clearlyconfused: Birds of Argentina 2011 Post 1

South America is to birds is what Africa is to mammals. Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to bird both Ecuador and Peru. Argentina however was a desired destination because of the Ibera wetlands, one of the largest in the world. With renowned wildlife photographer Nate Chappell and 3 other bird photographers, Paula, Michelle, Brig and I arrived in Buenos Aries on August 4 to begin our 14 day adventure. Over the next few weeks, I will try to highlight the birds of this amazing county.

Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur is a beautiful wetland just a block from the Hilton Hotel in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aries.

Right away we saw the very beautiful Yellow-Billed Cardinal. This was my first look at this bird.

Before we even got to the wetland area, we saw this Great Pampa Finch just outside the hotel.

One of most interesting birds of Argentina is the Wood Rail. There are two species that we saw, and one of them greeted us at the entrance to the Reserve. This is the Gray-Necked Wood Rail which stands about 14" and is very loud!

One of my favorite groups are the Grebe's. My recent trip to Klamath had the very fun and beautiful Western and Clark's Grebes. Here in Argentina, I got to add the Great Grebe to those that I have seen. This bird at nearly 18" can't be properly represented with a photograph. It is really an impressive creature.

It was really amazing to consider how many birds we saw just a matter of a few yards from one of the most thriving metropolis areas in the world. Though quite common, the Chalk Browed Mockingbird was one of the most fun to watch with it's constant movement and antics.

Parrots and Parakeets are just plain fun no matter where you see them. The Monk Parakeet is a very noisy but handsome bird. It is fairly large, about 11", and was seen mostly in large flocks.

Saltators are a group similar to other large finches like the Grosbeaks. This Golden-Billed Saltator has a large seed that it is about to crack.

A big surprise for me was this Troupial. If you look in the Field Guide's, you will not see this bird likely in any of the area's that we visited. Especially not in the city! There was at least one pair in the Reserve, and one that we saw just outside.

While we would see this next bird often on our trip, I was really excited to see my first Golden Breasted Woodpecker.

While generally we see that the male in birds is the most beautiful, the White Lined Tanager is an exception in my book. This female is really striking.

And even though the Shiny Cowbird male is a handsome guy,

In my opinion, the female is even more striking.

Yet another Cowbird is the Bay Winged, which was also seen frequently.

And now for the mystery critter of this post. First Grandchild to get it right wins $10. This bird has been featured in another post from last November. It is related to another bird that we have already featured here.

Ok, this next bird is one of my favorite's so far. The Ultramarine Grosbeak literally glows in the sun.

The Picazuro Pigeon is a big and very agressive dove. Remember than in addition to the water going down the drain in the opposite direction from North America, in South America, August is springtime!

Not too much different from our American Robin is the Rufous Bellied Thrush.

Of course the raptors are among the most impressive birds in any environment. The Hawks, Eagles etc. are certainly the most powerful of all the birds. In South America the Caracara of which there are 3, are really impressive. Here is the first and smallest of these. It is the Chimango Caracara.