Chilean Flamingo
Phoenicopterus chilensis
Widespread and often numerous; found at shallow lakes and lagoons from the high Andes to Patagonian steppe and even in coastal waters. Adult is distinctive: pale pink with a salmon-pink “bustle” and grayish legs with red feet and “knees.” Immature often obviously smaller than adult, but has longer bill “hook” than the smaller and shorter-legged James’s Flamingo. Chilean Flamingo lacks the clean-cut black triangle on closed wings seen on Andean Flamingo. Far-carrying calls can suggest honking of geese.
Identification
The plumage is pinker than the slightly larger greater flamingo, but less so than the Caribbean flamingo. It can be differentiated from these species by its grayish legs with pink joints (tibiotarsal articulation), and also by the larger amount of black on the bill (more than half). Young chicks may have no sign of pink coloring whatsoever, but instead remain gray or peach.
Taxonomy
Genus: Phoenicopterus; Family: Phoenicopteridae; Order: Phoenicopteriformes.
- Scientific name
- Phoenicopterus chilensis
- Authority
- Molina, 1782
- Order
- Phoenicopteriformes
- Family
- Phoenicopteridae
- Genus
- Phoenicopterus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Buff-banded Tyrannulet
Mecocerculus hellmayri
Small flycatcher of the subcanopy of humid montane forest at middle elevation of the eastern slope of the Andes from NE Argentina to S Peru. More often heard than seen. Song two high, flat “see” notes, easily confused with Purple-throated Euphonia, but higher and thinner. Often in mixed species flocks. Note greenish wingbars, pale gray cap, and short tail.
Andaman Scops-Owl
Otus balli
A small, dark owl with bright yellow eyes and a yellow bill. Note the lack of streaking on the underparts and the small, pale flecks on the upperparts. The color of the plumage may range from bright reddish-brown to dark brown. Found in forests, where it is active only at night. The calls include an ascending, slightly accelerating series of “wup-up-up-up-...” notes.
White-headed Sawwing
Psalidoprocne albiceps
A small, fork-tailed, sooty-brown swallow with different plumages for the sexes: distinctive male has a pure white head and narrow black eye stripe; female has a mostly ashy head with white throat. Immature lacks white on the head. Pairs use clearings and edges of evergreen forest, open woodland, and cultivation. Resident in East Africa, but an intra-African breeding migrant in Zambia and Malawi between October and May. Superficially more similar to swifts than other swallows. Note the differences in flight style: flightier with deep wing beats and rapid changes of direction, as opposed to the more stiff-winged flight of swifts.
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