If you study this photo you can see the stiff dark feathers of the facial disk that help focus sound to the asymmetrical ears… below the photo I add a scan of a drawing from Owls of The World by Claus König, Friedhelm Weick, and Jan-Hendrik Becking that shows the asymmetrical ears. The different position of the ears means that sounds arrive in one ear a fraction of a second earlier than the other. The shape of the face with the stiff feathers of the facial disk focusing the sound towards the ears (much like the operation of a satellite dish) and the separation of the face into two halves helps with enhancing these subtle differences in perception. These adaptations result is hearing so precise that these owls can hunt prey they cannot see, for example they will plunge into the snow and come up with a vole than was moving in their tunnel, heard but unseen to the owl. Often when owls appear to be turning their head and looking down, they are adjusting the position of their “sound receptor”, i.e. their face, to help pinpoint a prey item before making the plunge. In the last post, I mentioned other adaptations in the wing feathers that allow them to fly quietly so that they can use their powerful hearing while hovering over a source of sound…

This owl was hunting near a feeder. Sometimes near the end of winter Boreal Owls seem to come out of the boreal forest for foraging opportunities. In this case, fallen seed under the feeder meant an opportunity for this owl. Evidence from Scandinavia suggests that males stick closer to their breeding territories whereas female disperse further to help them survive the winter – a strategy sometimes referred to as partial migration. This photo shows the owl preening at dusk, getting ready to hunt!

This last shot shows the owl flying off the feeder. It also shows my fallibility – although I was trying hard to get some flight shots, I missed the focus on this occasion. I might have to wait quite a while before another such opportunity comes my way!

Larger version of the first photo at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/Boreal%20Owl.htm