These birds were all photographed while on a trip to an Indian village up a river off the Gulf of San Miguel at the southwest corner of Panama. The river and even the village apparently have names but they're not on our detailed map and if you go good luck finding your way up the river through the mangroves!
As I approached the village I saw some movement through an area of the jungle that had been cleared to a height of about a foot or two. I got my camera ready for some kind of grouse-like bird and this is what emerged. It's apparently something that passes for a chicken in these parts. While I thought that the hen I saw might just have been a little worse for wear, I soon saw its progeny... and it's apparent that it's inbred in the species. These things were just roaming wild around the outskirts of the village, as were a few pigs, a perfectly-proportioned miniature horse and perhaps another animal or two.
My first real bird to photograph was this Smooth-billed ani, part of a flock in a cleared area just outside the village.
As I watched the Smooth-billed Ani I became suspicious that not all the birds in the flock were of the same species. After consulting with one of our naturalists I found that I had also photographed a Greater Ani, which except for the bill looks a lot like a Great-tailed grackle.
As I was leaving the village I encountered a flycatcher that proved difficult to photograph, but I also spied this bird high over the village edge on a small broken tree trunk. I had meant to ask one of the naturalists about it but forgot. I was fairly certain that it was a flycatcher and in perusing my copy of The Birds of Costa Rica I have determined that it is almost surely a Long-tailed tyrant. I guess I should do a little more research as to how the bird got its name! I sorely regret not having been able to get a better photo!
No comments:
Post a Comment