You all know that I love parrots, so it was a thrill to see parrots perching on the power lines, flying around in groups. These are burrowing parrots. They looked black, but they are really dark green, with blue on the wings, orangy underparts, and a red chest spot. A scholarly article suggests that the red chest spot is an indicator of fitness, and individuals that mate that have larger red spots have chicks with larger spots and they are larger, weigh more, and one presumes, live longer. We were glad they held still long enough to get a photo.
We’ve also seen the national bird of Argentina, the rufous hornero (ovenbird). Also some wondeful cream-banded raptors, but we haven’t figured out what they are yet.
Llywindatravels 2022 