I toss a riddle to all of you about my most recent life bird.
The sighting was on a cloudy and cool afternoon on July 2, 2022 in the dry forest of western Ecuador - Manabi Province. The rainy season ended at least a month ago, and most of the trees are in 'conserve water' mode. Ecuadorian and Gartered Trogons were feeding on caterpillars, as were White-browed Gnatcatchers and Southern Beardless Tyrannulets. Collared Antshrikes and Necklaced Spinetails entertained me as they darted, scolded and hissed at each other in the scrub near ground level. A Laughing Falcon flew over with something in its talons, and I walked to an open area in hopes that the raptor had landed. (No falcon.) There in easy sight was the bird, as if to say, 'Well it's about time you noticed me.'
Migratory bird season is finished - most likely all of the birds that were on vacation are back in the northern hemisphere... So I preface this by stating that although it looked a lot like the migratory Black-billed Cuckoo that visited from Feb-April, it was not... Many of you know the Black-billed Cuckoo - a lifer for me back in February when several chose this refuge as a place to hide for the winter. This species has had 20 eBird reports in this province, and eight of those sightings were in this refugio...
This July 2nd "new-to-me" bird looked much like the Black-billed shown above. It was definitely not the Squirrel Cuckoo (common here) or the Striped Cuckoo (also common here) and it wasn't the Gray-capped Cuckoo (it's elusive but around)...
I had studied the Yellow-billed Cuckoo five hours earlier before seeing this bird, because a friend wrote from Mississippi to say that a Yellow-billed had just slammed into their house near the River. I reviewed the stats for Y-billed for Manabi Ecuador ( 18 reports for the country, and zero for this province) and sent her the trivia... and five hours later I was staring at a cuckoo that looked like that Yellow-billed beauty.
The bird ignored me for over an hour as I admired and photographed it from several angles. When the late-afternoon cyclists careened along the spiderweb of trails in 'their' park, the bird ignored them as well. I said, 'Goodbye' to all and hurried home to begin my research...
For the next 24 hours, various people inspected and analyzed many images and videos before the identity was confirmed. Do you know - without going to reference material, which South American Cuckoo this is?
I continue to thank the Universe, as I am indeed blessed by birds. (Many of you probably feel the same way.)
The eBird checklist shows more images/videos, and of course the identity of this beautiful bird.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S114281560
With that I wish you all a good day/evening, and may you soon see your next life bird!
Lisa
