Lesson's Motmot: An Incredible Opportunity

A motmot and its beautiful tail were seen in a coffee grove in Belize.

Lesson's Motmot, Momotus lessonii

This is yet again another bird from Belize. The reason there are so many was because the purpose of this trip was birding. Other than the king vultures on the first day which were sitting out in the open waiting to be spotted (oh and they had red heads and black and white plumage. Only slightly obvious.) and the many orioles, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and chachalacas around the resort, most of the birds were spotted by guides. We didn't know much about the birds in the first place. This trip was very valuable (look out for more Belize post. I'm hoping for a king vulture and chachalaca post soon (see my topics coming soon post)!

My Final Chance for a Motmot         

One can clearly see its rackets on a motmot's tail.

This bird really told me what a great opportunity I had coming to Belize. At home, when my mother (I would like to take this moment to thank her for planning pretty much everything) and I were flipping through the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America, we noticed this bird and absolutely wanted to see it.  On our last full day at the resort, we had our last tour, the sunrise birding tour and had not seen this bird we were hoping to see. I'm not sure if we did ask where we could see motmots. When we started on our tour, we had already seen many social flycatchers and a few black headed saltators. Yet, that was about all we saw and we were starting to lose hope. Once we saw the coffee grove, we decided to give it a chance. How right we were. Our guide, hoping to show us a Lesson's Motmot, imitated the bird. I could finally tell how they got their name. And before long, he found one, sitting behind a few leaves, but other than that, right out in the open. It would have been nice if we had seen this by ourselves and I don't particularly enjoy birding with people who I don't know well, but if that was the case, I would have never been able to have seen anything at that grove. I still used this as a time to take pictures and I was happy with what I got. We were even able to watch it fly to the coffee bushes. Along with a Lesson's Motmot, we had finally seen a Green Jay (Ugh. My mother took the better picture. :)) and caught a glimpse of a Red Lored Parrot. We had left, successful. However, when we came again to try and find it, the bugs drove as away!

Identification and Information (Peterson Field Guide)

Size: 16 inches (41 centimeters)

Call: A deep woot woot or mot mot, sounding like a distant dog

Description: A black mask, electric blue and black crown, long tail with rackets at the end, lime green wings and an emerald breast with two black dots

Habitat: Low and middle levels in any forest habitat, sometimes seen in city parks and coffee plantations

Diet: Mostly insects (Encyclopedia Brittanica)

Other: It is said that the Lesson's Motmot bites off its tail feathers to form the rackets on its tail.

Last Note

I know it can be very frustrating when you don't spot a bird, or worse (as in my case) be the last one to see it and shown by a parent or friend, not even by the guide. I hate it when that happens. If you repeatedly have this problem, you can still make up for it with a camera, as I did with the orange breasted falcon, and the Lesson's motmot. For many birds, prioritize yourself with zoom if you are unable to buy a DSLR with high zoom. If you don't see a bird first, then try to get the best picture. Even if you spot a bird, try to get the best picture. A hint, though spotting a beautiful bird or rare bird is nice, it is even more glorifying to identify the bird and take the best picture. The more pictures you have, the more blog material you could possibly write! Stay tuned for more and don't forget to check out the Look Out for These Topics Coming Soon page, linked here.    

 

California Least Tern: An Experience of a Lifetime

In the right bottom corner is a tern chick at the highest zoom, hence the quality.

California Least Tern, Sternula antillarum browni

      This subspecies (hence the browni) of Least Tern is extremely endangered due to absence of natural sand dunes in which both eggs and chicks are almost perfectly camouflaged. The Audubon Society believes Mission Bay is a good place to monitor and protect the species. However, as Mission Bay was man made, being dredged out of the wetland originally there, for recreation purposes, the sand does not behave like natural dunes. This leads to the hosting of non-native species of plants and much greenery which could be harmful to terns that want to camouflage. Therefore, many events are held for volunteers who wish to impact the community positively by clearing out invasive plants, such as the Telegraph Weed, Storksbill species, and Devil's Thorn. Bricks are also placed for chicks to hide under if need be. But one of the most important events are the ternwatching seasons where anyone can train in one class and look out and record predators and chicks in any site at almost any time.

These tern eggs were the first I have ever seen.

  Volunteering as a Ternwatcher    

     When I first started loving birds and volunteered at all for the Audubon, I was either eight or nine years old. My mother had heard of this and asked if I was interested and having freshly begun my passion for ornithology, I was all for it. I had so much fun (and I still do) pulling the filleree (storksbill) and protecting the Coast Woolly Head. I saw how much we cleared and I felt I had impacted the world of birds so much; it felt so rewarding. I wanted to continue my whole life long, and four years from then, to this day, I still volunteer. My mother noticed this in me and signed us up to the ternwatching class. That night, I was deflated seeing that my mom and I were probably the two youngest people volunteering. That also made me proud of myself, however. For four years, I go for most of the time. I don't go all the time as I have to wake up at around 6:00 to 6:30. I still struggle with that even though I wake up early during schooldays. What is annoying is every time, I usually miss a Peregrine Falcon. It is a great thing to not see one for the California Least Tern's sake, but it is still extremely cool to see one! This year, I've been taking my camera (more about it is seen in the Orange Breasted Falcon post) and am glad I have. I've never bothered to take a picture of a mother sitting on a nest, which is a scrape in the sand lined with pieces of shells. But when I see something interesting, like a chick in broad daylight, I try. I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN THE CAMERA FOCUSES ON THE FENCE IN FRONT OF ME RATHER THAN THE BIRD WHICH COULD POSSIBLY MOVE!!!!!!! That happens a lot, but when it doesn't, I can take pictures like the two above! When I started ternwatching, I was really curious if I could see any eggs. However, the birds are small so the eggs will be small. They are also almost perfectly camouflaged in the sand. You can imagine my excitement when I had actually taken a picture of one! It was so exciting seeing a nest so close to where we were observing from. The next week, the eggs were cracked and the nest was gone. I was so sad and disappointed. The way ternwatching actually works is this: When we arrive at a site (Mariner's Point, North Fiesta Island, Stony Point, and FAA Island), we set up and observe the terns and count them to an estimate, look for chicks if there, and count predators seen, except for gulls flying overhead. There are too many of those. If need be, we call Dave Parent, who will then set a trap with live bait for the dangerous predators. The California Least Terns are kept safe this way. This is an incredible way to volunteer a couple of hours every weekend and do your bit for an endangered species. This has changed my life.

Identification and Information

Size: 9 inches (22.86 centimeters)

Call: A rapid and shrill keDEEK, weak, nasal whididi, high, sharp squeaks

Description: A unique yellow bill, gray wings, white front and forehead, dark crown and two dark primaries

Habitat: Natural sand dunes (not present in Mission Bay, but oh, well. This is why we volunteer for weeding)

Diet: Fish, specifically anchovies

Biology Note 

Citizen science is a very important aspect to a community. Ternwatching and weeding volunteering are good examples of this concept. Through this, one can learn a lot and help the world as well. Citizen science is also a big step into the world of community service and education in science. If you are a parent or guardian, talk to your children about volunteering for citizen science opportunities. If you are a child, ask your parent or guardian about opportunities for bettering your community.

Last Note 

This experience of working with the Audubon and working with birds has changed my life and I hope I have encouraged young environmentalists everywhere to take a stand for all animals everywhere, not just birds, and certainly not just humans. My strongest opinion is that humans should tread lightly. We are animals too, and have our own scientific name: Homo sapien sapiens. We need to be proud of our scientific name, classifying us as humans, not just our first and last name. This is my vision for the world.  
 

Orange-Breasted Falcon: A Rare Bird of Belize

A rare Orange Breasted falcon is perched on a tree past the 1000 foot falls.

Orange Breasted Falcon, Falco deiroleucus

      In Belize's Hidden Valley eco resort, this beautiful bird is considered one of the rare five, including the King Vulture, the Stygian Owl, the Solitary Eagle, and the Black and White Hawk-Eagle. I have seen one twice, this time from around a mile away, and the second time, I could clearly see the orange breast as it flew at its fantastic speed, right above my head. The 1000 foot falls are one of the few places in this resort where a falcon could be seen, out of the thirty pairs in all of Central America (as stated by the Peregrine Fund). This bird is also a critical example of the footprint of humans, as the decline of the Orange Breasted Falcon is due to habitat loss.

My Experience of Birdwatching

The falls were captured with a feature providing effects

      When my mother was booking this trip, she had told me about the five rare birds and how we would give my father a massage at the spa if we saw all of them. We only saw two, one being the Orange Breasted Falcon, and on our first day, we had spotted a King Vulture. Before this trip, she had also given me a Canon PowerShot SX530 camera, with an extremely high zoom. With this, I could take the picture above from around a mile away. As our family journeyed on a full-day birding tour, our guide, Hugo, took us to a stop at the 1000 foot falls to try and spot one. As we arrived, we could see the simple, empowering, magnificence of the roaring, beating, waterfall. I had recently discovered a feature on my camera that took multiple photos and added an effect to each. I never used this for living things as it marred the natural effect and only subtracted from the beauty. I never, however, hesitated to do this on landscapes and waterfalls and I simply couldn't resist this time! I was getting excited. I had so much hope we were going to see an Orange Breasted Falcon. What was annoying, though, was the fact my mother (though Hugo spotted it) saw a male Masked Tityra. As you may know, I can't stand it when my mother spots an incredibly rare or beautiful bird before me. If so, I at least have to have the best picture. I usually do! Buuuuut, not for this bird. But with my zoom, I had taken the best picture of the falcon by far. You are probably getting the impression I spotted it. Nope. Our guide did. As I was scanning the trees and cliffsides for a bright flash of orange movement, he had seen one on a tree on the other side of the valley (it looked like the Chinese character for 3, sān for those who are familiar). Hearing this, everyone trained our eyes on where he was pointing, but for experienced birders, you may realize that pointing is very unhelpful. No one could understand his description, but I believe my father had found it first and had shown me. I had then shown my mother. Though the DSLR camera was with my father and he took pictures with great quality, I could get the zoom. I remember frantically calling out to my mom to stabilize my hands and trying my hardest. My first picture had emboldened me. The color was seen and even the guide was impressed. I was not going away without an even better one, where the falcon was closer to center. With my mother stabilizing my hands, I was trying again and again and again, capturing a blurry one in a different posture, two downright bad ones, and many sharp beautiful ones. But my best picture, I had added to this blog, my image of the Orange Breasted Falcon that I am the most proud of.

 

Identification and Information (Peterson Field Guide)

 Size: Usually around 13.5 inches (34 centimeters)

Call: A nasal, high pitched kek-kek-kek-kek-kek

Description: Dark head, rusty brown-orange color on the neck and leg area with dark barring in between, very large feet

Habitat: Edges of rainforests and pine savannas, mainly perches on higher levels on bare branches and snags

Diet: Mostly birds

Other: Lives either solitary or in pairs, powerful and direct flight 

Biology Note:

 These notes won't be there all the time but are helpful hints to future biologists. You might have noticed the scientific name of the bird was provided. This is a system of classification known as binomial nomenclature. When writing in binomial nomenclature, one must always write the genus name followed by the species name, italicize the words, and capitalize the genus but never the species.

Last Note:

I hope this has encouraged you to travel to Belize. I had an extremely pleasant trip, going on tours, swimming, and freely hiking on trails. I want to wish you luck that should you go, you should see all five rare birds. Thank you for reading this post and stay tuned for more at birdfiles.blogspot.com!