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Neotropical Birds
Discovery the Neotropical Birds
Through time and travel, RoyalFlycatcher has documented much of Biodiversity, mainly of birds in Mexico, and in other parts of the world (United States, Canada, Central America, Brazil, Cuba, Spain).
The high diversity of birds existing in the Neotropics is well known. But it is also one of the regions where very little is known about the ecology of many birds. There is information about the decrease in the number of individuals and species due to habitat loss and climate change. Many species are disappearing from their ranges and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find certain birds on observation trips. The objective of the Neotropical Birds project is to provide society with knowledge about bird species in the Neotropics and share their intimate behavior that our style and rhythm of life have not allowed us to know. For RoyalFlycatcher, the Neotropical Birds project seeks to document and generate information on birds in the Neotropics, as a conservation tool.
Alberto Martínez Fernández
royalflycatcher.birding@gmail.com
96 7142 9969
Biologist, ornithologist, certified guide, specialist in birdwatching, nature photography and video. His passion for birds started at an early age; now with more than 20 years of experience. He has collaborated with national and international agencies for bird conservation.
Founder of RoyalFlycatcher, seeking to promote love for birds and their conservation.
Miguel Ángel Sicilia
55 3201 0780
Biologist, photographer, editor and content designer, focused on highlighting the natural diversity of Mexico, using photography and video as my main tools, freelance since January 2020.
White-breasted Hawk (Accipiter chionogaster) Neotropical birds
It is considered as a subspecies of Accipiter striatus. However, its features make it for many a different species; only juveniles could be confused with A. striatus. Because it is not considered a different species, for the IUCN it does not have any risk category. However, its distribution is restricted to southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and it is only found in cold forests.
On one of our walks in 2016 outside San Cristóbal de las Casas, we found the first White-breasted Hawk nest in a pine-oak forest. This first nest, built in a pine tree with a height of 25 to 28 meters, was monitored for over a month. We were able to witness the chickens grow and see how the parents brought them food. During this year, the couple had 3 chickens (one female and two males). In the current year 2020, 50 meters from the nest monitored in 2016, in a pine tree with a height similar to the first tree, we were able to see the growth of 4 chickens in a nest. For some reason, a chicken was larger than the rest of them. It is deducted that this individual was from a first laying and the other 3 chickens were at least two weeks old.
Like most accipiter, the parents were within a radius not bigger than 100 meters, to deliver food from male to female. The latter is the one who transports the food to the nest and begins to feed the baby birds chicks.
White breasted Hawk (Accipiter chionogaster) Kaup, 1852.
Rufous-collared Robin (Turdus rufitorques) Neotropical Birds
This is typical of cold lands, common in mixed pine-oak forests and pine forests of the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, and similar locations. At times you can see it going down the ground looking for earthworms and other insects. It is usually in the upper-mid stratum.
During our field work, we watched it nesting 4 meters high on a bromeliad, on a cypress branch. A fairly appropriate site away from potential predators. On the San Cristobalito hill, as this place is known, the vegetation is dominated by pine trees and shrubs with fruits. In most cases, the female was seen carrying fruit to feed the baby birds chicks, within a radius of no more than 50 meters. The male rarely came with food. However, he kept himself on a perch vocalizing when the female approached the nest.
Mirlo de Collar. Rufous-collared Robin (Turdus rufitorques) Hartlaub, 1844 LC: Least Concern
Rufous-browned Wren (Troglodytes rufociliatus) Neotropical Birds
In the nesting season, it is very important to keep in mind that many species of birds may be nesting in the ground; as is the case with the Rufous-browed Wren; a small, fairly short-tailed wren from highland forests, forest edges, and brushes.
On a dirt road in the oak-pine forest within the Montetik park, located on the edge of San Cristobal de las Casas, we found the nest of this wren built in a cavity made in a wall of soil without vegetation, 20 cm high of the dirt road. During filming, the couple was observed carrying food for the chickens. When the parents approached the nest, they made a vocalization and from the nest the chirping of the chickens was heard at the same time. The foraging area was not more than 10 meters into the forest. The time between each visit to the nest was 2-3 minutes on average, bringing a total of 9 different types of (food) insects in a span of 2 hours. It is intuited that the chickens were between the first and second week of growth.
Rufous-browed Wren · (Troglodytes rufociliatus) · Sharpe, 1882. LC: Least Concern
Bearded Screech-Owl (Otus barbarus) Neotropical Birds
It is a species of owl that lives in the cold forests of Mexico and Guatemala. In Mexico, it is only found in Chiapas. Populations of this species are seriously threatened by accelerated habitat loss.
There are two morphs (color variations in plumage). The gray variation, the most common to find, is presented in the film. The other variation is reddish. At night, when they are vocalizing, it is not easy to find them. The volume during their vocalizing increases at the beginning, and falls abruptly at the end. That causes one to lose the sense of direction where the sound comes from. However, many of the times, when found, they tend to hang for a while; they are territorial. The images presented in the video are from four sites around San Cristobal de las Casas: oak and pine-oak forests, and oak regeneration areas on the roadside. About their nest, we have found that they build it in tree cavities, but its documentation has not been successful.
Bearded Screech Owl (Megascops barbarus) Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1868) VU: vulnerable
Sparkling-tailed woodstar (Tilmatura dupontii) Neotropical birds
Sparkling-tailed Woodstar · Tilmatura dupontii · (Lesson, R, 1832).
The sparkling-tailed woodstar (Tilmatura dupontii), also known as the sparkling-tailed hummingbird. Very small, rather insectlike hummingbird found locally in foothills and highlands; uncommon.
Every year, it comes to the gardens in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. A hummingbird that does not make noise when flying, you must be very attentive to the flowers that it usually visits if you want to see it. She tends to move slowly between each flower, seemingly getting the most out of it with each visit.
- GALLERY -
