White-eared Hummingbird

     Our adventure began at 7 a.m. on a street corner in Bucerias. 
Robert and Sue waited patiently for Luis Morales, the biologist and bird expert from San Pancho, to pick them up.   Luis, first had to stop in Sayulita, a small surfing town up the road from Bucerias, to pick up 4 American "hard core" birders.   The goal for the day was to travel into the  Sierra Madre mountains to San Sebastián del Oeste, which is a very old mining town (1605) and municipality, located in the western part of Jalisco state, Mexico - that is about 2 hours from the Fox's tree house by the ocean.  We were all looking for as many bird species as we could see in one day.  San Sebastian, a small mountain gold and silver town with a population of 600,  has many beautiful birds to photograph,  but Susan and Robert especially wanted to find the "green jay" and the "white-eared hummingbird".

First Prize

  The Green Jay is on the list of the top 10 most sought after birds to photograph or see.

Second Prize

 The White-eared Hummingbird sips nectar through punctures made by insects, in the base of flowers. 

Third Prize

The Long-tailed Wood Partridge is protected by Mexican law.  The main threat is habitat loss by deforestation.

A list of the birds seen by our group today was ... 

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)

Inca Dove

Common Ground-Dove

White-winged Dove

Squirrel Cuckoo

Groove-billed Ani

Bumblebee Hummingbird

Cinnamon Hummingbird

White-eared Hummingbird

hummingbird sp.

Mountain Trogon

Acorn Woodpecker

Golden-cheeked Woodpecker

Lilac-crowned Parrot

Orange-fronted Parakeet

White-striped Woodcreeper

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Tufted Flycatcher

Greater Pewee

Vermilion Flycatcher

Bright-rumped Attila

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Social Flycatcher

Thick-billed Kingbird

Masked Tityra

Hutton's Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Green Jay

Common Raven

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Happy Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Eastern Bluebird

Brown-backed Solitaire

Aztec Thrush

Gray Silky-flycatcher

Nashville Warbler

MacGillivray's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Rufous-capped Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Red-faced Warbler

Painted Redstart

Slate-throated Redstart

White-collared Seedeater

Grayish Saltator

Stripe-headed Sparrow

Summer Tanager

Red-headed Tanager

Blue Grosbeak

Varied Bunting

Great-tailed Grackle

Streak-backed Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Yellow-winged Cacique

Scrub Euphonia

Black-headed Siskin

Sue and Rob learned lots about Mexican birds today, but what they found most fascinating was the people who study them.  Luis, Rick, Karen, Felice and Chris are those people.  They travel the world just to see, and possibly photograph birds.  They keep a meticulous checklist of the birds they have seen (Karen), and discuss all the bird details.  They've taken numerous ornithology courses, and have all the necessary tools, such as "great" binoculars!  These birders can not only identify each bird by it's own unique call, they can also imitate the bird calls perfectly themselves.  They can identify thousands of bird species by colour, size, shape, habitat and behaviour without referring to a resource.

Listen closely ... http://youtu.be/KOe0br4w45Y

Please check out Luis Morales' website (www.birdingsanpancho.com),  to become "bird smart", and share it with your friends.

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