Veracruz Bird of Prey Migrations - Millions of raptors one location

VERACRUZ RAPTOR MIGRATION 2009
This year I am dedicating four tour dates exclusively to the bird of prey migrations in Veracruz. In past years I have led tours where the time was divided between general birding and observation of raptor migration. This year I am going to show you the magnificent raptor migration in a way that few birders have ever witnessed.


Here are the dates and prices:
Pre-register for the tours prior to June 1, 2009 and save 2o%

Tour # 1 - "The early migrants"...Extreme Hawk Watch August 27 - Sept. 9
**Number of raptors counted last year during these dates; 1919,529
Most abundant species Mississippi Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, Osprey (12 raptor species observed)

This is the tour for the adventurous. 14 days, maximum of 6 persons.
Cost: $2,100
Pre-register and save $420.... $1,680 reduced cost

Tour # 2 - "Capturing the View" (Photographers Tour) Extreme Hawk Watch Sept. 16-25
**Number of raptors counted during thes dates last year; 432,612
Most abundant species:Broad-winged Hawk, Mississippi Kite, Turkey vulture, Osprey.(19 raptor species observed)
Special tour designed for photographers and videographers to catch the best views and angles of the Veracruz raptor migrations. 10 day tour. maximum of 6 photographers.
Cost: $2,500
Pre-register and save $500....$2,000 reduced cost


Tour # 3 - "The Spectacle of the Flow of Raptors" Extreme Hawk Watch Sept. 26 - Oct. 5
**Number of raptors counted during these dates last year 834,191
Most abundant species: Broad-winged hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Turkey Vulture (19 raptor species observed)
This is the tour for birders, educators and hawk watch enthusiasts. These dates provide the best "mix" of raptor species as well as spectacular views of Broad-winged Hawks in "kettles". 10 day tour. maximum 8 persons
Cost: $2,200
Pre-register and save $440....$1,760 reduced cost

Tour # 4 - "The late migrants, Swainson's Hawks and Turkey Vultures"
Extreme Hawk Watch October 16-25
**Number of raptors counted during these dates last year 678,309
Most abundant species Turkey Vultures, Swainson's Hawk (17 raptor species observed)
This tour I am calling the celebration tour... this is the final "push" of the Veracruz fall migration. The sky fills with lines and columns with hundreds of thousands of Swainson's Hawks and Turkey Vultures. 10 day tour maximum 12 persons.

Cost:$2,200
Pre-register and save $440...$1,760 reduced cost.
I hope that if you choose to participate in these groups that you will consider it a cultural exchange. Bring a good attitude and it will be reflected back to you many times.

This is a great opportunity to share your knowledge of birds of prey with others, or learn in an environment that is negative attitude free.

If you have more questions please send me an e-mail.:
hawkwatch@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you and will be most happy to help you with your trip preparations.
Good birding,

David McCauley

Vermilion flycatcher - Pyrocephalus rubinus

I "digiscoped" this colorful Vermilion flycatcher here in Tlacotalpan this morning. I hope you enjoy the photo.
I've got to get my butt out and count some raptors.
Yesterday I counted 199 raptors. (179 were Broad-winged hawks) They are headed north!
Good birding,
David

"Cora" sighting ..."aberrant" Black vulture in Veracruz

Yesterday, I went out "digiscoping" near the house here in Tlacotalpan. I spotted the same "aberrant" Black vulture that I had seen on two previous occasions. I am calling this individual "Cora". The black vulture appears to be in good health. Below are a series of photos.
Good birding,
David

If it itches....let your friend sctrach it. Interspecific "allopreening".

I took this photo on March 7th 2006, here in Tlacotalpan Veracruz. It seemed strange to me that this black vulture would groom a Northern caracara.
Well thanks to information that some have sent me combined with a bit of scouting on the "web" I am learning more about this behaviour. Here goes....
Definitions:
"Preening" for birds is to trim or clean plumage with the beak or tongue.
"allopreening" "állos" Gk. means other. So "allopreening" is another individual doing the preening (usually within the same species).
"interspecific allopreening" (for birds) is when an individual is preened by or preens another species.
So the photo above could be described as interspecific allopreening. How strange is it? In the case of the Black vulture and the Northern caracara it may not be that unusual. I first photographed this on March 7th, on March 13th I took the following series of photos. So 7 days later I was able to observe and photograph the same behaviour.
Jim Roper e-mailed me and shared the following information;
it is apparently well known by "country" folk in Latin America
that the Caracara is groomed by Black and Turkey Vultures, because they
often call it something like "Rey de los Zopilotes"(King of the Vultures) - not to be confused
with the King Vulture, which would be Zopilote Rey. I discovered this in Panamá, where I was teaching a field course and saw it on more than one occasion.
I was pretty surprised the first time I saw allogrooming - and it was funny, because it was about the time I learned that the local Panamanian name for the Caracara was the King of the Vultures - I thought the person telling me was confusing it with the King Vulture, so I made double-sure that there was no confusion. And then, one night(while shining
birds with students), on a palm tree we must have had over 20 blacks, and one caracara in the middle, being groomed by as many as could get their bills on him. It was really strange.---- Thanks Jim for sharing that.

I came across a link to a scientific paper that also mentions this. In this observation, they describe that the Northern caracara was both preened and preening the Black vulture...interesting.
Allopreening reference
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v086n02/p0214-p0215.pdf

Britannica reference
http://wwwa.britannica.com/ebc/article-48598
The best known example of ritualization through increased usage is what is known in mammals as allogrooming and in birds as allopreening—care given by one individual to the condition of the body surface of another individual. In highly social birds and mammals this occurs much more frequently than is necessary for cleansing of the fur or feathers, is done among animals that have bonded relationships, and is often expressed asymmetrically with respect to some feature of the social organization of a species—that is, in one species, subordinate individuals may groom dominant ones more than the former are groomed by the dominants, but in another species the reverse may be true. In addition to being a sanitary procedure, allogrooming apparently expresses the acceptance of bond-limited relationships by both the groomer and the groomed.

Well I "learn't" something new. I am going to keep a lookout for this allopreening behaviour in the future.
As a note on my sighting of what I thought might be a Black vulture hybrid, I appreciate all who took the time to share their knowledge and information.
As it stands now, what I saw was a beautiful "aberrant" Black vulture- Coragyps atratus.
The sighting was pretty cool. I am going to call my aberrant BV "Cora" and I hope that our paths cross again shortly. Well, I just spotted our wintering Peregrine falcon on the telecommunications tower....nature calls. I am going to out to digiscope some "boids". In the afternoon I pland to log some time on raptor migration. (it has begun already...two days ago I saw a small group-5 Broad-winged hawks, 22 Turkey vultures and 4 Osprey)
Good birding,
David

A mystery...possible Black vulture hybrid?

UPDATE:
I want to thank all the people who have responded to the "mystery" of the Black vulture.
The consensus is that this is NOT a hybrid, but rather a "aberrant". This is most likely a Black vulture with a lack of pigmentation or skin problem. It is still pretty cool though! I was out in the "patch" birding/digiscoping this morning and I scanned every group of black vultures that I saw in the hopes of another "sighting"! No luck though. As for the Black vulture "preening" the Northern caracara, James J. Roper, Ph.D. responded, and shared some information that I will post on the blog tomorrow.


In June of 2005 I was out birding (here in Tlacotalpan Veracruz Mexico) with a professor of veterinary medicine and three of his students from northen Mexico. I spotted something "unusual" perched atop of the high voltage powerline tower.
What I saw was what appeared to be a Black vulture (coragyps atratus) with a reddish head. We observed it at rather close range in the scope and I was able to take 68 photos with my Sony Mavica 250CD(2megapixel) camera handheld to my nikon field and sky spotting scope. The quality is not the greatest but it captures the essence. PHOTO1 PHOTO2 PHOTO3 PHOTO4
I was pretty excited by my find and my first reaction what that it might be the cross of a Black vulture with a Turkey vulture. I made posts to several internet birding forums with little response.
I sent the photos to a "respected" raptor expert and he seemed to think that the individual was simply a BV with blood on its head. (It did not show any physical characteristics if the TV either.)
I thought about it and his explanation seemed more logical than mine, so I let it rest
Almost a year has passed since I first observed/photographed my unusual black vulture.
I recently obtained a new digiscoping setup (the Nikon P1 digiscoping kit, a Nikon Coolpix P1 camera (8megapixels) and the new Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED)
On my first outing to "field test" the new equipment I was able to photograph this rather unusual interaction between a Black vulture - coragyps atratus and a Northern caracara - caracara cheriway. The black vulture was "preening" the Northern caracara. PHOTO1 PHOTO2 PHOTO3 PHOTO4
Three days later, (March 10) I was out again in the same "patch" and I noticed something unusual on the same powerline perch where I had photographed the black vulture and northern caracara interaction.
My heart skipped a beat when I got my subject focused in the scope, it was like seeing a familiar face, I was looking at the SAME individual that I had digiscoped on June 17th 2005!


Here are some of the photos that I was able to take: PHOTO1 PHOTO2 PHOTO3 PHOTO4
With the added clarity of my new digiscoping setup, I think that it is pretty clear that the facial skin has a pinkish pigmentation with some mottling lower on the face.
As I began to review the photos that I had recently taken the thought occured to me that the "cozy" preening behaviour of the BV and Northern caracara might just possibly explain my sighting of the pinkish headed black vulture.
This may be a HUGE JUMP to this conclusion but then again I am open to any other possible suggestions.
This is not blood on the head but rather some sort of genetic abberation. (Here is a recent photo of a BV with blood on its head for comparison.)
Comparison photos of adult Black vulture with possible Black vulture hybrid
I am kind of excited about this find, it will be intersting to see the possible outcome I will be keeping you posted.......
Good birding,
David McCauley
birding@gmail.com

Spring hawkwatch 2006 Tlacotalpan, Veracruz

Once again I am preparing to conduct a spring hawkwatch here in Tlacotalpan. The dates are from March 20th to April 30th. Last year I counted over 70,000 migrating raptors in April alone.
Why the hawkwatch? The results of hawkwatch counts generally go into a database of other hawkwatch sites located thoughout the US and it helps biologists and ornithologists get an ideas as to raptor distribution, migratory flows and population trends.
See HAWKCOUNT
The hawkwatch is also one of natures greatest shows. Swirling "kettles" of Broad-winged or Swainson´s hawks are unforgettable. In the peak fall migration of raptors in Veracruz daily counts of 100,000+ are routine! In recent years here in Veracruz there was ONE daily count that exceeded 1,400,000.
The spring migration, is not as concentrated as the fall but can still be quite impressive. This year I have secured a three story rooftop and will put up two levels of scaffolding,that should make for some pretty fine viewing.
Hardcore hawkwatchers are a dedicated bunch, long hours, exposure to the elements and fatigue to the eyes and neck. Sounds like fun, huh? There is a"zen element" to the hawkwatch, a trance-like fixation that makes time pass quickly and puts you into another "zone". This focus makes you aware of things you never noticed. For me the rewards of the hawkwatch are great, the simple satisfaction of observing nature.
Anyone out there who wants to give it a try, contact me.
hawkwatch@gmail.com

New Mexican cookbook and waiting for my new digiscoping kit...

Here´s a plug for a new cookbook by a friend of mine Daniel Hoyer. Daniel is a talented chef who resides in New Mexico with his equally talented wife Nancy (who is a pastry chef).
Daniel has traveled all over Mexico gleaning authentic recipes and he has put them together in this book. He got it right with this book!
Culinary Mexico

Publisher: Gibbs Smith
ISBN 1-58685-375-9
Mexico has some great food. In the off-the beaten-path small restaurants, markets and homes you can find some pretty tasty dishes.
Unfortunately a majority of travelers (especially Americans) are too paranoid to venture out of the fast food and mainstay resaurants here...its a shame.
Daniel is a great guy and we have been out birding a few times, he knows how to manuever ice cold mexican beers and good tequila. On more than one ocassion he has whipped up some mean dishes here at the house, one of the most memorable was a roast pork loin which he prepared with chipotle chile and chile ancho. Mmmm....lip lickin good!
Good food is high on my list of priorities and I love to cook...so this blog with be dotted with food references.

I am an "digiscoper". Digiscoping is a digital camera coupled to a spotting scope. (I´ll be talking more about this later)
I am about to make a major upgrade in digiscoping. After three years of my Sony Mavica 250 CD digital cam (2 megapixels) handheld to my basic nikon spotting scope, I am about to move up.
This comination has been quite satisfactory, I have taken over 30,000 photos with the Sony Mavica and it has handled my abuse.
Headed my way is a new digiscoping setup from Nikon. Laura Erickson who has http://www.birderblog.com/
and also works with Binoculars.com turned me on to the system.
Here it is:
Nikon P1 digiscoping kit
http://spotting-scopes.binoculars.com/products/Nikon_DigiScope_P1_System__43636.html

This is a link to binoculars .com, but others out there also sell the digiscoping kit, B&H, Eagle Optics etc.
Prices run around $2,000 USD for the P1 Digiscoping kit
The camera Nikon coolpix P1 is 8 megapixels
and the scope is the Nikon 82mm Straight Fieldscope with ED glass.
I can´t wait to get this setup to give it a good field test.