Miraflores, Mira Aves

I'm back in Lima, Peru staying at the South American Explorers clubhouse in the Miraflores district while permits are processed and preparations completed for a nine-week expedition. The clubhouse is an outstanding base of operations with strong coffee in the morning, loads of maps and information in the library, and wireless internet. I have a permanent link for the South American Explorers below.

In between making copies of permit packets for INRENA and gathering supplies I took my camera up to the rooftop, ideally situated next to a tree. I managed to record about 15 species in less than an hour.

It's hard to miss Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) with its clear sweet song sounding out most of the day. This bird species was the subject of Zac Cheviron's dissertation. Dr. Cheviron found a genetic break between highland and lowland Z. capensis populations with the break occurring around 3800 m. Phred Benham told me the city birds have a different song than the country birds, the city birds lack the trill. These Miraflores birds certainly lack the trill.

Another ubiquitous and vocal urban bird is the Blue-black Grasquit (Volatinia jacarina). I learned something today from the new Birds of Peru field guide. The Pacific coast males of this species rarely are completely blue-black. Instead, they stay in a mottled plumage. I would have chalked it up to a young male molting into its big boy duds, but apparently that doesn't happen. I wonder what that's all about. Was it some random drift effect or was selection involved?

Polymorphic species have fascinated me for years. I recall trying to wrap my head around white morph and reddish morph Reddish Egrets and how the morphs might have evolved and how they could be maintained. It hasn't been resolved and I'm sure some molecule-oriented bird nerd will give it a crack one day.

Doves are everywhere in Lima and these three are easy to find and photograph. If you are familiar with North American birds, you won't have to stretch your ID skills too much with these three. The Eared Dove and West Peruvian Dove are both in the genus Zenaida like our Mourning Dove and White-winged Doves. These two are analogs to Mourning and White-winged. Even their vocalizations are reminiscent. The third dove is the Croaking Dove, aptly named because its vocalization is a repeated low gravely "wow".

I submitted an eBird report for a half hour of rooftop birding, my first Peru submission to eBird. Highlights for me were Peregrine Falcon circling around looking for a dove dinner and an Osprey cruising south. The Osprey is a Nearctic breeder that winters along the coast here in Peru. I wonder if it's starting to get that migratory restlessness.