English - Tropical screech Owl
Portuguese - Corujinha-do-mato
Latin - Megascops choliba
These owls are almost strictly nocturnal, initiating their activities at dusk, but during the daytime this couple of Tropical screech Owls roost in a tree that I passed every morning on the way to breakfast, when I was staying at Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu. (REGUA) Every morning I would take a look. Sometimes you would see them, sometimes you wouldn’t. They were always in the same tree but sometimes they would duck behind dense foliage and were hard to find. Even though they mostly remained in the shade, they weren’t too difficult to photograph. They are quite a popular sight around REGUA and I think the most photographed owls at the reserve.
* Medium size owl with a length of up to 24cm, Wing span of up to 180mm and Weight up to 160g.
* It is one of the most successful and adaptable species of screech-owl in South America,
* They are found across much of South America east of the Andes, south to northern Argentina and Uruguay. They also occur on Trinidad.
* The Tropical Screech-Owl primarily preys on large arthropods and small vertebrates.
* Their Vocalisation sound like a ”pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-POO.”
* Female lays 1 to 3 eggs. Nestlings will fledge after one month.
*The conservation status of the Tropical Screech-Owl is assessed as of “Least Concern”. This species has a very large geographic distribution, and often is common within its range but can be affected by local human persecution. Because they are also insectivorous, (an insect eating owl) pesticides are of concern and likely problematic to the species survival. Traffic mortality may be a risk factor, since this species sometimes hunts by the sides of roads. Deforestation is potentially a beneficial factor to this species because it provides clearings and secondary growth, which are suitable habitat.
English - White-headed Marsh Tyrant
Portuguese - Freirinha
Latin - Arundinicola leucocephala
The White-headed Marsh Tyrant was a wee bit of a challenge to photograph. I photographed this small bird at Regua (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu) and even though I stayed at Regua for a month, it took me quite a while before I managed to photograph it. They are not as curious as their slightly bigger cousin the “Masked water-Tyrant” (blog No 4) but with a little bit of luck and patience I managed to photograph a pair at the Regua wetland trail. I often saw them when going on walks but once they new you were there they flew until one day when I sat and waited at a place I new they frequented, then after a wee bit of a wait, they turned up near to where I was and I managed to get some quite close up photos of them. Photo No 1 is of a male and photo No 2 is of a wee female.
* Small bird of 12·5–13 cm in length and weighs up to 16 grams.
* It is found in certain parts of South America and the Caribbean.
* Usually a quiet bird but occasionally lets out a high, sharp “sedik!”; low “dew-de-lewde.
* It feeds mainly on insects, and often sallies out to catch them in flight.
* Female lays 2 to 3 creamy-white eggs, with brown spots. Chicks fledge after 2 weeks.
* Not globally threatened at this stage. Fairly common to locally common. Much of its habitat remains in relatively pristine condition within its large range, therefore the White-headed Marsh Tyrant is classed as a species of “least concern ”
English - Anhinga
Portuguese - Biguatinga
Latin - Anhinga anhinga
The Anhinga is a cool looking, photogenic bird and best photographed when it is drying out it wings after fishing. (as in photo 1) It seems to be a wide spread species in Brazil. I have photographed it in a few different locations. Photo No. 1 was taken at REGUA, (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu) in the state of Rio De Janeiro. This photo was taken from inside a hide on the Wetlands trail (Yellow trail) at the reserve. The hide at REGUA offered you a chance to observe animals in there natural surroundings without disturbing them. The second photo was taken at Parque Botânico Vale in the state of Espirito Santo. It was taken late in the afternoon, so the lighting was quite bad as the sun had just ducked behind the hills but the Anhinga just popped out of the water just in front of us as we were leaving the park with a fish in it’s mouth, so it gave me a good opportunity to snap some photos of it feeding. The third photo was taken in the Pantanal, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The Anhinga was photographed in one of the many water holes that you pass by when driving along the road “MS184” which is a dirt road of around 116 km. Every couple of 100 metres you have to cross a bridge in which you need to stop and take a look as you just don’t know what is there. Normally you will find bird life, but you could be lucky and find a deer taking a drink or you could be really, really lucky and see a Jaguar cooling down. (we never saw one though)
* The Anhinga is a large bird and measures 89 cm in length, up to 95 cm in height and with a 1.14 m wingspan.
* It is also known as the snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey.
*The word ”Anhinga” comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird
* The Anhinga is found in the southern US, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
* The female lays 3-5 light blue eggs The chicks are blind and helpless after hatching .The chicks fledge when at six weeks of age.
* It feeds on fish in which it stabs with its sharp beak before eating.
* Sound of a Anhinga calling
* The Anhinga is classed as abundant, although their aquatic habitats are threatened. DDT was found to have an effect on the reproductive success of these birds and banning of this pesticide in North America has benefited those birds that breed in the southern United States. The are classed by the IUCN as a species of “least Concern”.
