What very rare birds have you seen/photographed? (1 Viewer)

[Maroon Jay]

What very rare birds have you seen/photographed? I have three. California Condor. Populations 446 (276 wild & 170 captivity). The New Zealand Plover population is 60 to 80. The Black Stilt population is 169 wild plus 32 captives. I have photographed the plover and stilt but not the condor. I saw the condor at the Grand Canyon, but it was so high that it was mostly just a speck. The plover and stilt I had a good look at.

 

[Joe H]

Maroon Jay, I'll post a picture from my gallery of my first rare bird, the Albert's Lyrebird, and a short description.

I took this picture on my honeymoon in 2002 using an old film camera. My wife and I had just started a hike from O’Reilly’s Lodge to the Binna Burra Lodge. After just a few minutes we saw this bird scratching for food near the trail. My wife was very excited as her mom had been trying to see this bird for years. Not being a bird watcher back then, I took this picture and didn’t think more of it. When we met my mother-in-law at Binna Burra and told her about seeing the bird, she was a bit miffed that I’d seen one so easily. I mentioned that I probably had a pretty good picture and we all went to a nearby store that did one-hour developing (remember those days?). The result is what you see here, and my poor mother-in-law was miffed again.

 

[Jon Turner]

I think Trinidad Piping Guan is pretty rare. That's why it's my Avatar - see left!

 

[chowchilla]

I've seen both Junin Rail and Junin Grebe. Both only have a few hundred individuals left.

 

[Maroon Jay]

I think Trinidad Piping Guan is pretty rare. That's why it's my Avatar - see left!

Yes, this one is extremely rare due to people eating them. Live only in Trinidad. I don't know the population, but it is close to extinction.

 

[Maroon Jay]

I've seen both Junin Rail and Junin Grebe. Both only have a few hundred individuals left.

I tried to get to Junin Lake when I was in Peru a couple of months ago but was unable to due to the political unrest. Did you go with Cesar Donato?

 

[chowchilla]

I tried to get to Junin Lake when I was in Peru a couple of months ago but was unable to due to the political unrest. Did you go with Cesar Donato?

No. I stayed in Junin and had a very 'breathless' night. It is at very high altitude and I felt pretty unwell.

We got incredibly lucky with the crake, which literally marched across a gap in the vegetation in front of us. The grebe needed a boat to track down. There were lots of Silvery Grebes on the lake and the guide took about two hours to find us a Junin Grebe amongst them. Their numbers are probably over-estimated, as was the case with the Atitlan Grebe due to the presence of similar Pied-billeds. The Atitlan Grebe basically became quietly extinct - its numbers disguised by the presence of the much commoner bird. Junins may well be on the way out. We saw it fly-catching which the guide had never seen before. He suspects that they can't feed properly and may be starving. This was in 2019.