Chapala Birders Newsletter, June 2, 2025 | | | Sightings last Month submitted by Duncan Poole
There were 132 species reported for the lake area in May. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter. Interesting sightings included the following: - Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Reported by Tiffany Ritter, Malecón de Ajijic
- Aztec Thrush, Reported by Thomas Bravo, Escuela International
| | Featured Bird: Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) submitted by Jules Evens | | | As the species' name (vociferous) suggests, this is a very talkative shorebird, now named for its voice—killdeeray-killdeeray—but formerly named "Noisy Plover" or "Chattering Plover." It is in the plover family and shares typical familial characteristics—rather plumb body, long-wings, short bill, and large eye. However, it is the only plover with two bands across its chest. In flight it flashes its long tail, rusty rump, and a broad white wingstripe.
A wide-spread and familiar shorebird, the Killdeer is distributed throughout the American continent, nesting from the Canadian Yukon south to central Mexico. Sexes are identical with little seasonal variation. Southern populations are resident, northern ones migratory.
This is a bird of open terrain, shorelines, shortgrass fields most often near water. | | | Killdeers usually announce their presence by voice, but when an intruder approaches the nest site, the bird preforms a remarkable "broken wing act" while crying loudly in an effort to distract potential predators away. The nest, or "scrape" is usually placed on graveled ground amidst mottled substrate to help hide the cryptically patterned eggs. White objects—pebbles, shell fragments, plastic shards, bone fragments—are often added to the scrape during incubation to further camouflage the site.
The chicks are "precocial," that is, fully feathered at hatching and able to scamper out of the nest as soon as their down dries. Parents are not known to feed the chicks, rather lead them to feeding grounds upon fledging. There is something comical about these chicks, little puffs of feathers atop long legs.
Killdeers' tolerance of human modified habitats (e.g. golf courses, gravel aprons of roads, mowed fields) has benefited the population. "Once the target of market hunters and in serious decline, the Killdeer is probably more common today than at any time in its history as a result of habitat changes wrought by humans." (Birds of the World)
Photo by Jules Evans, Oct 17, 2017, San Antonio Tlayacapan malecon, Jalisco, MX | | A nesting pair of Killdeer. The bird on the right is settling onto the nest. The bird on the left is the sentry, on the lookout of predators. Photo by Jules Evens, March 23, 2013, Ignacio, California | |  | Killdeer nest or "scrape". Photo taken by The Andersons, May 18th, Parque Riberas del Pilar on the point. | | | Upcoming Bird Walks and Trips | | | Our bird-walks are open to all those interested in birds, both beginners and experienced birders. Just bring binoculars. We always have knowledgeable birders on hand to identify the species. Note that we will try to limit most car trips to three vehicles and 14 people because larger convoys are hard to manage when trying to stop on country roads to look at the birds. If you are being given a ride, please make a contribution to your driver for gas and tolls ($150 pesos for a half day outing, $300 pesos for a day trip).
1st Sunday of each month: JUNE 1st there will be a birding outing along the Allen Lloyd Trail the first Sunday of every month! Meet up with trip leaders Kate and Carl Anderson at 8 am. Come prepared for a wee hike. Expect to see Blue Mockingbird and Happy Wren. Please confirm your attendance at least 2 days in advance by sending a message on WhatsApp to Kate and Carl at 662-357-4430. How to get to the trail head: Drive up the Libramiento a half mile (1km) from the traffic light at Walmart, then turn left (carefully) as you would for the hospital (Ribera Medical Center), double back and drive up the left side of the hospital. Keep going uphill another half mile, and park on the only street to your left. Check here for pindrop.
On Thursday, June 12th, meet team leader Robert Taylor at 8.00 am at the San Antonio Malecon parking lot to walk the Malecon area. At about 9:30am we will head to the Cafe Negro restaurant for breakfast and complete the bird list. Please confirm your attendance at least 2 days in advance with Robert Taylor at: robertinmex@gmail.com How to get to the Parking Lot: Follow these instructions carefully because of the one-way street system in San Antonio. From Ajijic, go past Walmart and the Coca Cola warehouse, then turn downhill at the traffic light onto San Jose/Allen Lloyd. Proceed downhill and turn right onto La Paz at a shrine one block before the lake, then turn left at the T intersection, and go one block to the parking lot. | | Bird Walk Trip Reports submitted by May Trip Leaders | | | On May 8th, 8 birders joined Cheshta Buckley at the San Antonio Malecon. They benefited from the dropping lake levels, which produced 52 species of shorebirds, ducks, terns and nesting flycatchers. Follow the link to see the full list of birds.
On May 16th 7 birders visited Sendero Allen Lloyd with Tom Bravo. A busy morning was highlighted by some late migrant buntings, grosbeaks, several breeding endemics, and some local specialties, and overall 40 species were observed. Some favorites were Blue and Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, endemics such as Cinnamon-rumped Seedeaters, Rufous-backed Robins, Golden Vireo, and Happy Wren. Local favorites, Russet-crowned Motmot and Squirrel Cuckoo, were in breeding mode. See the full list of birds here. | | Monthly Sightings List submitted by Duncan Poole | | | Here are the 132 species observed around Lake Chapala in May (in Taxonomic order):
1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 3 Blue-winged Teal 4 Cinnamon Teal 5 Northern Shoveler 6 Mexican Duck 7 Green-winged Teal 8 Ruddy Duck 9 Northern Bobwhite 10 Rock Pigeon 11 Eurasian Collared-Dove 12 Inca Dove 13 Common Ground Dove 14 White-tipped Dove 15 White-winged Dove 16 Mourning Dove 17 Groove-billed Ani 18 Lesser Roadrunner 19 Squirrel Cuckoo 20 Buff-collared Nightjar 21 Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird 22 Broad-billed Hummingbird 23 Violet-crowned Hummingbird 24 Berylline Hummingbird 25 Sora 26 Common Gallinule 27 American Coot 28 Black-necked Stilt 29 American Avocet 30 Killdeer 31 Northern Jacana 32 Long-billed Dowitcher 33 Spotted Sandpiper 34 Greater Yellowlegs 35 Least Sandpiper 36 Laughing Gull 37 Ring-billed Gull 38 Caspian Tern 39 Forster's Tern 40 Least Grebe 41 Pied-billed Grebe 42 Clark's Grebe 43 Neotropic Cormorant 44 White-faced Ibis 45 Least Bittern 46 Black-crowned Night Heron 47 Little Blue Heron 48 Tricolored Heron 49 Snowy Egret 50 Green Heron 51 Western Cattle-Egret 52 Great Egret 53 Great Blue Heron 54 American White Pelican 55 Brown Pelican 56 Black Vulture 57 Turkey Vulture 58 White-tailed Kite 59 Cooper's Hawk 60 Red-tailed Hawk 61 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl 62 Russet-crowned Motmot 63 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 64 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 65 Crested Caracara 66 Monk Parakeet 67 Rose-throated Becard 68 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet | | | | 69 Greenish Elaenia 70 Greater Pewee 71 Western Wood-Pewee 72 Western Flycatcher 73 Vermilion Flycatcher 74 Dusky-capped Flycatcher 75 Brown-crested Flycatcher 76 Great Kiskadee 77 Social Flycatcher 78 Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher 79 Tropical Kingbird 80 Cassin's Kingbird 81 Thick-billed Kingbird 82 Golden Vireo 83 Warbling Vireo 84 Loggerhead Shrike 85 Common Raven 86 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 87 Barn Swallow 88 Cliff Swallow 89 Bushtit 90 Canyon Wren 91 Bewick's Wren 92 Spotted Wren 93 Happy Wren 94 Sinaloa Wren 95 Blue Mockingbird 96 Curve-billed Thrasher 97 Northern Mockingbird 98 Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush 99 Aztec Thrush 100 Rufous-backed Robin 101 Gray Silky-flycatcher 102 House Sparrow 103 House Finch 104 Lesser Goldfinch 105 Stripe-headed Sparrow 106 Botteri's Sparrow 107 Clay-colored Sparrow 108 Lark Sparrow 109 White-crowned Sparrow 110 Savannah Sparrow 111 Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow 112 Canyon Towhee 113 Yellow-breasted Chat 114 Black-vented Oriole 115 Orchard Oriole 116 Streak-backed Oriole 117 Bullock's Oriole 118 Black-backed Oriole 119 Bronzed Cowbird 120 Brown-headed Cowbird 121 Great-tailed Grackle 122 Gray-crowned Yellowthroat 123 MacGillivray's Warbler 124 Common Yellowthroat 125 Yellow Warbler 126 Rufous-capped Warbler 127 Western Tanager 128 Black-headed Grosbeak 129 Blue Grosbeak 130 Indigo Bunting 131 Varied Bunting 132 Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater
What is the "Lake Chapala Area"? We define it as the whole area of the lake plus all land within 15km (or 7 miles) from the edge of the lake. We combine sightings for the month from Chapala, Jocotopec, Poncititlan and Jamay. | | | Lake Chapala Birders is an informal group of bird observers led by a team of Chapala Birders on behalf of John and Rosemary Keeling. Overall Coordinator - Cheshta Buckley Newsletter - Mugs McConnell Website - Robert McConnell Feature Bird - Jules Evans Monthly Sightings Lists - Duncan Poole Bird Trip Leaders and Reports - Cheshta Buckley, Thomas Bravo, Kate and Carl Anderson, Jules Evens, Duncan Poole, John Roynon, Robert Taylor.
Illustrated color folders showing our common birds are available for $200 pesos at Diane Pearl's Gallery, 11 am to 4 pm, Santa Margarita #23, at the east end of Riberas del Pilar. Also available from your Birding group leaders on bird walks.
We like to hear of bird sightings at: chapalabirders@yahoo.com.
Check our website: ChapalaBirders.org There you will find our newsletters, illustrations of our birds and advice on buying binoculars, books and birding apps. | | | | |
