Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A remarkable bird!

I wish I could tell you the name of this bird, but I have been unable to
get it identified. It makes a 'chuck-chuck' noise, no chirping or singing,
and as you can see it is eating a very large grasshopper or cicada.
This bird was seen regularly in my yard up until a few days ago. I can only assume it has moved on to other areas, perhaps after having cleaned out all the cicadas from my backyard. It was large. Easily measured eight inches from top of its head to the end of its body, before including the tail.

I miss hearing it's 'chuck-chuck' call from the trees nearby. Perhaps it is a female and is nesting after gorging on grasshoppers. What I'm hoping for is that someone reading this blog will be able to find out more about it and give me a name for it. But isn't it a lovely creature?

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5 comments:

  1. BirdieMay 31, 2011 at 4:17 PM

    Thank you! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dom and NanJune 4, 2011 at 2:22 PM

    Hey Sandy.... I'm looking at my old "Audubon Society Field Guide to NORTH AMERICAN Birds".... the closest thing that I can find is:

    Lazuli Bunting 5-5 1/2 " Same pretty orange belly, but not nearly as striking as your friend.

    I'm guessing that it's some type of BUNTING, tho...we have Indigo Buntings here... bright, gorgeous, but no orange bellies.

    I'd GOOGLE Bunting photos if I were you. Hope all is well, honey... xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lon NesselerJuly 17, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    Well, Sandy, I spend much interesting time trying to find your bird, but failed. If you ever nail the ident, please let us know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SandyAugust 2, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    Finally have found it!!! It is the Momotus momota, found in Central and South America, referred to the as Blue Crowned MotMot and here is a link: http://carolinabirds.org/HTML/SA_Corac_Motmot.htm#MotmotBlueCrowned - if you look in the second photo of the four shown, note the curious tail feather ending - not all of them have that extra break in the tail feather. Anyhow, I thank my readers for joining me in the search!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. SandyAugust 2, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    And I also found this reference in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-crowned_Motmot - easy once you know what it's called!!

    ReplyDelete

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