Bird Watching Guatemala Blog

Great Kiskadee Most people who like go outside and enjoy bird watching can identify the bird in the picture, a Great Kiskadee. Many birders know that the name comes from the song of this common and widely distributed flycatcher. But no one can say where he is come from… Little differences in songs exist in birds that breeds in different countries and is more obvious when you use a bird song tape. If you have a record of a bird taken in different countries, birds will ignore the sound like they do with a parrot call. I found this little friend in Río Dulce, Guatemala. Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Herons and Egrets are representative from wetlands, rivers, lagoons and ponds. In a typical birding trip along La Pasión River you can find at least ten species perched in marsh vegetation. Vegetation along La Pasión River Photo by Maynor Ovando A very common member of this kind is the Green Heron, when you observe it while hunting, you can notice how spoils the neck and slings it to catch a prey so fast that the human eye can’t follow the movement. Green Heron Another numerous bird is the Cattle Egret, an African species widespread along the World. Most times observed in pastures following insects, but it’s not a strange near water bodies too. Cattle Egret Guatemala, with its great variety of ecosystems, it’s always an invitation to visit any corner and enjoy a complete bunch of birds. Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Xeno-canto website One of the most fascinating facts about birds is their ability to perform songs and calls, a kind of language unique for each species, so specific that we can identify them just by hear. It’s really amazing to know that in wide spread bird species there are sound differences for these songs. So a Great Kiskadee from USA has a different accent that a Guatemalan one. A web site you can’t miss if you want to learn about bird songs is Xeno-canto , an incredible database with sounds from all over the Neotropic. This community has increased its collection enough to include a section for Africa and Asia. You can contribute uploading mp3 sounds if you have any, participate in forums, share sonograms, upload pictures and many other activities. Or simply look for sounds you are interested in and get a better knowledge. Right now Guatemala is poorly represented in this project, but all of us have the opportunity to get info from our birding trips and add new items. Posted by M

Birding in Guatemala is always a delightful activity. Walk through the forest in the mountains or in the lowlands jungle is a single different experience each time and the memories you are getting every minute last forever. Lemuel spotting a woodcreper in Corazón del Bosque Photo by Maynor Ovando Benedicto birding in Yaxha Photo by Maynor Ovando Taking a bird picture became a treasure you can have always with you and can show different things: A proof that you saw a rare bird Pink-headed Warbler The beauty of a nature scene Blue-winged Teal Or an artistic way to look a bird Eastern Bluebird It doesn’t matter how you can take a picture, the main goal is to have a moment freeze in time ready to share with friends… Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Rainy season in Guatemala started in May and will be finish in late October and a good weather forecast is really important when you are planning a birding trip. Bird behavior is affected by low temperatures and high humidity; it is really hard bird watching with poor light. Have you ever try birding like this? The good thing is that in Guatemala rain is predictable in the most important birding areas. Usually in Western Highlands mornings are clear and warm, great for birding! Afternoons and nights are stormy and rainy and give a chance to travel to different places or visit towns and get close to live Mayan cultures Perfect weather for birding in the morning... In Northern Lowlands all time is good for rain, morning, afternoon or night, but short in time. Maybe you started to walk early in the morning with no clouds in the sky and just when you are in the middle of the forest, suddenly a hard rain begins and lasts for an hour or so, but then clouds disappear and you can continue agai

Happy Father's Day Today in Guatemala we celebrate Father’s Day and I want to tribute to all men in this special occasion considering that birds are extraordinary parents, as we are. During a birding trip to Ceibal Archaeological Site I got this picture of a Black-cheeked Woodpecker male in its nest built in a dead tree or “tocon” as we said in Spanish. Woodpecker male and female take care of the little chicks, helpless, blind and featherless creatures, and work usually for three weeks until they leave the nest. Finally when they decide to move the nest to a better place, other birds take the “free space” and use it to grow their own families, like Toucans and Trogons. Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Yucatan Poorwill Yucatan Poorwill… that’s what Guatemalan Ornithological Society (Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología SGO) said about my report of a Tawny-collared Nightjar. The id key was the white fore collar and white spots on the primaries. Even though it is an important sighting, not all the time an endemic bird from Yucatan Peninsula is observed so well. I tried hard looking for an image of this bird but nobody had one, just a couple of paintings but the colors are not accurate, really a shame. So here I’m posting two images to compare if you need in the future. The white fore collar is well shown here... Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Ebird is an extraordinary tool for birders and a great opportunity to share with all the World the bird richness in Guatemala. This is a program from Cornell Lab of Ornithology and started as a mechanism for US birders to report what they found in their birding fieldtrips and started to grow to the most important birding hotspots out of the United States. A few months ago a group of birders in Guatemala led by Carol C. Anderson implemented Ebird Guatemala in order to report accurately observations made in our country. This portal let you send your observations in each place and keep a record of your lifelist, bird list for that place, historical reports and let other birders use that information to prepare charts with frequencies, distributions, etc. Please visit the website and join us to have better information of bird populations in Guatemala. Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http

Roadside Hawk Hawks are the most common raptors in Guatemala, not including vultures of course. The local name for hawks, kites and falcons is “Gavilán” and most people think they are all the same because they just look at them when flying. During migrations thousand of hawks fly over the country and most Guatemalans talk about “Azacuanes” but nobody say that they are different species traveling and looking for winter territories. Azacuanes are very important in culture because it is a sign that rainy season is short to start in April-May or near to end in October-November. Plumbeous Kite No matter what name you use birding and observe these magnificent birds of prey, is just captivating, hawks are perfect symbols of strength, freedom and power. Laughing Falcon Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Juvenile King Vulture Sometimes during a birding trip I’ve found what most people think are common situations, but many times the result is extraordinary. I visited Ceibal this Tuesday and when I was in the entrance road my friend David saw some vultures on the ground, he told me they were Turkey Vultures but I noticed one really different to the others, immediately I thought “That’s a Juvenile King Vulture!” David took his camera and got some nice pictures and I armed my scope and digiscoped some like this one. I haven’t had a chance to see one like this and it is great to observe the big differences between a juvenile and an adult. It means that if an older one is a King Vulture a young one is a Prince Vulture, isn’t it? Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Vermillion Flycatcher's Nest Photo by Maynor Ovando Rainy season in Guatemala is always a nice occasion to birding, the biology in the whole expression in surrounding you everywhere and the perfect example is bird breeding. During my last visit to Flores Petén, I had the wonderful opportunity to observe a breeding couple of Vermillion Flycatcher. I got the nest and took a picture but this time I went directly to the tree and found a couple of chicks. The female and male were flying around to protect their descendant. Two little chicks Photo by Maynor Ovando I’ll try to have a record of the chicks development and share with you the experience. Feed me! Photo by Maynor Ovando Posted by Maynor Ovando http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Temple I, Tikal Photo by Maynor Ovando I’m traveling to Petén again to visit Ceibal. It will be a rainy day along the way because Arthur tropical depression, meanwhile I share this picture of Temple I in Tikal National Park. Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour & Travel Copyright® 2,008 http://www.birdwatchingguatemala.com/ http://www.martsam.com/

Mountain Pygmy-owl Pygmy owls are a complex group of birds. The American Ornithologist’s Union (AOU) considers Northern Pygmy-owl split into two groups: Californicum Group for birds resident in Southern Alaska to Southern New Mexico and Gnoma Group to birds found in mountains of Mexico, Guatemala and Central Honduras. Based on genetic and vocal differences Heidrich et al (1995) considered different species, so many people call Mountain Pygmy-owl to the Gnoma group. This owl is 6 inches in length, active daytime and very similar to other Glaucidium Owls. A really nice website with a lot of info is Owling.com . You can check it out and have more details about this and other members of the family. HEIDRICH, P., C. KONIG, AND M. WINK. 1995. Bioakustik, Taxonomie und molekulare Systematik amerikanischer Sperlingskäuze (Strigidae: Glaucidium spp.). Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk., Ser. A, 534: 1-47. Posted by Maynor Ovando www.birdwatchingguatemala.com is a registered trademark of Martsam Tour