Two weeks in the past, I wrote right here about what could find yourself being my Chicken 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, you must take a look at this hen’s face), that I devoted all the put up to that one hen.
Nonetheless, Paso Ancho by no means disappoints, and that beautiful Floor-Cuckoo was not the one hen 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 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 somewhat widespread Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and the rather more tough Yellow-Inexperienced Vireo. It was very sort of this latter, much less widespread hen to present me significantly better images than its extra widespread neighbor.
My most up-to-date images of that Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher had been too unhappy, so that is an outdated one.
However this one was certainly of our current Yellow-green Vireo.
Nonetheless, neither hen 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 wherever in Michoacán. However my pal Nacho’s first rate view, and far a lot much less first rate images, confirmed that our hen 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 hen as an escapee. And plenty of coastal species do really make their method far inland alongside the Balsas River. Plus, our hen was a juvenile, not an grownup. So, who is aware of? I’ll take what eBird gave us, and hope that this city could 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 hen, I’ll whistle its regular toot-toot-toot-toot name; and sometimes, one will reply. (And even when one doesn’t, different attention-grabbing birds could 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, mushy trills, informed us that these three had been juveniles, somewhat than tooting adults. In any other case, they appeared very like their dad and mom. Fortuitously, all small owls are cute, in order that was no loss.
These are the true eyes on the decrease left, and the false eyes on the higher proper.
Immature FPOW #3
Whereas there may be at all times a lot of uncommon and really colourful species in Paso Ancho, I after all will end with a pair that gave me good images. 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 had been current.
Autor Paul Lewis
