Two weeks in the past, I wrote right here about what might find yourself being my Hen of the Yr for 2024: a Lesser Floor-Cuckoo which gave us incredible views in my beloved city of Paso Ancho, Michoacán. This sighting was so thrilling for me (severely, it’s a must to take a look at this fowl’s face), that I devoted the whole 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 just a few 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 only some 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 reasonably frequent Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and the way more troublesome Yellow-Inexperienced Vireo. It was very sort of this latter, much less frequent fowl to present me significantly better pictures than its extra frequent neighbor.
My most up-to-date pictures of that Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher had been too unhappy, so that is an outdated one.
However this one was certainly of our latest 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 good friend Nacho’s respectable view, and far a lot much less respectable pictures, 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 probably why eBird didn’t listing our fowl as an escapee. And lots of coastal species do really make their manner 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 proper for this cute fowl, I’ll whistle its regular toot-toot-toot-toot name; and infrequently, one will reply. (And even when one doesn’t, different attention-grabbing 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, tender trills, instructed us that these three had been juveniles, reasonably than tooting adults. In any other case, they regarded very like their dad and mom. Fortuitously, all small owls are cute, 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 at all times a lot of uncommon and really colourful species in Paso Ancho, I in fact will end with a pair that gave me good pictures. What else can I do? This sort of weblog wants visuals. So right here is without doubt one of the three Brief-tailed Hawks we noticed, and one of many many, many Yellow-winged Caciques that had been current.
