Lima Garden birds.... (1 Viewer)

[PLazarus]

Hello Everyone....

I need a little help identifying the birds I find in my garden here in Lima, Peru.
I first want to appologise for my descriptions....I'll probably need some guidence on that as well...I am new to this...

Hummingbirds.... I get lots of these... a very small one....kind of green...not much bigger than a large flying insect.... not sure what else I can tell you... maybe it's better if you guys tell me what you need to identify it.

The other day a pair of bright yellow birds...about the size of an English sparrow...completely yellow... they were looking for insects on the trunks of some palms in the garden. Maybe some kind of finch?

Another beautiful frequent visitor are the bright crimson chested..."petit rojo" birds as they are known here.

Well I wont write too much now, as I'm sure I'll need to adjust my descriptions.
If anyone's familiar with Lima, I live in Las Lagunas de La Molina and today we've had 2 small earth tremors already....maybe there's a big one coming! ( hope not )

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Edward woodwood]

Hi Paul

the only hummer i encountered in central Lima was called Amazilia Hummingbird

the bird with the red fromt will be Vermillion Flycatcher i'm pretty sure

not sure about the yellow bird at the moment...anyone?

 

[PLazarus]

Thanks Tim,

The yellow birds I've only ever seen the once.... but they were the ones that inspired me to find out more... and so join this forum in my quest for knowledge.

Don't know if this helps at all, but they stayed together all the time.... if one flew to another plant..so did the other.

Another bird I would like to ID is a sea bird I saw at Punta Hermosa ( 35km S ) yesterday... it was on the rocks eating molluscs...Large, black with a distictive red beak... deep red and pretty heavy looking ( for breaking the shells I guess )

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Edward woodwood]

sounds like a Blackish Oystercatcher....?

 

[BirdsPeru]

Hi Paul,

The hummingbird you are describing is an Amazilia Hummingbird called here in Peru as Amazilia Costeña. There is a picture here http://www.birdforum.net/bird_view.php?bid=134

About the yellow one you mention, I think could be a Safron Finch, called here in Peru Boton de Oro (Gold Botton) and I am attaching a picture for you.

Yes the red one with a black mask is called here in Peru Petirojo and it is the male as the female is kind of brown in english it is call Vermilion Flycatcher.

Alejandro

 

[BirdsPeru]

Paul forgot to mention about the blackish bird with a red bill eating mollusc, as Tim mention it is a Blackish Oystercatcher and I am attaching another picture for you to look if this is the bird you saw.

Alejandro

 

[PLazarus]

Thanks Alejandro and Tim,

Yes that is the Yellow bird.... so it's a saffron finch. That is also the bird I saw at Punta Hermosa, so it was a Blackish Oystercatcher.

Thank you both very much for the help.

Paul

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

Hi Paul,

In Lima itself I have seen two species of hummer, and I have observed a few others within a few km's of Lima, so they are to be expected; at least in some of the suburban garden or parks. In Lima itself I have observed Amazilia Hummingbird (Colibri Ventirufa or Amazilia Costeña - Latin: Amazilia amazilia) & Peruvian Sheartail (Colibri de Cora - Latin: Thaumastura cora). Males in full breeding of the sheartail are easy to recognice. They have a strikingly long tail. Actually, I saw the first of many in Lima. Beautiful! The two other species I have observed in the vicinity of Lima are Oasis Hummingbird (sorry, can't remember the Spanish name! - Latin: Rhodopis vesper) & Purple-collared Woodstar (complete Spanish name is Estrellita Collaripurpura, but normally referred to as just "Estrellita" - Latin: Myrtis fani). If moving a bit inland from Lima; not more than a 100 km. to the east, the number of Hummingbirds is even higher. The exact ID of these fellows can be a bit hard, and I would recommend you buying the admittedly rather poor - but better than nothing - "A Guide to the Birds of Peru" by Clements and Shany. Also, have a look at this page:

http://www.avesdelima.com/index.htm

- in Spanish, but I assume that is no problem!

This page is for Chile, but many of the species involved near Lima are also found there:

http://www.avesdechile.cl/