A taste of migration in urban Quito 

On the 4th of April 2006, a Black-billed Cuckoo (picture) was seen all day in Jonas garden in Quito. Also, a female Summer Tanager was passing through in the morning. On the 10th of April, late in the evening, an adult male Yellow Warbler was seen briefly in the same garden. Prime time for north bound migration!  

The Cuckoo showed a yellow eye-ring suggesting that it hadn't started transforming into breeding plumage (yellow during non-breeding, red during breeding). 3 years ago Charlie also had a Black-billed Cuckoo in his garden, on the 23rd of March 2003, and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen in Jonas garden 16th of May 2004. The migration routes of these 2 species are not very well understood in Ecuador, so these records are important. The adult male Yellow Warbler was one of the boreal migrant races which are extremely difficult to seperate in the field. Only 1 record are mentioned for the ecuadorian highlands in Birds of Ecuador (Ridgely & Greenfield); a female seen in Quito on 21st Oct 1992!  

Click here to return to news index. 04/04/2006 01:00 PM