Fascinating Bird Finds

    Elvis and Jacob help us get our eyes on a Aplomado Falcon.  Perhaps, they'll become future bird guides for their area?  They followed us everywhere we went.  We even bought some tamales from them:)

This has been a whirlwind year of birding.  Sometimes I felt like I birded too much and during other times, I felt like I wasn't even a birder.  Through the course of my studies and travel, I found 2 species of bird quite interesting, the Black Swift and the Aplomado Falcon. While both are found in the US, they can also be found in other places of Central and South America with the Black Swift mostly found in North America(which includes Central America). 

Not much is known about Black Swifts because as their name suggests, they are swift. A real study needs to be done on them like what we are attempting here with the desert Purple Martins in Tucson. We know they like to breed behind waterfalls or around water areas in canyon and mountain regions.  However, my original theory was that they migrate up to the Central and Northwestern parts of North America to breed during the summer.  Well known observations for most birders of the Black Swift are found along the Black Swift trail in the San Juan Mountains.  In fact, many birders will go to Ouray, CO to observe these fascinating swifts where they are numerous. My first observation of a Black Swift was near Sequim, Washington this summer.  I was hoping I'd see one and I did....briefly.  Then I thought that would be it for the year or years. 

Turns out that I was completely wrong.  I'd observe them again in the Darien Gap of Panama in some really wild and remote areas. I was not expecting this species to be there in the summer! When we first saw them, we were confused.  They came up as rare in ebird but it begs the questions, do they also breed in the Darién?  Some locals think so. And are there two populations like with the northern(migrates) and tropical(do not migrate) Turkey Vultures where one group migrates and the other stays?  More studies on these elusive swifts needs to be done. 

                                                                      Pearl Falcon

Then it was onto falcons; a really great group of birds.  This year, I had fabulous views of the Pearl, Laughing and Aplomado Falcons. While the Pearl Falcon wasn't a lifer, it was a bird I had wanted better views of in the field.  My first sighting was in Trinidad and it was a flyover.  Laughing Falcons were often heard but rarely seen in the dense vegetation of Panama.  That is until one of the Laughing Falcons perched out in the open near our tent.  

                           Laughing Falcon.  This species, when it calls, actually sounds like it's laughing!

My biggest gamble this year was also my only dip from our Texas trip in February, the Aplomado Falcon.  This species can be found from Brownsville to South Padre Island. It's often seen on a swampy road that likes to suck up vehicles.  Then they have to be towed off this infamous dirt road.  I elected not to get Betty White stuck in the mud and passed on the search for the bird.  No bird is worth that headache.  So we played it smart.  I knew I still had another chance. Maybe Panama.......

And indeed it happened.  Many times.  We had gorgeous views of the Aplomado Falcon in the Darién.  In fact, all around Yaviza in the right habitat, they were everywhere.  Again they came up rare but they seem to be making a healthy comeback in this particular area.  Their populations have taken a hit over the decades, especially in Texas. It is listed as LEAST CONCERN, but the population trend mentions that this species is decreasing.  However, the good news is that with serious conservation efforts in the US and in other countries, these birds are making a slow comeback.  And that's something positive to end on here.   

 

                                                                           Aplomado Falcon

I have more writing scheduled this month after a little break from the intense birding that had happened this summer.  So stay tuned for more.