Torreón is a metropolis within the heart of the Mexican Plateau, an enormous highland basin within the north of Mexico that lies between the western and jap Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Torreón and two different cities type a metropolitan space of some million and a half inhabitants, collectively generally known as la Laguna. (Apparently the realm as soon as was occupied by a collection of intermittent lakes, however they had been drained way back for agriculture.) In contrast to virtually all Mexican cities, Torreón can be a brand new metropolis, having grown from a tiny city since 1900. In distinction, Morelia, the place I reside, was based in 1540.
I taught every week of lessons within the Baptist Seminary in Torreón final month. However the lessons had been all within the evenings, which left me a little bit of time for birding within the mornings. Would this massive city space provide something fascinating?
My first full day in Torreón turned out to be a free day. The one who had the duty of constructing certain I’d be housed and fed, and who took me the place I wanted to go, had additionally been warned that I prefer to see birds. So he had deliberate to take me to Torreón’s two largest city parks.
I’m not going to faux I can advocate Torreón as a birding vacation spot, though I additionally can’t declare to have accomplished a whole research of the town’s potential. However Torreón is a quite essential industrial and agricultural hub, so a few of our readers could find yourself going there for work functions. In the event that they do, they may be occupied with what I noticed whereas there (19 species in a single week, versus over 100 species on an identical journey to the tropical state of Tabasco).
First, you will notice a number of doves and pigeons in Torreón. White-winged Doves are in all places. This can be a dominant species in northern Mexico, however one which I virtually by no means see in Michoacán. Feral Rock Pigeons and Inca Doves are additionally quite common. Invasive Eurasian Collared Doves aren’t widespread, however might be seen, as can Mourning Doves.
The ever-present White-winged Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, which might be seen all through Mexico, are quite common right here. In contrast to many woodpeckers, these usually probe the bottom for grubs. They’re quite a few in Torreón’s parks.
Different widespread birds embody Nice-tailed Grackles, Home Sparrows, and Home Finches. Completely no surprises there. Sadly, invasive Monk Parakeets are additionally quite common. I felt higher concerning the Verdins hiding within the mesquite timber.
A lot of the Nice-tailed Grackles gave the impression to be immature, and had tails that weren’t but nice.
Sigh…
I had a quite quixotic hope to see a pair of desert-loving sparrows, the migratory Brewer’s Sparrow, and the resident Cassin’s Sparrow. However these are apparently not often seen within the metropolis, and the dates had been off for the previous species. Nonetheless, whereas I didn’t obtain these potential lifers, I picked up a pair of sudden lifers as a substitute. At one park, many Barn Swallows had been flying simply overhead. However then I observed a gaggle of barely smaller swallows flying even larger, all with out the Barn Swallow’s attribute “swallow” tail. In Michoacán, these would completely have been Cliff Swallows. However the dates turned out to be incorrect for that species, which suggests these had been Cave Swallows, virtually similar to the Cliff Swallow. (Cave Swallows have a lighter throat and darker rump than Cliffs.) Lifer!
Swallow images being what it’s, I didn’t handle any pictures of Torreón’s Cave Swallows. These had been Cliff Swallows, from Morelia.
And on my final day, I had a while to kill, alone, so I half-heartedly determined to see what may be across the neighborhood. I ended up visiting a big undeveloped plot of some two hectares (5 acres). A Gnatcatcher was patiently working its method by way of the desert scrub. It regarded similar to the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers seen in all places in the course of the winters in Michoacán. However, in contrast to the whiny descending calls of the Blue-grays, this one repeatedly mentioned che-che-che-che, with a tone not in contrast to a wren’s scolding calls. Once I talked about this to an ornithologist buddy who has extra expertise in northern Mexico, he instantly confirmed the ID I had already decided: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. My second, and final, lifer for the journey!
Alas, I didn’t have my digicam with me once I noticed the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Think about the underside of this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher’s tail being black, and also you get the concept.
And right here is the one really uncommon chicken I noticed in Torreón. No shock, it’s a dove.