So I haven’t had a lot birding pleasure to put in writing about previously couple of weeks. However I’ve been in a position to take pleasure in going via images from earlier years (2022, proper now), completely saving one of the best and eliminating all of the others. Doing so made me consider discovering a topic that may concentrate on some such images.
Readers who studied some Spanish in class are more likely to keep in mind that the phrase for “hen” in that language is pájaro. Nevertheless, whereas even most native Spanish audio system don’t realize it, that isn’t totally true. The phrase pájaro solely applies appropriately to perching birds, of the Passerine household. Waterfowl, shorebirds, birds of prey, and different non-Passerine birds are lined by the phrase aves. And this put up is about central Mexico’s aves navideñas, or, my record of Mexican Christmas birds.
My a part of Mexico’s highlands has no naturally-occuring parrots, which might be our pure place to begin for red-and-green birds. Thankfully, we’ve got no lack of different brightly coloured aves. Actually we will begin with our hummingbirds, of which we’ve got fifteen within the space above 2,000 meters (6,600 ft). (I’ve seen six extra species in decrease components of Michoacán.) A great Christmas hummingbird for beginning could be our Broad-tailed Hummingbird, with its inexperienced physique and rose-red gorget.
Sadly, this picture of an immature Broad-tailed Hummingbird is the one one I’ve achieved with even a touch of its rose-red throat.
Nonetheless, there isn’t any inexperienced just like the inexperienced on the pinnacle of the Berylline Hummingbird. And these hummers are exceedingly widespread in central Mexico — in actual fact, they’re exceedingly widespread in my very own yard.
When you squint good, you may even see a touch of crimson within the Berylline’s decrease components.
One other hen ensures you can see the colour crimson all over the place in our area. That is the ever-present Vermilion Flycatcher. So long as it’s an grownup male, its crimson breast by no means fails to excite, despite its being so widespread right here.
I may additionally level out the brilliant crimson of our winter-only Summer season Tanager. (Sure, I do know I simply wrote an oxymoron.) However these usually lose their crimson shade within the depth of winter, which they spend right here. Thankfully, Hepatic Tanagers are residents, and their male colours by no means fluctuate. Their identify might say they’re liver-colored, they appear plain crimson to me.
Nonetheless, the marginally orangey reds of those two birds can not spell Christmas just like the crimson and white of our endemic Crimson Warbler. The truth that this warbler is all the time present in conifer forests make it much more Christmassy.
And but, there’s an excellent higher strategy to say Christmas than crimson with a little bit of white. That will be crimson with a lot of inexperienced. The pleasant Crimson-headed Tanager will get the proper mixture of colours, however doesn’t fairly get the tones proper:
Two birds, nevertheless, get all of the Christmas colours good. Whereas some Mexican trogons have yellow breasts, the one two trogons of the Michoacán highlands supply the proper shades of crimson, inexperienced, and white. They’re the proper aves navideñas.
Mountain Trogon
Elegant Trogon
For good measure, I’ll finish with a pair of seasonally festive bromeliads. ¡Y a todos, una feliz navidad!
