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ABA CENTURY CLUB TRIP

Lima & Iquitos

with Ted Floyd
18-25 February 2006

Bird list [PDF: 32k]

Legend:

• Species names in boldface indicate the first group sighting that I was aware of.
• Superscripts indicate the chronological rank order of each first sighting.
• Brackets denote alternate standard English names in the major regional field guides.
• Species names in italics indicate records that were problematic in some way or another.
   

Saturday, 18 February 2006
After an early breakfast at our hotel in Lima, we assembled outside the hotel lobby to meet our guide for a tour of los Pantanos de Villa (the Villa Wetlands). Our first species was fitting: an adult male Peregrine Falcon⁰⁰¹, that ultimate avatar of international travel, perched atop a tall building just north of the hotel. Species on the immediate hotel grounds included Pacific Dove⁰⁰², Rufous-collared Sparrow⁰⁰³, Southern House Wren⁰⁰⁴ [House Wren], Eared Dove⁰⁰⁵, Tropical Kingbird⁰⁰⁶, Shiny Cowbird⁰⁰⁷, and American Kestrel⁰⁰⁸. The Peregrine Falcon flew south directly over our heads, and we were on our way.

Our guide was Victor Calienes, a local birder with extensive knowledge of the bird life of the sprawling Pantanos de Villa. On the drive south down to the wetlands, we saw numerous Black Vultures⁰⁰⁹ and a few passing Blue-and-white Swallows⁰¹⁰. Our first stop was at a pier and restaurant along the Pacific Ocean, where we picked up Belcher's Gull⁰¹¹ [Band-tailed Gull], Franklin's Gull⁰¹², Inca Tern⁰¹³, Spotted Sandpiper⁰¹⁴, Neotropic Cormorant⁰¹⁵, Peruvian Booby⁰¹⁶, Peruvian Pelican⁰¹⁷, Kelp Gull⁰¹⁸, and Sandwich Tern⁰¹⁹.

Next, it was into the wetlands proper. We started out at a small marsh that hosted Cattle Egret⁰²⁰, Great Egret⁰²¹, Cinnamon Teal⁰²², White-cheeked Pintail⁰²³, Greater Yellowlegs⁰²⁴, Lesser Yellowlegs⁰²⁵, Striated Heron⁰²⁶, Snowy Egret⁰²⁷, Wren-like Rushbird⁰²⁸, Black-crowned Night-Heron⁰²⁹, Harris's Hawk⁰³⁰ [Bay-winged Hawk], and Osprey⁰³¹.

We then crossed a two-lane road and explored a marshy area that was considerably more extensive than the one we had just been in. Passerines included Grassland Yellow-Finches⁰³² singing in the tall grasses all around us, a male Blue-black Grassquit⁰³³ jumping up and down in characteristic fashion, and several Peruvian Meadowlarks⁰³⁴ proclaiming from tall perches. Several of us heard what I believe was a Plumbeous Rail^035-x, but I could not get Victor on the vocalization so we had to let that one go. We made our way to an observation tower, where we saw a handful of stunning Great Grebes⁰³⁶, a dumpy Andean Duck⁰³⁷, a fly-by Croaking Ground-Dove⁰³⁸, several Gray-headed Gulls⁰³⁹, and a few Pied-billed Grebes⁰⁴⁰ and Andean Coots⁰⁴¹.

Our next stop was a sandy plain with sparse vegetation, where Victor pulled in a Peruvian Thick-Knee⁰⁴² sitting on the ground. We continued from here toward Villa Beach, right on the Pacific Ocean, stopping-or at least slowing down-along the way for Groove-billed Ani⁰⁴³, Little Blue Heron⁰⁴⁴, and Common Moorhen⁰⁴⁵. From the beach, we added Elegant Tern⁰⁴⁶, Gray Gull⁰⁴⁷, and American Oystercatcher⁰⁴⁸. Meanwhile, we savored the great views of Peruvian Boobies falling to the sea like missiles and of Peruvian Pelicans cutting low across the water. Heading back to our vehicle, we nabbed an anticlimactic Rock Pigeon⁰⁴⁹.

On our way out of los Pantanos de Villa, we stopped off at a marsh along a busy road that provided us with excellent views of White-tufted Grebe⁰⁵⁰, Puna Ibis⁰⁵¹, Black-necked Stilt⁰⁵², and both morphs of Andean Coot. Victor accompanied us back to the hotel, and then it was time for a quick respite and then a remarkable buffet lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Puro Perú.

In the afternoon, we toured downtown Lima. The venue wasn't ideal for ornithological studies, but we did manage to sneak in some birding along the way. The courtyard of an old cathedral in the central square was downright birdy, with such species as Cinereous Conebill⁰⁵³, Vermilion Flycatcher⁰⁵⁴, Blue-gray Tanager⁰⁵⁵, and Amazilia Hummingbird⁰⁵⁶. We found our obligatory House Sparows⁰⁵⁷ here, too. We came across Rock Pigeons everywhere, which was no surprise. But we were surprised by the ubiquity and abundance of Black Vultures-in view constantly, wheeling about the city skies and perched atop modern office buildings and colonial-era cathedrals.

In the late afternoon, we made a quick visit to El Parque de Olivar. This ancient olive garden hosted the same basic suite of species from the hotel grounds (Eared Dove, Rufous-collared Sparrow, etc.) and from the cathedral courtyard (Cinereous Conebill, Amazilia Hummingbird, etc.), plus a few new ones: Scrub Blackbird⁰⁵⁸, Scarlet-fronted Parakeet⁰⁵⁹, and Bananaquit⁰⁶⁰. Along with the hordes of Amazilia Hummingbirds, we had a briefly glimpsed view of a bird that was probably an Oasis Hummingbird^061-x. Night falls quickly at low latitudes, and we were soon on our way back to dinner. The last birds of the day: a citywide chorus of Rufous-collared Sparrows, singly loudly and sweetly above the roar of traffic and hustle-and-bustle of the night markets.
 

Sunday, 19 February 2006
We spent a few hours during the morning back at El Parque de Olivar, where we added several new species: Saffron Finches⁰⁶² in small groups here and there, a Pacific Parrotlet⁰⁶³ on a cast-iron fence, a female Peruvian Sheartail⁰⁶⁴ working a row of flowers, a Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet⁰⁶⁵ bopping about the rosebushes at a fountain, a vocal Long-tailed Mockingbird⁰⁶⁶, and a handsome Mitred Parakeet^067-x. And the usual suspects: bullfrog-voiced Croaking Ground-Doves, squeaky-voiced Blue-Gray Tanagers, and twittering Bananaquits. We saw a Harris's Hawk [Bay-winged Hawk] in here, too. Of special note was the variety of plumages shown by the adult male Vermilion Flycatchers. Some were "normal" red-and-black individuals of the sort seen in North America; others were completely feathered in a dark brown plumage; and still others were intergrades, showing strange mixes of vermilion and dark brown.

We got back to the hotel by mid-morning, where we got ready for lunch and then for our flight to Iquitos. The descent into Iquitos was spectacular: We came down through low cloud cover and were overwhelmed by the sight of the rainforest stretching from horizon to horizon and cleaved down the middle by the Amazon River. It was raining lightly at the Iquitos airport, which hosted a few Tropical Kingbirds and Black Vultures. We got our stuff and then met up with our guides for the coming week: Victor Ramirez-Arévalo and Rosario Fernández. On the bus ride from the airport to the port of Iquitos, Rosario regaled us with commentary on the history and local culture of the region, while Russet-backed Oropendolas⁰⁶⁸ flew by in sizeable flocks. At nightfall, we visited the city square, inhabited by a mime and a Tropical Kingbird. Next, it was on to La Turmalina, the ship that was to be our home for the next week. We set out right away, upstream along the Amazon. It was dark now, but the bright floodlights of La Turmalina provided sufficient illumination for us to make out several Collared Plovers⁰⁶⁹ flushing up from sandbars along the river's edge.
 

Monday, 20 February 2006
Overnight, La Turmalina had made it upstream to where the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers converge to form the Amazon. Our first bird of the morning, just after first light, was a Large-billed Tern⁰⁷⁰ cruising past the ship. We made brief note of the tern and then got into our little excursion boat, which took us a short distance to a lush riverside wetland. Here we found Ringed Kingfisher⁰⁷¹, Great Kiskadee⁰⁷², Yellow-headed Caracara⁰⁷³, Yellow-browed Sparrow⁰⁷⁴, Oriole Blackbird⁰⁷⁵, Southern Rough-winged Swallow⁰⁷⁶, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant⁰⁷⁷, Red-eyed Vireo⁰⁷⁸, Wattled Jaçana⁰⁷⁹, Barn Swallow⁰⁸⁰, White-winged Swallow⁰⁸¹, Fork-tailed Flycatcher⁰⁸², White-winged Parakeet⁰⁸³ [Canary-winged Parakeet], Yellow-hooded Blackbird⁰⁸⁴, Black-capped Donacobius⁰⁸⁵ [Black-capped Mockingthrush], Green Kingfisher⁰⁸⁶, Cocoi Heron⁰⁸⁷ [White-necked Heron], Drab Water-Tyrant⁰⁸⁸, Yellow-rumped Cacique⁰⁸⁹, Social Flycatcher⁰⁹⁰, Black-collared Hawk⁰⁹¹, Yellow-billed Tern⁰⁹², Amazon Kingfisher⁰⁹³, Buff-breasted Wren⁰⁹⁴, Muscovy Duck⁰⁹⁵, Chestnut-bellied Seedeater⁰⁹⁶, and Red-capped Cardinal⁰⁹⁷. It was pouring down raining now-time to head back to La Turmalina and breakfast.

After breakfast, it stopped raining. In fact, the sun had come out, and Greater Yellow-headed Vultures⁰⁹⁸ and Turkey Vultures⁰⁹⁹ were about now. These two species would be among the most conspicuous and characteristic sights of the days to come. We were back in the excursion boat by mid-morning, this time for exploration of a wooded backwater on the other side of the river. Our first new species was the Horned Screamer¹⁰⁰. Bizarre, huge, and loud, it is one of the iconic species of the Amazon basin. Next, we added three rather more prosaic species: Roadside Hawk¹⁰¹, Smooth-billed Ani¹⁰², and Ruddy Pigeon¹⁰³. Then, another rainforest icon: three Hoatzins¹⁰⁴ up in a cecropia. After admiring the Hoatzins, we angled in close to shore, where we got all sorts of goodies. The low-down: Dusky-headed Parakeet¹⁰⁵, Mealy Parrot¹⁰⁶, Hooded Tanager¹⁰⁷, Plumbeous Kite¹⁰⁸, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker¹⁰⁹, White-eared Jacamar¹¹⁰ [Chestnut Jacamar], Lesser Kiskadee¹¹¹, Brown-chested Martin¹¹², Gray-breasted Martin¹¹³, Festive Parrot¹¹⁴, Red-and-white Spinetail¹¹⁵, Short-tailed Parrot¹¹⁶, Piratic Flycatcher¹¹⁷, Great Black-Hawk¹¹⁸, and Crane Hawk¹¹⁹.

We headed back to La Turmalina for lunch and then siesta. A few of us forewent siesta, though, and birded from the upper deck. We were traveling up the Ucayali now, and we saw the following along the shore: White-throated Toucan¹²⁰ [Cuvier's Toucan], Riverside Tyrant¹²¹, Masked Tityra¹²², and Eastern Kingbird¹²³. Of particular interest was the Eastern Kingbird, a species that we would go on to see thousands of-mainly in large flocks passing overhead, but also pausing silently in the treetops from time to time. It was interesting that the nearctic-migrant kingbirds often mixed with flocks of austral-migrant Fork-tailed Flycatchers.

After a mid-afternoon lecture, we were back in the excursion boat for a late-afternoon jaunt into a long backwater channel running south from the Ucayali. Here we added Black-throated Mango¹²⁴, Bank Swallow¹²⁵, Swallow-wing¹²⁶ [Swallow-winged Puffbird], Black-fronted Nunbird¹²⁷, Chestnut Woodpecker¹²⁸, Slate-colored Hawk¹²⁹, Capped Heron¹³⁰, Sand-colored Nighthawk¹³¹, Plum-throated Cotinga¹³², Crimson-crested Woodpecker¹³³, Greater Ani¹³⁴, Silver-beaked Tanager¹³⁵, Ivory-billed Araçari¹³⁶, Masked Crimson Tanager¹³⁷, Chestnut-eared Araçari¹³⁸, and Bare-necked Fruitcrow¹³⁹. In the non-avian arena, we saw a breaching pink river dolphin, a species that flourishes here in the headwaters of the Amazon, thousands of miles from the ocean.

We returned to La Turmalina for music (a nightly feature of our Amazon journey) and dinner, and then we headed out in search of nocturnal creatures. Fishing bats flew all around us, and Rosario made the call on a sleepy kinkajou. There were birds, too: a staring Boat-billed Heron¹⁴⁰ and a Ladder-tailed Nightjar¹⁴¹ sitting on a fallen log.
 

Tuesday, 21 February 2006
We continued along the Ucayali River today, going out into the excursion boat for several jaunts at various points during the day. The early-morning excursion produced the following additions to our list: Fork-tailed Palm-Swift¹⁴², Várzea Schiffornis¹⁴³ [Greater Manakin], Blue-headed Parrot¹⁴⁴, Thrush-like Wren¹⁴⁵, Sungrebe¹⁴⁶ [American Finfoot], Pale-vented Pigeon¹⁴⁷, Black-tailed Trogon¹⁴⁸, Lettered Araçari¹⁴⁹, Orange-winged Parrot¹⁵⁰, Black-tailed Tityra¹⁵¹, and Black-headed Parrot¹⁵².

It was back to La Turmalina, and then onto the tiny hamlet of Carocurahuaytillo. En route, a few lucky participants got to see an Amazonian Umbrellabird¹⁵³ flying across the Ucayali. In Carocurahuaytillo, we saw a Bicolored Conebill¹⁵⁴ and an uncountable Tui Parakeet walking among the piglets underneath a thatch hut.

Our late-afternoon excursion got underway with a problematic Little Hermit^155-x and then a fabulously unproblematic pair of Blue-and-yellow Macaws¹⁵⁶ up on the highest perch of a preposterously tall dead tree. Then a bunch of other goodies: American Pygmy Kingfisher¹⁵⁷ [Pygmy Kingfisher], Purple-throated Fruitcrow¹⁵⁸, Little Cuckoo¹⁵⁹, Gray-rumped Swift¹⁶⁰, Squirrel Cuckoo¹⁶¹, Chestnut-fronted Macaw¹⁶², and Green Ibis¹⁶³.

The nighttime excursion got underway with Victor wrestling a caiman, subduing it (sort of), and bringing it on board for us to admire. A little while later, we came upon a Common Potoo¹⁶⁴-big head, tiny body-sitting atop and staring out from a stalk at the water's edge. We wound down the excursion out in the middle of a small inlet. The experience was enchanting: The boat operator turned off the outboard motor, and we drifted amid a chorus of mellow Tropical Screech-Owls¹⁶⁵ and twangy-voiced anurans. The clear night sky provided us with such austral-summer celestial objects as Canopus, Achernar, and the Greater Cloud of Magellan.
 

Wednesday, 22 February 2006
After breakfast aboard La Turmalina, we commenced a lengthy excursion of more of the backwaters of the Ucayali River. In the early going, we added White-necked Jacobin¹⁶⁶, Little Woodpecker¹⁶⁷, Tui Parakeet¹⁶⁸, Scarlet-crowned Barbet¹⁶⁹, White-chinned Jacamar¹⁷⁰, White-tailed Trogon¹⁷¹, Pale-legged Hornero¹⁷², and Red-throated Caracara¹⁷³. By mid-morning, we were up on dry land-sort of. Technically, we were in a várzea (seasonally flooded) forest, where we saw two Scarlet Macaws¹⁷⁴ and heard an Undulated Tinamou¹⁷⁵.

It was getting on toward lunchtime, but not first without adding White-eyed Parakeet¹⁷⁶, Bright-rumped Attila¹⁷⁷ and White-shouldered Antbird¹⁷⁸. We ate lunch on the excursion boat, during which time we were not perhaps actively looking at birds. But we couldn't help but hear them: throaty Scarlet-crowned Barbets, pure-toned White-shouldered Antbirds, emphatic Bright-rumped Attilas, fractious Red-throated Caracaras, and the haunting Undulated Tinamou. Meanwhile, we admired the now-familiar vocalizations of the Black-fronted Nunbird (frenzied), the Buff-breasted Wren (rollicking), the White-throated Toucan (quiet yelping), the Russet-backed Oropendola (a giant water droplet), and the Black-capped Donacobius [Black-capped Mockingthrush] (like a car alarm). A special treat was a giant blue morpho butterfly (the wingspan is close to one foot) that passed right by the boat.

After an early-afternoon siesta and mid-afternoon lecture, we headed out again in the excursion boat. We started out with a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites¹⁷⁹ flapping about like giant butterflies, and we looked at and (in particular) listened to two tricky species: Short-crested Flycatcher¹⁸⁰ and Plumbeous Pigeon¹⁸¹. All the while, huge flocks of Eastern Kingbirds and Fork-tailed Flycatchers flew by. For a non-avian diversion, we studied a three-toed sloth-one of about ten that we saw during our time in the Iquitos area-high up in a riverside tree.

Later, back aboard La Turmalina, we squeezed in some productive birding in the moments just before sun-down. The highlight was four Red-and-green Macaws¹⁸² flying behind the ship. Some other odds and ends: a lovely Plum-throated Cotinga up on a snag, Plumbeous Kites aloft everywhere, and the usual White-winged Parakeet [Canary-winged Parakeet] cacophony at nightfall. By the way, we probably observed more of these noisy parakeets than of any other species during our voyage. We had thousands at nightfall on several days, and we saw a dozen or so flocks of 10-50 during the daylight hours each day.
 

Thursday, 23 February 2006
The sky was clear when we got up this morning, which provided great viewing of such austral-winter celestial objects as α-Centauri, β-Centauri, and the Southern Cross. We were on the excursion boats early, today beginning our exploration of the Marañon River and its backwaters and tributaries. The first of the morning's additions to the list were Purple Gallinule¹⁸³ and Lesson's Seedeater¹⁸⁴. It was still early on when we chanced upon a nearby (but of course invisible) Undulated Tinamou. We brought the boat to a halt and listened at leisure to this emblematic voice of the rainforest. Two more additions this morning were a Spot-breasted Woodpecker¹⁸⁵ out on a snag and a Violaceous Jay¹⁸⁶ at the edge of a streamside row of cecropias.

Our late-morning excursion started out with the first (rather tardily so) Boat-billed Flycatcher¹⁸⁷ of the week, up on a snag. In general, the birding was slow: We listened to White-shouldered Antbirds, we saw a Swallow-wing [Swallow-winged Puffbird] or two, and we were forever in the company of small flocks of hirundinids and psittacids. In the non-avian category, we got face-to-face with a surreptitious saddle-backed tamarin-one of many species of primates that we observed during the week.

We spent the mid-afternoon on land, up in a terra firme forest near the Suite Marañon eco-lodge. Right after we got off the boat, we came upon an obliging mixed-species foraging flock that included numerous Masked Crimson Tanagers and Silver-beaked Tanagers, an apparent Mouse-colored Tyrannulet^188-x, a scowling Red-eyed Vireo, several Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers^189-x, and two Buff-throated Saltators¹⁹⁰. We got past the grounds of the Suite Marañon and continued into the forest, picking up White-bearded Manakin¹⁹¹ and Golden-headed Manakin¹⁹² (both species were on leks), White-chested Puffbird¹⁹³, and an up-close but furtive Wedge-billed Woodcreeper¹⁹⁴. The woodcreeper sighting drove home the point that birding in the rainforest interior (as opposed to being out in the open on the excursion boats) can be very difficult: Even though the woodcreeper stayed within 50 feet of the trail for several minutes, it was surprisingly hard to catch a glimpse of it. The moral of this story is that it certainly is worth the effort to learn the vocalizations of rainforest species. Speaking of vocalizations, our next bird was the fantastic Screaming Piha¹⁹⁵, giving its piercing song over and over again. After that, we had an amazingly cooperative Blue-cheeked Jacamar¹⁹⁶ sitting on a point-blank snag; in the next moment, and also amazingly, it was joined by a Yellow-billed Jacamar¹⁹⁷. The two of them were catching ant alates. Next was a Thick-billed Euphonia¹⁹⁸, and then thunder and lighting, and then rain, and then a retreat to the Suite Marañon. Here we met up with the wandering Terry O'Neill, who reported that he had found a Band-tailed Antbird¹⁹⁹ while the rest of us were out dodging lighting strikes.

After the music hour and a typically sumptuous dinner aboard La Turmalina, a few of us trekked back into the dripping-wet terra firme forest beyong the Suite Marañon to listen to what Rosario calls the rainforest symphony. We heard no birds on this soggy evening, but there were anurans everywhere-with the calls of the poison arrow dart frogs especially evocative.
 

Friday, 24 February 2006
Our last full day aboard La Turmalina was perhaps the best. The morning excursion started out with Grayish Saltator²⁰⁰, Crested Oropendola²⁰¹, Opal-rumped Tanager²⁰², Vermilion Tanager^203-x, Gray-capped Flycatcher²⁰⁴, Yellow-backed Tanager²⁰⁵, Double-toothed Kite²⁰⁶, Cream-colored Woodpecker²⁰⁷ (wow!), Straight-billed Woodcreeper²⁰⁸, Long-billed Woodcreeper²⁰⁹ (wow! wow!), and Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant²¹⁰. A nearby (but of course invisible) Undulated Tinamou serenaded us with its rich, piping, upslurred whistling.

Next it was out of the excursion boat and onto a boardwalk-and-tower complex on the north shore of the Marañon River. Along the boardwalk we added Lined Seedeater²¹¹ and Turquoise Tanager²¹². Up on the tower, we saw a fidgety Double-banded Pygmy-Tyrant²¹³ and more to the point we heard it: a loud, utterly unbirdlike buzz. We saw two Hoatzins up here, too. On the walk back to the excursion boat, we got great good looks at a Pygmy Antwren²¹⁴ and another Straight-billed Woodcreeper.

Our late-morning activity was to be a visit to a shaman (seriously...), but we persuaded our hosts to let us go back to the boardwalk-and-tower complex. The birding was a little slower this time, but we delighted nonetheless in such finds as Purple Honeycreeper²¹⁵, Solitary Cacique²¹⁶ [Solitary Black Cacique], and an enchanting Warbling Antbird²¹⁷. On the way back down from the tower, we admired a Sapphire-spangled Emerald²¹⁸. And a random sampling of odds and ends: Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia, White-bearded Manakin, White-necked Jacobin, Social Flycatcher, and so forth and so on.

It was lunchtime now, and then siesta. La Turmalina made its way downstream along the Rio Marañon, past the confluence with the Rio Ucayali, and then down the Amazon toward Iquitos. We had one last late-afternoon trip in the excursion boat, and this one was fine indeed. It started out with a conveniently perched and somewhat vocal Gray-crowned Flycatcher²¹⁹-a species that, truth be told, we had been seeing and hearing throughout the week but without putting a name to it. The next additions were more dramatic: an up-close Black Caracara²²⁰ devouring a walking catfish, a Spangled Cotinga²²¹ on a nearby snag, a Lineated Woodpecker²²² at a nest cavity, and a Rufous-browed Peppershrike^223-x prowling about a streamside tangle. It was time to power back to La Turmalina, but we brought the excursion to a boat to a halt as we approached the main channel of the Amazon-for one last opportunity to savor the birds of the rainforest. Our last birds: Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Solitary Cacique [Solitary Black Cacique], Gray-capped Flycatcher, and Large-billed Tern. Large-billed Tern had also been, coincidentally enough, the first bird of our Amazon voyage, back at dawn on Monday morning.
 

Saturday, 25 February 2006
We said farewell to our friends on La Turmalina and then headed out for the Iquitos airport before dawn. At daybreak, while we were waiting for our plane, the airport was descended upon by a flock of-what else?-Black Vultures. There were a few Tropical Kingbirds on the premises, too.

Back in Lima, we dealt with transportation, luggage transfer, lunch, and then ... a nice afternoon back at El Parque de Olivar. The only-and final-addition to our list was a small flock of Hooded Siskins²²⁴, but we were not disappointed with our haul of now-familiar species in urban Lima: Cinereous Conebills and Blue-gray Tanagers in the treetops, Amazilia Hummingbirds and the occasional Peruvian Sheartail (we finally got to see a male) in the flower gardens, Croaking Ground-Doves and Rufous-collared Sparrows underfoot (and notable for their remarkable vocalizations), and Saffron Finches and Blue-black Grassquits in clearings. We wound down the afternoon along embassy row, a little bit to the west of El Parque de Olivar. Here, amid the guards armed with machine guns, we saw a pair of Scarlet-fronted Parakeets at a nest site in the side of an old house, several more Amazilia Hummingbirds, and another candidate Oasis Hummingbird or two.

We got back to the hotel, where our last bird of our trip to Peru was the same species-the same individual, probably-as the one that started it all off. It was the adult male Peregrine Falcon, flying in toward his roost just north of the hotel.

— trip report by Ted Floyd ()

• ^035-xPlumbeous Rail. We heard a rail-like chortling, reminiscent of the call of a Virginia Rail, but gruffer and slower.
• ^061-xOasis Hummingbird. We just never got a good enough view. Based on the information that Victor Calienes gave us, it's pretty likely that we had the species... but you never know.
• ^067-xMitred Parakeet. I called this a Red-masked Parakeet at the time, but in retrospect I think it had to be a Mitred Parakeet. It doesn't help that the drawing on Plate 26 in the Clements & Shany guide contains a major error. The annotated checklist that Victor supplied further points us in the direction of Mitred Parakeet.
• ^155-xLittle Hermit. Well, it sure looked like one. (I've seen a bunch elsewhere.) But the Clements & Shany guide makes no mention of the species. Then again, the Clements & Shany guide contains a number of errors. The range map in the Hilty & Brown guide (Colombia) implies that the species spills broadly into Peru. And the destination handbook from International Expeditions lists the species (see p. 47). Help?
• ^188-xMouse-colored Tyrannulet. I didn't see this one, and what I heard of it didn't sound quite right. Are we sure about it? Clements & Shany call it rare, and the map in Hilty & Brown implies that it ought to be scarce or absent from the Amazon basin of northeastern Peru.
• ^189-xRed-crowned Ant-Tanagers. Sorry, folks. This one was just a mental error at the time. I was misinterpreting something that Victor said about female Silver-beaked Tanagers. (We did, by the way, also have female Silver-beaked Tanagers.) Anyhow, we definitely had multiple sightings of this widespread neotropical species. Check out Plate 51 in Hilty & Brown, or, better yet, Plate 57 in the Howell & Webb guide (Mexico).
• ^203-xVermilion Tanager. I barely saw this one. Are we sure of it? Clements & Shany report that it does not overlap with Masked Crimson Tanager (of which we saw dozens).
• ^223-xRufous-browed Peppershrike. The only thing problematic about this one is that I see in my notes that I neglected to mention it during our Friday evening round-up. Sorry 'bout that-it was the last addition to our list, and it simply dropped off the page. Anyhow: It's a perfectly good record, and you can add (or restore) it to your Friday checklist.

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