English           -           Whistling Heron

Portuguese   -            Maria-faceira       

Latin               -           Syrigma sibilatrix

The whistling Heron has to be one of the most attractive big birds around. Really enjoyed photographing these guys. They are quite photogenic and unlike most other herons, won’t fly away when they see you. They don’t seem to be as common as other types of herons like the Great Egret or the snowy Egret, so when I did see one, it was always a bit of a treat. The first whistling heron I ever saw was sitting on the fence post. (photo No. 1 ) This photo was taken from a gravel road near Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu. (REGUA) as we were driving guests of REGUA to the start of one of the trails at the reserve.  Photo No 2 was taken at REGUA itself. It was taken early in the morning as the sun was coming up. The 2 Whistling Herons were perched in a tree on a small island in the reserves wetlands. (Yellow trail) The island was very close to my accommodation at the reserve and I used to get up in the mornings and take a look to see what was out and about. Quite a few times a saw a pair of Whistling Herons sitting in a tree on the island. Don’t think they were nesting there, it was more like a good place to groom each other. Photo No 3 was taken by a small road side pond near the small town of Bodoquena in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. We were driving down a gravel road after visiting a farm and my co-pilot (Celia) said, “we just passed a big bird”. I stopped and took a look and in this wee pond there were a few different species of birds including the Whistling Heron.

* The Whistling Heron is endemic to South America

* Can be found in eastern Colombia and in Venezuela as well as  northern Bolivia south through Paraguay and southern Brazil to Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.

* Medium to large bird with a length of 64cm and can weighs up to 546g.

* The Whistling Heron is one of the least aquatic species of Herons.

* Diet includes spiders, insects, earthworms, frogs and small reptiles.

* They nests alone, unlike most herons, which nest in colonies.

* Whistling Herons make a sort of whistling kne, kne sound.

* The female lays three or four eggs but only 2 nestlings normally survive and fledge after 42 days.

* Whistling Herons are locally common but patchily distributed. The species is not threatened at this moment and there for are classified as a species of “least concern”.

English            -             Amazonian Motmot

Portuguese    -              Udu-de-coroa-azul

Latin               -               Momotus momota

Such an ugly name for such a pretty bird. (well, that’s what I think) I photographed the Amazonian Motmot on a walking track on the way to Buraco das Araras, near the town of Jardim, Mato Grosso do Sul. On the track we saw 2 Amazonian Motmot. The first one we saw (photo No. 1) was a wee bit of a challenge to photograph as there was quite a bit of foliage in the way and it didn’t matter what angle I tried to get to, the camera wanted to focus on all the leaves and branches in front of the Amazonian Motmot but eventually managed to focus on it and take a shot before it flew away. The second Amazonian Motmot (photo No. 2) was more straight forward. We were walking further down the track and this one was just chilling out sitting on a fence post. it didn’t seem too concerned with our presence. As we were walking through a lightly forested area both photos were taken in the shade so the colours of the Amazonian Motmot are a bit flat.

* The Amazonian Motmot has a length of up to 43 cm and can weigh up to 160g.

* Its double-noted hooting call is a familiar sound in many areas of the Neotropics.

* Occurs in South America east of the Andes. The distribution extends from eastern Colombia across southern Venezuela,south to northwestern Argentina, and east across most of Brazil.

* The Amazonian Motmot is omnivorous. Has been recorded eating small reptiles, insects and fruit.

* The Amazonian Motmot has an extremely wide range, large population size and a stable population trend. It does not have an IUCN Red List conservation rating but is regarded as a species “of least concern”. The logging of the rain forests in South America has certainly diminished its habitat. Nonetheless the Amazonian Motmot is relatively tolerant of habitat disturbance, and is not limited to the interior of undisturbed tropical rainforest.

English            -             Brown Booby

Portuguese    -              Atobá-pardo

Latin               -              Sula leucogaster

I don’t think the Brown Booby is a hard bird to photograph, but I found it quit challenging to find one to sit still for 5 minutes. I saw plenty of them flying around but because the weather in Cabo Frio was overcast and windy I couldn’t get any really good photos of them flying as I couldn’t get my shutter speed up to where I wanted it. I don’t like playing around with the ISO to much as with my camera, if you go over 800 ISO it really starts to affect picture quality. Anyway………we spent 4 days in Cabo Frio. One day we were walking along the Marina and to my delight a Brown Booby was sitting on a side of a moored fishing boat, so I managed to get some close ups. Once again the lighting wasn’t great but still happy to get quite close to one.

* The latin names for the Brown Boobies means “white stomach”.

* Hunts for fish, squid, etc by plunging headfirst into water from flight.

* Female Brown Boobies are slightly larger than males.

* The Brown Booby has a world wide distribution range in tropical waters.

*  When communicating the female issues a loud honk. Male makes a high-pitched whistling sound.

* Brown Booby chicks show signs of siblicide.

* A group of Brown Boobies are collectively known as a “congress”, “hatch”, or  “trap” of boobies.

* Historically the Brown Booby has been severely impacted by hunting for food, egg collection, and the introduction of non-native species such as rats, cats, goats and pigs. Fortunately, this species’ habit of nesting on small, isolated islands generally unfit for permanent habitation means that it has remained widespread and apparently relatively abundant. There are, however, some concerns that global populations numbers may be greatly overestimated and that this species could be experiencing a worrying decline. But it is classified as a species of “least concerned” by IUCN.