Good morning, Dawn Choristers. I haven't been around a lot lately. Dealing with a move and the addition of Frank's elderly mother to our household have been challenging and time consuming for the better part of this year! Even with diminished participation, I always look forward to spending a little time here Sunday mornings. Many thanks to Kestrel and matching mole for keeping this little corner of Daily Kos going for the past several months.
My last Dawn Chorus was about my travels in Brazil's Pantanal region, touching on birds and other critters that we saw while we were there - especially the jaguars. In that diary, I promised another diary or two about more of the birds we encountered. Now, almost 8 months after that diary and a year since we returned, here we go.
I'm starting with the "and more" part of the title because I really love this photo. It gives a good sense of what a lot of the Pantanal looks like - flat grassland punctuated with islands of trees - plus captures the interaction between two charismatic bird species. The large bird in the center right of the photo is a greater rhea. He's defending the group of chicks on the left from the jabiru stork fleeing toward the right, though truth be told the jabiru was not a threat to the chicks. What he really wanted was a fishy handout from our guide!
I think we counted about 20 chicks total. In this species, the chicks are cared for by the father. Both males and females will mate with multiple partners, but the males stay at one next (or two if he has a helper), so it's likely the chicks come from more than one mother.
Songbirds (and more) below.
Here begins the Pantanal - welcome!
For some introductory information about the Pantanal, please see my diary referenced above. The sign above is at the beginning of the Pantanal on the Transpantaneira, the road that traverses the region from the town of Pocone in the north to Porto Jofre on the Cuiaba River in the south. It's altogether fitting to see rufous horneros nesting in their "ovens" here. They are ubiquitous in the Pantanal, nesting on signs, barns, in trees, just about everywhere. You cannot miss these birds- if you don't see them, you'll hear them.
Rufous hornero nest viewed from the patio outside our room. She was feeding two or three chicks in the oven.
Here's a crazy bird from the southern Pantanal. In English, it's call the plush-crested jay, which is descriptive enough I suppose. I much prefer the Spanish name, though - the Picasso bird. So much more evocative! There was at least one family of these jays in the courtyard area of our pousada.
Pablo would like this bird - a cubist's dream come true!
Keeping with the theme of brightly colored birds, there are many species of woodpeckers in the Pantanal, most of which have at least a splash of color. A few are simply gorgeous. The first photo is the female crimson-crested woodpecker. Usually only the males get to look as fancy as this bird with her lovely crimson crest. We hoped the male would also show up but he never did. His entire head is red except for a white ring around his bill and a white ear spot.
Crimson-crested Woodpecker - female
This lineated woodpecker, male this time, seemed to be harvesting salt from the crust of a rut in the road, created after a heavy rain. Another beauty.
Lineated Woodpecker - male
A few more.
White Woodpecker - reminds me a bit of White-headed Woodpeckers from closer to home
Campo Flicker obliging the photgrapher
Green-barred Woodpecker at her nest
Another familiar family of birds found in the Pantanal is the kingfishers. There are four species - the ringed kingfisher, by far the most common, largest and most gregarious, the green kingfisher, the Amazon kingfisher, and the American pygmy kingfisher. We saw all four species but the pygmy kingfisher was so tiny and generally tucked into brush that I never got a decent photo. The gaping bills, especially the ringed kingfisher, is evidence of the extreme heat. Temperatures were well over 100F with very high humidity. I used a wet sarong (at least while we were on boats) to keep myself cool-ish.
Ringed Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
I'll share a couple of Pantanal specialties to bring this diary to an end. Again, I feel like I have enough for another 1-2 Dawn Chorus diaries so I'll try to fit them in along the way.
Black-fronted Nunbird - more likely to skulk in the underbrush than to sit in the open like this bird
Crested Becard - a southern Pantanal treat
For a change of pace, how about a bird of prey to close out?
Roadside Hawk
Roadside Hawk - immature
Thanks for reading! Please share your recent or not-so-recent bird sightings in the comments.