Mystery Birds

When one goes to a foreign country in a totally different climate zone, one is apt to see a lot of birds one has never seen before.  Like 300 plus.  One is also apt to take photos of birds that one has no recollection of seeing.

I have pictures of birds on my computer that I know came from my camera, and I look at them and despite all the evidence to the contrary, I say to myself: I have never seen that bird before.  Most of the time I can recognize the family group of the bird, then I look at our list for the day and can usually make a shortlist of possible species after which I start comparing pictures in my guidebook or online and generally come up with an identification.  But then there are the others.  Often the ones that are a bit too blurry, a bit too dark, a bit too hidden by leaves.  But they are still birds and I still want to know who they are. (Yes, I usually refer to birds as who, not what.)

So here are some of the better photos of the mystery birds from two weeks in Ecuador last December. (You don't want to see the worst ones.  Neither do I.)  Clicking on the photos will make them bigger.

UPDATE:  Steven Easley, our guide to all these birds checked out these photos.  He has identified most of them, and made a guess at 3 or 4 of the worst ones.  I will add his IDs in Red.



#1    This is a hummingbird from December 2.  It was in the grounds around the Bella Vista Lodge about 8 in the morning.  It is a dark bird.  What can I say? Gorgeted Sunangel

#2   This next hummer was photographed in the afternoon of the same day at Quinde Luna. I would like it to be a Gorgeted Sunangel.  Obviously it is not since the one above is.  Fawn-breasted Brilliant.

 
#3     I have no guess what this bird is.  I paged through 1600 birds in my bird guide trying to find it.  Okay, that is a lie.  I totally skipped the shore birds, the gulls, the hawks, the parrots...  Even without them, though, there were a lot of birds to look at.  I thought I would recognize this guy by his shape and his short tail, but I didn't.  It was taken late in the morning on Dec. 2 so it would have been on a walk in the larger area around the lodge.  This one was a challenge even for Steven, given the bad photos, but he has suggested it might be a juvenile Dusky Chlorospingus.

I'm including this second shot of the above bird only because it shows the shape of its bill.  Otherwise it is even more of a throwaway photo than the first.

#4    This is an example of a partial bird, but I hope there is enough here to make an identification.  Perhaps a Becard?  Female?  Black-and-white?  Barred?  Female Black-and-white Becard

#5      Or what about this one?  Bad lighting, the bill looks like the bill of a Becard, doesn't it?  Both of these photos were taken on December 2 around Bella Vista.  Dusky Chlorospingus

#6    Not all the mystery birds were on December 2. This poor photo was taken on December 6.  I would like someone to tell me it is a Double-banded Greytail, but only if it really is.  This one is a big disappointment to me.  It is a bird I wanted to see, but we saw it many other times.  Blackburnian Warbler, winter colours.

I think this is the same bird.

There are unfortunately many more birds that after several months I still have not identified.

#7     Day 2, Bella Vista, outside the dining room window.  Probably Tricoloured Brushfinch.

#8  December 6, Rio Silanche  I believe these two photos are of the same bird but I can't be sure of that.  The second photo looks like a member of the parrot family but my list is a bit short on those birds that day.    Oops, not the same bird.

Collared Aracari

Maroon-tailed Parakeet

#9 also December 6, Rio Silanche tower.  Slaty-capped Flycatcher

#10  December 8:  Antisana.  Should be hawks but which ones?  Again, my list is short on hawks, aside from the Variable Hawk, but this looks a bit too variable for that.  Oops, not hawks.  Juvenile Carunculated Caracara.  Those juveniles can really confuse a person.

 

#11  December 12:  Soon after leaving San Isidro. Green-and-Black Fruiteater female?  One of the photos I don't recall taking.  I remember seeing the male, but not the female, so maybe this is a different green bird.  Female Green-and-black Fruiteater

#12  December 5, just a random bird flying though the trees while on our way to see the Oilbirds. Probably a female Variable Seedeater.

#13, oops, another from the morning at Bella Vista on December 2.  One of those bad photos that I hope is still identifiable. Masked Flowerpiercer

#14  From our last day, December 14, early in the morning at the Wild Sumaco bug lights.  By the white on the back I am hoping it is a Blackish Antbird.  By the reddish eye I fear it is a White-backed Fire-eye. But maybe it is just reflection.  After all, lots of people get red eyes in photos, and we were using flashlights.  White-backed Fire-eye

#15  December 12, first bird at the bug lights at San Isidro.  Could be a flycatcher. Or not.  Brown-capped Vireo

#16,  December 13, Wild Sumaco, another early morning photo. One possibility is Dusky-capped Flycatcher, but his cap is too small, his throat is too grey.  Or not. Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Unfortunately this is not the end of my unidentified photos but I'm going to quit there.  Maybe some year we'll go back to Ecuador and have another chance to see these amazing birds again.