Two weeks in the past, I wrote right here about what might find yourself being my Chicken of the 12 months for 2024: a Lesser Floor-Cuckoo which gave us implausible views in my beloved city of Paso Ancho, Michoacán. This sighting was so thrilling for me (critically, it’s a must to take a look at this fowl’s face), that I devoted the complete submit to that one fowl.
Nonetheless, Paso Ancho by no means disappoints, and that beautiful Floor-Cuckoo was not the one fowl of curiosity for the day. So listed below are a number of of the opposite highlights from that five-person outing. Any one in all them would have been sufficient to make our day, had not that star turned up.
First, there have been a pair of uncommon summer time migrants. Central Mexico receives a large number of winter migrants that summer time and breed additional north. However there are just a few species that summer time and breed solely as far north as Mexico, whereas wintering in Central and South America. We noticed two of those in Paso Ancho, the fairly widespread Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and the far more tough Yellow-Inexperienced Vireo. It was very form of this latter, much less widespread fowl to provide me significantly better photographs than its extra widespread neighbor.
My most up-to-date photographs of that Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher have been too unhappy, so that is an previous one.
However this one was certainly of our current Yellow-green Vireo.
Nonetheless, neither fowl was a real shock to see. The identical can’t be stated for a blur of inexperienced and yellow that flew briefly overhead. Till this date, I had by no means encountered any members of the parrot household in Paso Ancho — certainly, I had not but seen a parrot anyplace in Michoacán. However my buddy Nacho’s first rate view, and far a lot much less first rate photographs, confirmed that our fowl was certainly a Yellow-headed Parrot.
The Yellow-headed Parrot is, tragically, maybe the Mexican parrot that’s hottest for the unlawful (wild-captured) pet commerce. Its official vary doesn’t attain into the Río Balsas basin, which incorporates the city of Paso Ancho. However that vary does embrace the coast of Michoacán, which is maybe why eBird didn’t checklist our fowl as an escapee. And lots of coastal species do really make their means far inland alongside the Balsas River. Plus, our fowl was a juvenile, not an grownup. So, who is aware of? I’ll take what eBird gave us, and hope that this city might certainly have indicated a resident inhabitants for this endangered magnificence.
In distinction, the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl is a quite common species in Paso Ancho. Any time the habitat seems to be proper for this cute fowl, I’ll whistle its regular toot-toot-toot-toot name; and sometimes, one will reply. (And even when one doesn’t, different fascinating birds might flip as much as mob the owl they suppose they heard.) However our shock, this journey, was to see three owls in shut proximity. And the calls that they made, lengthy, comfortable trills, informed us that these three have been juveniles, fairly than tooting adults. In any other case, they seemed very similar to their dad and mom. Thankfully, all small owls are lovely, in order that was no loss.
These are the actual eyes on the decrease left, and the false eyes on the higher proper.
Immature FPOW #3
Whereas there’s all the time a lot of uncommon and really colourful species in Paso Ancho, I in fact will end with a pair that gave me good photographs. What else can I do? This type of weblog wants visuals. So right here is likely one of the three Brief-tailed Hawks we noticed, and one of many many, many Yellow-winged Caciques that have been current.
