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CClarke
climber
La Paz, Bolivia
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We went to Sorata for Carnaval and I got to do a little birding, but not much as it was a family trip.
A nice view of the west face of Huayna Potosi (just shy of 20,000') on the way there:
Puna Ibis, a very common but still interesting bird:
Two frolicking Yellow-billed Teals:
Another view of the Cordillera Real:
Sorata:
White-winged Tyrant:
Walking a bit above town:
Black-backed Grosbeak:
Carnaval:
Wjhite-bellied Hummingbird:
Cattle Egret:
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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What a pleasure to be able to read your collective posts and thoughts. My Oriole guess was based on the bill shape, and I wasn't really happy with that. I like the swing back to Orange-crowned Warbler.
And Little-Z; the owls!!!!! Holy Mo-of-gd!
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Another stellar page! I really enjoyed the OCW discussion. My first thought is that it was weird looking, but had to get back to work. Great discussion for future ID fun.
The Ibis above is cra-razy! Big body on him. CClarke's photos make me want to start planning my next big birding adventure! The mountain photos help too. :)
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Thanks you guys for all the comments. Reilly, good eye on the brightness and contrast. I was trying to make it look as it did in rain lighting. My camera has a tendency to overexpose.
It was hopping around with another OCW and a House Wren.
I sent the photos over to one of our leading OC birders Doug Willick. He literally wrote the book on OC birding.
Here is what he had to say.
Hi David,
Yes, I would agree. Your Orange-crown definitely looks to have a bill deformity. The lower bill looks longer than the upper a little, but both appear maybe 50% longer than normal. With bill deformity it seems it usually involves bills that grown extra long, and in such cases they don’t seem to grow straight, but will curve (often downwards like this but sometimes even sideways). Deformities like this are fairly rare but do happen with some regularity (and with almost any species of bird it seems). If a birder is in the field regularly, one can run into these bill deformities maybe once every few years or so. Can’t recall if I’ve seen many warblers showing bill deformities, but seem to recall a Yellowthroat with an abnormally long bill some years ago. I remember a Northern Flicker that had a bill very similar to length and shape of a California Thrasher some time ago. Not sure what causes these deformities; would be interesting to investigate that.
Doug
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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He's been hanging around the yard for a couple of days with his pals.
They love the runaway cherry tomato plant in my backyard.
That bill is freakishly huge!
I guess OC Warblers are early migrants. They are all over the place right now. There is so much variability, they go from bright yellow to dark green with some very gray ones also.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Cool stuff above.
I'm really starting to dislike Kingfishers, really hard to get a half decent shot of them.
On the walk this AM.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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That second photo is very reassuring. Thanks! Orange-crowneds are also early breeders. All the Orange-crowneds you see throughout the mid and upper elevations in the Sierra are post-breeding disperses, molting and fattening up for the off-season. We see our first hatch-year birds in Tahoe by the first week of June, already long out of the nest and wandering up from the foothills.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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^^ Cool bird Frank!
Welcome to the bird thread. Can't wait to see your other New Zealand birds!
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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thanks for the follow-up on the OCW Dave. I think we all would have hit closer to the mark if we'd had that second photo to go by as well. A fun little exercise nonetheless.
Found this guy nesting in a pasture in a flowering Erythrina tree. Pearl Kites are even smaller than kestrels. They had two nestlings, little cotton balls with hooked beaks, which are barely visible through the flimsy nest in one picture. I left when one of the parents dive-bombed me. I looked up from the telescope and this white thing came zipping past about 6 in. over my head.
Not very happy with the photos. I took like a hundred shots, but nothing turned out as I had hoped.
Bonus bird, nesting lower down in the same tree, Black-crowned Tityra. I love their Latin name, Tityra inquisitor.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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And we thought the Moa was extinct?
Your "friendly" Kea.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Kea! Those guys can put a hurt on you no doubt! Really beautiful birds.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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They're evil little minions of Gandalf sent out to spy and wreak havoc on
infernal combustion chariots.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Cool! I was wondering if they are inquisitive or not.
Meat-eaters or not, I think they are cute. Heck, my own amazons love scrambled eggs and chicken. (Turkey they find appalling though). :) And how can anyone not like the world's only alpine parrot? :)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Crimpie, I doubt yer Amazons eat cars.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Sorry you guys, I didn't realize the first photo was misleading. The color was a bit saturated.
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john hansen
climber
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Dee ee
I think we all had fun pondering that one. That's why birding, and this thread , is so much fun.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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That's not true. We have the Kakapo. Its also an alpine parrot fewer than 150 left. I haven't seen one but they look very much the same.
Damned wikipedia LIED to me. Imagine that!?!? Does anyone know what makes a bird alpine vs. not? A particular elevation?
Thanks for the clarification Frank. Photos of the Kakapo Frank? :)
edit: Because I'm a slow learner, I returned to wiki and found this about the Kakapo:
" A certain combination of traits makes it unique among its kind—it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds."
Pretty cool!
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Feels like spring out at Walden Ponds today.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Looking for Elf Owls this weekend. Anyone have some pic's?
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Elf Owls eh? Hmmm....
Wheeee Hoooo!
Great unexpected score today, Painted Redstart in Irvine. It's not a great photo. I went back later and saw it again but still failed to get a good shot.
Yesterday I finally found the Dusky Flycatcher at Mile Square, he took 6 tries. I got a bonus juvy Sharp-shinned H as well for county year.
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