Remember the guy above? I didn't know what he/she was called so I just called it a "mohawked, Amazon chicken". But thanks to the help of a kind reader I now know it is a Hoatzin. I wasn't close at all. Poo!
Here are a few of the other birds I saw whilst in the Amazon. Please help me identify them. I have written what I think their names are.
[Above] Long Necked Amazonian Stork. It only delivers babies in the dry season.
[Above and below] Black Poser. It spreads its wings to dry them. This is actually true... about the wings, that is. Nevertheless, it is still a poser. Yeah!
[Below] The Vain Swamp Swan - formerly known as The Ugly Swamp Duckling.
[Below] I think this is a Long Necked Amazonian Stork again.
[Below] The Ugly Swamp Duckling.
[Below] Flamingo Duck
[Below] Elephant Bird. This thing is enormous. And don't be eating if it's hungry - it's not shy. Driving into the pampas, our group stopped for lunch at a restaurant in a local town called Santa Rosa. This winged mammoth walked right in and started snapping at food... and people.
[Below] And if you thought it couldn't fly... wrong!!! Here's one in a huge nest high above our camp (on the second-highest bunch of branches).
Thank you for all your help. :)
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Flamingo Duck and Vain Swamp Swan, indeed!
ReplyDeleteShowed Dad some of your pics and he seemed able to identify them, at least at a slightly more specific level than just "bird". You know how much he loves birds. He said he'll take a look again later and try to help you out.
Incidentally, this morning I saw a captive American Eagle eat a mouse from a man's (gloved) hand not 5 feet away from me (it was at the water slide park in Quarteira, remember?). So the bird connection runs strong within us.
Miss you brosephine.
S x
Ok, here we go:
ReplyDeleteThey's all storks. (Cue Dad: "You've clearly been storking them. Unless they've been storking you." Embarrassing.)
The "Long Necked Amazonian Stork" is definitely a heron (part of the stork family) -- nearest we can get to it is the Grey Heron.
The "Black Poser" is most probably a darter (especially because of the attitude and stance, Dad says).
The "Vain Swamp Swan" is a regulation Egret.
The "Ugly Swamp Duckling" is, we reckon, a Little Blue Egret. Though I will always think of it, fondly, as The Big Black Bastard.
http://www.jrcompton.com/photos/The_Birds/herons/Herons-v-egrets.html
The "Flamingo Duck" is, in fact, NOT a duck; and is actually a Roseate Spoonbill.
The "Elephant Bird" is, as far as I can tell, a Jabiru Stork. Not absolutely dead certain on this one -- did it have a red collar? And how dark was the beak? Hard to tell when the pic's B/W. Check this out and compare:
http://graemetools.blogspot.com/
(Scroll to three-quarters of the way down -- or just type CONTROL-F and do a search for "jabiru").
Feel free to be impressed with our detective work.
S x
P.S. check out this wicked photo:
http://www.blogosis.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/herron-eats-rabbit-1.jpg
I'm no bird expert, but I'll take a stab at a few. I agree that the "Black Poser" is probably a darter called an anhinga.
ReplyDeleteThe "Ugly Swamp Duckling" looks to me to be some sort of cormorant.
Sammy! Yes, I am suitably impressed!!! And I must say I was laughing quite a lot at your added commentary, haha. I miss you too, bro. Please thank your dad for me as well! You are now both "Super Detectives" in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, yes, the "Elephant Bird" had a red neck.
Katie - thanks for helping out. :)
Hey guys!
ReplyDeleteOne of my readers - a bird lover - emailed me the identies of the birds. Have a read and see what you think. (Thanks Tiziana.)
ps. I'm translating from Spanish and the names may be what they're known as in Italy, but here you go anyway.
1 HOAZIN - if you look at it's feet you can see that it's a a prehistoric bird that continues to live today.
2 Airone (in Italian) - from the family of the ARDEAS CINEREA.
3,4 ANHINGA - there's some that are more coffee colored: "aninga aninga" and others that are more red: "anhinga rufa."
5 EGRETTA GARZETTA or possibly Ardea Blanca, if it has black feet.
6 not sure, as it's in a shadow.
7 cormorano
8 Not sure, but possibly a AJAIA AJAJA - though this seems like a joke.If it has a pink beak it could be a Roseate spoonbill, in the family of the Ciconiidae
9 JABIRU from the family of ciconias