This widespread sparrow of the South American grasslands has the general gestalt of our Grasshopper Sparrow which it shares its genus with. One distinctive difference is the yellow at the bend of the wing. I took these photos during my trip to the Pantanal in Brazil where we saw several.
This sparrow is mostly found in Mexico but has some populations in southeast Arizona and the very southern tip of Texas. It looks very similar to its genus mate the Bachmann's Sparrow which is a specialty bird of my home state of NC. Much like the Bachmann's, the easiest way to find it is to listen for the distinctive song which rings loud and clear even for someone with high-pitch hearing loss like me. I photographed this one in the scrub at the entrance road to Madera Canyon in Arizona.
Sparrows are tricky and the 8 species in the genus Peucaea are no exception. The Rufous-winged Sparrow can be confusing as the rufous in the wing is sometimes concealed. However, sometimes a sparrow will perch up on a prominent snag and allow you to study it. Then it belts out a distinctive song! This sparrow had all the field marks including the yellow conical bill, long tail and rusty crown. The Rufous-winged Sparrow is a bird of the American southwest is usually found in Arizona, New Mexico and into Mexico proper down to northern Sinaloa. This one was singing its heart out near Tucson, AZ.
This species can be found in montane forests on the western slope in Colombia and Ecuador. We had ours on the Camino Montezuma.
The Corn Bunting is a bird of open country in Europe, North Africa and some of Asia. It is mostly a year round resident in most of its range but some of the central European birds do move to more temperate locations when it is very cold. I saw huge flocks on my day trip to the Camargue when I was in the south of France on a work trip. However, most of them were far off in the fields.
This interesting and eye-popping bird is a furtive denizen of the undergrowth in disjunct populations from the west coast of Mexico all the way down to Venezuela and Colombia. It is the only member of its family and genus. My photo is obviously not great, so this will have to serve as a placeholder. Photo taken on my first trip to Colombia.
This little charmer was previously known as McCowan's Longspur but was one of the first birds whose name was changed to be less patronymic. Apparently McCowan was a confederate and his only contribution to science was shooting and collecting the first specimen. This species breeds in the Great Plains of the US and the Prairie provinces of Canada and then winters in the American southwest and Mexico. Luckily all the longspurs have a tendency to vagrant and I saw mine on the Outer Banks of my home state (NC).
This high elevation bird of the Andes in South America can be found from Venezuela to Ecuador. The ones I saw were in the Santa Marta range in the east of Colombia. They were enjoying a drink from a puddle but flushed before we could get closer.
This is the second most rare and endangered bird in Europe behind the Northern Bald Ibis. It is endemic to Sao Miguel island in the Azores which is part of Portugal. There are only estimated to be about 775 individuals left per the last count estimate. The Azoreans call it Priolo and it is a source of national pride. It is in trouble because the native Azorean habitat which it relies on has been taken over by invasive plants like the Kahili Ginger plant which is native to the Himilayas.
I was able to bag this amazing bird on a vacation with my wife, but it was not easy to find.
This is the mainland version of the Atlantic Canary. They breed in Central Europe and spread out into the rest of Europe and North Africa other times of year. I had mine in Lisbon Portugal.
This is another of the widespread Euphonia species of South America with populations in the northwest of South America but also a disjunct population in the Atlantic forest of Brazil. I had this rather bedraggled individual on my second trip to Colombia at Ukuku Lodge.
This is one of the most widespread Euphonia species of South America including most of the north end and a lot of the middle parts. I had this species in Brazil on my trip to the Pantanal and better looks on my second trip to Colombia at Ukuku Lodge which is where this photo was taken.
The Trinidad Euphonia is rare in Trinidad, but fairly common in Colombia and Venezuela. That being said, I only have this one distant photo from my first trip to Colombia.
The Velvet-fronted Euphonia is one of the three endemic Euphonia species in Colombia. This one was way up in the canopy and the photo is heavily cropped.
This species of Chlorophonia has a more restricted range compared to some of the other ones that live in the forests of South America. This one is mainly found on the Pacific slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador. There is one small population that spills over into Panama. The ones I photographed were in Colombia on the Camino Montezuma.
This little gem has a highly disjunct range across much of the Andes in South America, but also large areas of Atlantic forest in Brazil. Our close encounters were at the fruit feeders of the El Dorado Lodge up in the Santa Marta mountains of Colombia.
This was one of only 2 endemic species I was targeting when Melissa and I took a vacation in the Azores. This was the easy one! These are all over the Azores and can be found in many habitats.
The Yellowish Pipit is a widespread Central and South American Pipit species of grasslands. There are 46 species in the Pipit genus, 9 of which are in South America.
This is a widespread species in Eurasia including southeast Asia but it has been introduced in several places outside its range including St. Louis in the United States where I photographed this one.
The Dunnock is an interesting bird of mostly Europe but it does have some populations that are migratory and expand east into Asia and south into North Africa. It is the most widespread of the Accentor family which is usually an alpine family. However, as evidenced from this photo taken in Hyde Park in London, the Dunnock will make a living even in urban parks.
This is another African species that has been introduced to various places around the world due to released from the pet trade. I need to get better pics of these and hopefully on their home turf, but this pic is from Puerto Rico where they have been naturalized.
The Tricolored Munia is a bird of the Indian Subcontinent but has been introduced to various countries and islands including Colombia which is where I saw this one. As if Colombia didn't have enough birds, they had to bring in some new ones.
Bronze Mannikin is an African species that has been introduced to various countries and islands including Puerto Rico which is where I saw this one on Christmas day!
The Village Weaver is an African species that has been introduced in several places including Caribbean islands like Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The below bird was photographed in the Dominican Republic.
This is a Hispaniolan endemic and an ancient lineage of the Superfamily Bombycilloidea which includes Hawaiian Honeyeaters, Waxwings and Silky Flycatchers. They are one of the most common species in the Dominican Republic which is where I photographed these. In fact, they are the national bird of the DR.
This is one of 18 chats in the genus Saxicola, all of which are old world flycatcher species. I had both a female and male in my last trip to Europe in the south of France. Photos taken in the Camargue, France's largest river mouth delta.
This gorgeous and common bird is a year-round resident in most of Europe and then migratory in the more eastern and southern parts of its range in north Africa and Asia. It has been sorely misunderstood and previously grouped in with Turdus thrushes not to mention its name which implies a warbler. In fact it is an old world flycatcher and behaves more like a phoebe than a thrush or warbler. I have seen them a few times in Europe but it was not until my latest trip to the south of France where I properly crushed this one at a train station.
