{"id":4946,"date":"2015-07-31T22:41:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T04:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/?p=4946"},"modified":"2015-07-31T22:43:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T04:43:37","slug":"the-swifts-of-mexiquillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/earbirding.com\/blog\/archives\/4946","title":{"rendered":"The Swifts of Mexiquillo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The waterfall (cascada) in Parque Natural Mexiquillo, Durango, Mexico. Photo by Roberto Gonz\u00e1lez (CC-BY-2.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were excited to arrive at Parque Natural Mexiquillo before the break of dawn in June.\u00a0 This underappreciated park is right on one of Mexico’s most celebrated birding routes, the Durango Highway — but it is an hour or two farther east than the Tufted Jay Preserve<\/a>, and much less frequently visited.\u00a0 The drier forests of Mexiquillo host a noticeably different avifauna than the wetter areas closer to the coast. Mexiquillo is more likely to produce birds typical of the dry “sky islands” of southern Arizona: Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Western Bluebird, Plumbeous Vireo, and even American Robin.\u00a0 It’s much better habitat for the likes of “Type 6” Red Crossbills (which we recorded) and Eared Quetzals (which we did not find). Of course, it also has Red Warblers, Elegant Euphonias, and Rufous-capped Brush-Finches.<\/p>\n

And it has a waterfall.<\/p>\n

This is particularly noteworthy because the mountains of west Mexico are high and dry — and not much water means not many waterfalls.\u00a0 Which means not many places to look for waterfall-loving swifts.<\/p>\n

We were very interested to see what kinds of swifts would be flying around the waterfall at daybreak. A report from 2013<\/a> had us wondering whether this would be a good place to record Black Swifts, and a tantalizing recording from Chihuahua<\/a> had us wondering whether something super-rare might be lurking under the cascada (and under the radar), like the “avian unicorn<\/a>” White-fronted Swift (Cypseloides storeri<\/em>).<\/p>\n

When we first arrived, before first light, all was quiet, except for the roaring water and the aerial singing of Violet-green Swallows<\/a>. Off in the distance, a Spotted Owl hooted. No swifts. Soon a dawn-singing Pine Flycatcher<\/a> became a serious distraction. By the time the sun was fully up, we were totally engaged in all the other wonderful birds in the park, and we had completely given up on the swifts.\u00a0 Until suddenly, something dark swooped by overhead with a sound like the crackling of electrical wires.\u00a0 Chestnut-collared Swift!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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