News - November 2012

November 05, 2012 02:06

Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant

Euscarthmus meloryphus

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

Green-barred Woodpecker

Colaptes melanochloros

24-11-12 © Juan Pablo Muszkats

Guira Cuckoo

Guira guira

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

I am off to the Viamonte foodstand to find something to eat. I got this tasty morsel. Is it sweetbread or thin skirt?

Spectacled Tyrant

Hymenops perspicillatus

24-11-12 © Juan Pablo Muszkats

Glittering-bellied Emerald

Chlorostilbon lucidus

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

Rufous Hornero

Furnarius rufus

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

Nest near the antenna. The adult went in and out several times carrying ffood for the chicks

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

Checkered Woodpecker

Veniliornis mixtus

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

A checkered woodpecker's nest with chicks inside. The male brought food on several occasions. The chicks must be very little judging by the way the adult gets in

Rufous-sided Crake

Laterallus melanophaius

24-11-12 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro

Tropical Kingbird

Tyrannus melancholicus

24-11-12 © J. Simón Tagtachian

Sooty-fronted Spinetail

Synallaxis frontalis

24-11-12 © J. Simón Tagtachian

Brown-chested Martin

Progne tapera

24-11-12 © J. Simón Tagtachian

Glittering-bellied Emerald

Chlorostilbon lucidus

24-11-12 © J. Simón Tagtachian

Warbling Doradito

Pseudocolopteryx flaviventris

24-11-12 © Pablo Mosto

Dark-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus melacoryphus

24-11-12 © Pablo Mosto

Streaked Flycatcher

Myiodynastes maculatus

25-11-12 © Carlos González Ledo

The Streaked Flycatcher is a migrant bird which nests in Costanera. Every year they fly back and forth from northern South America to Argentina. It breeds here and goes back north to spend the austral winter. Out of the seven recognized subspecies of Streaked Flycatcher, <em>Myiodynastes maculatus solitarius</em> is the one that migrates to Argentina.<br /><br />Year after year we can count on this flycatcher. They stay from October to March approximately. As they arrive they have to establish their territory. They make a lot of fuss when they chase each other with rapid flights manouvering among trees and singing loudly. It is difficult to follow the scene since they get out of sight easily. They also compete against other species for holes in trees, like those of woodpeckers', where they will nest.

It rains under the tipu trees

Spittlebug

Cephissus siccifolius

11-11-12 © Carlos González Ledo

When November comes and tipu trees become green again an unusual phenomenon is witnessed for only a couple of weeks - it rains under the tipu trees no matter if it is a sunny or cloudy day. This is caused by an insect, the spittlebug, whose nymph feeds on this tree's sap. The nymph produces a spittle mass around the stalks which is a good cover against predators and keeps it moist. The foam is the waste product eliminated after sap nutrients have been absorbed, into which air bubbles are introduced through a breathing tube which is at the end of the abdomen of the nymphs

11-11-12 © Carlos González Ledo

When the spittle masses become too heavy they disintegrate into drops. This is known as "the weeping of the tipu trees". If dripping is intense puddles are formed on the ground.