Apparently this is the more common of the two similar species in the Yucatan with Streaked being the other. Both however are seen in the Yucatan fairly regularly during breeding season which this was. They are both migratory. The ID clincher on this one was the fairly thick black area under the chin and the lack of yellow on the supercilia and malar.
And here is the ventral view of one three days later photographed at Chichen Itza. Notice the pronounced mustache.
Although this beauty is apparently not too rare and unlike rails is known to conspicuously walk in the open, it was a major target bird for me and the only one I saw while in the Yucatan. This one was a the archeologic site of Muyil just south of Tulum.
Identifying Orioles take a little extra effort in the Yucatan as there are several species and they are all orange and look like orioles (duh!). One of the tricky things is that most times Orioles are far overhead and so seeing their diagnostic back can present a challenge. This one was nice enough to show its orange back which meant it was an Orange Oriole. Altamira and Hooded Orioles have black backs. There are several other species that don't have black backs but they are more yellow than orange. This one was at the Tulum archeologic site.
In other parts of the world, it can be difficult to tell this species from several other similar ones. In the Yucatan it's easy because it's the only one that looks like a miniature Kiskadee. This one was in the same tree as many other species including the Rose-throated Becard at the archeologic site of Tulum.
These are fairly common in the Yucatan especially it seemed in populated areas, or maybe that was just my luck. These were at a crowded square inside the Tulum archeologic site nesting in a large Casuarina type tree in the center of the square. I still need to find me a ABA area one. They are found annually in SE Arizona.
I am so far behind on posting photos and blog posts which is typical for this time of year. There is so much to do and so little down time for writing blog posts. The birding has been fantastic, the waves great, the weather nice for working in the yard and there is of course a full time job and kids to attend to. Here is some ho hum stuff in the beginning of September leading up to nice North Carolina tick with some decent pics.
First up are some butterfly pics so if you are mainly into birds just scroll down. These were taken up in the Fayetteville area while I was at my son's X-country meet.
Crap picture, but I thought it was interesting as this Ruby-throat appears to have a pink band on leg.
