Barred Puffbird and more Black-and-white Hawk-Eagles at Cerro Azul
José Tejada Spent the day birding around Cerro Azul. The best part of his morning at Calle Maipo was meeting a flock of about 15 Blue-fronted Parrotlets feeding at a fruiting tree. They were very hard to see, as they were perched on the top branches, but once located he got good scope views of this seldom (well-)seen species.
Then he went to the Kaufmann Villa to look for the Hawk-Eagles, but he decided to check the garden trail first and found it was full of birds. Many trees were fruiting, and they were attended by flocks of the usual fruit-eating species. There were also lots of hummingbirds, including a pair of Garden Emerald, a Green-crowned Brilliant and a bunch of Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers. It was while waiting for hummingbirds, sitting down at the spot where the trail loops back, that he noticed a Barred Puffbird quietly perched in the undergrowth just beyond the trail. The heavy, greenish bill, yellow eyes and white throat were very evident, it was rufous above, buffy below and barred all over, which made it look somewhat like a huge female Fasciated Antshrike. After watching the bird for about 10 minutes, it flew off into the woods.
And then he was ready for some Hawk-Eagles. Having dozed off at the back porch, he was awaken at around 1 P.M. by the calls of, you guessed it, a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle. It was perched at the usual tree, with a second bird soaring nearby. After a short while the two flew off and dissapeared in the mist. Immediately after that he discovered what must have been a third bird perched on a big ceiba-type tree on the other side of the valley. Scanning the mountains he found a few perching White Hawks, which compared with the Hawk-Eagles had much more white on the wings (the Hawk-Eagles had all-black wings), and had more black around the face.
Then he went to the Kaufmann Villa to look for the Hawk-Eagles, but he decided to check the garden trail first and found it was full of birds. Many trees were fruiting, and they were attended by flocks of the usual fruit-eating species. There were also lots of hummingbirds, including a pair of Garden Emerald, a Green-crowned Brilliant and a bunch of Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers. It was while waiting for hummingbirds, sitting down at the spot where the trail loops back, that he noticed a Barred Puffbird quietly perched in the undergrowth just beyond the trail. The heavy, greenish bill, yellow eyes and white throat were very evident, it was rufous above, buffy below and barred all over, which made it look somewhat like a huge female Fasciated Antshrike. After watching the bird for about 10 minutes, it flew off into the woods.
And then he was ready for some Hawk-Eagles. Having dozed off at the back porch, he was awaken at around 1 P.M. by the calls of, you guessed it, a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle. It was perched at the usual tree, with a second bird soaring nearby. After a short while the two flew off and dissapeared in the mist. Immediately after that he discovered what must have been a third bird perched on a big ceiba-type tree on the other side of the valley. Scanning the mountains he found a few perching White Hawks, which compared with the Hawk-Eagles had much more white on the wings (the Hawk-Eagles had all-black wings), and had more black around the face.