After a restless night when a troop of Black Howler Monkeys decided to call right above our cabin at around 5am (after a neighbours cellphone rang next door at around 4am!), we awoke for a morning of birding in the sticky lowlands of eastern Chiapas. With our attempts to enter the ‘sacred’ biosphere on the other side of the Rio Lacantún coming to nothing, we had to content ourselves by birding the patchy forest around the Ejidal reserve. As it turned out this was not all bad, a Mexican Antthrush singing at us from an exposed branch near the trailhead picking our spirits up somewhat. Other finds in the humid lowland jungle there included a fantastic male Red-headed Manakin – see photo - (the infamous “moonwalker”, that display dances in the fashion of 80s Michael Jackson), and old “hammerhead” himself, a regal Royal Flycatcher (see photo). Aside from these we were deafened by more Howlers, and also ran into an agitated troop of Spider Monkeys. Other birds in the jungle included a well-named Northern Bentbill, a pair of Dusky Antbirds, Tawny-winged and Ivory-billed Woodcreepers, Stub-tailed Spadebill and Rufous Mourner.
1 comment:
red-capped manakin? red-headed only occurs in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.
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