The Rio Grande Valley is the place to be! I hadn’t realized it would be quite so tropical. It was a trip full of “firsts”. My favorite was this little guy, which lays perfectly motionless on the ground during the day blending in with the leaf cover
Common ParauqueBut the highlight for everyone there came when somebody spotted this seriously lost bird. Only the second recorded sighting in the United States.
Amazon KingfisherAnd now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Wonderful!
The Parauque must be a relative of the whippoorwill. It looks like one and they lie on the ground and blend into the background in the same manner.
The pictures are beautiful.
Yes, the parauque and the whippoorwill are both nightjars/nighthawks. I’ve never seen a whippoorwill. I think you have them back East. It took me several tries to see the parauque even though the guide was pointing straight at it!
We have lots of whippoorwills and their song will drive you absolutely insane. I had one under my bedroom window one night and he would not shut up. Whippoorwill (cluck), whippoorwill (cluck), ad nauseum..