Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico — John Shaqi
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula, MexicoKlaas, Erwin E.
Science
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Klaas, Erwin E.
Birds -- Yucatan Peninsula
_Cochlearius cochlearius_ (Linnaeus): Boat-billed Heron.--Three
individuals were seen on a small point of land immediately south of the
village on the west coast of Isla Mujeres on the afternoon of August 1.
One was foraging in a small cove about one mile south of the village on
the morning of August 2. Paynter (1955a) did not list the species for
Isla Mujeres; our observations seem to constitute the first records for
the island.
_Mycteria americana_ Linnaeus: Wood Ibis.--A flock of about 15 flew
over our camp 4 km. NNE Felipe Carrillo Puerto on August 14.
_Sarcoramphus papa_ (Linnaeus): King Vulture.--Our specimen was one of
two individuals seen at a cenote.
Specimen (1): [Male] 40403, testes inactive, 8 lbs. (July 29), 1
km. N Pueblo Nuévo X-can. Mallophaga: _Colpocephalum megalops_.
_Carthartes burrovianus_ Cassin: Yellow-headed Vulture.--We saw several
Yellow-headed Vultures on Isla del Carmen on July 6, 7, 8, and 9. _C.
burrovianus_ was more abundant than either _Carthartes aura_ or
_Coragyps atratus_ in the vicinity of Champotón, where we confirmed
field identifications by taking a specimen. Until Wetmore (1950)
clarified the status of _C. burrovianus_ in southern Mexico and Central
America, the species had gone unnoticed or misidentified as _C. aura_.
The Mexican Checklist (Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore, 1950) omitted _C.
burrovianus_ from the avifauna of México. Blake (1953) included
Tabasco, Chiapas, and Veracruz within the range of the species, but
Paynter (1955a) omitted it from his list of birds of the Yucatán
Peninsula. Our specimen seemingly constitutes the first record from the
peninsula.
Specimen (1): [Male], 40404, testes inactive, 1-3/4 lb. (July 9), 2
km. S Champotón.
_Chondrohierax uncinatus uncinatus_ (Temminck): Hook-billed Kite.--A
pair was seen 5 km. S Champotón on July 8 and 9. Both birds were in
adult plumage and appeared to be mated, although we found no nest. The
male is referable to _C. u. uncinatus_ on the basis of the narrow white
ventral bands, most of which are 0.3 millimeter or less in width. None
of the bars exceeds 0.5 millimeter in width. Paynter (1955a) discussed
in detail the contradictions in the literature concerning the
geographic range of this subspecies, and referred a male in his
collection taken in February, 1952, to _C. u. aliquonis_. Traylor
(1941) collected a large series of this species in Yucatán and Campeche
in winter and allocated the specimens to the nominate form.
At Pisté, on July 23, a nestling approximately half-grown was brought
in by a local boy. The rectrices were partly ensheathed and the feather
count extensively downy.
Specimens (2): [Male], 40406, testis 9 × 5 mm., 215.0 gm. (July
10), 5 km. S Champotón; [Male], 40405, nestling, 117.6 gm. (July
24), Pisté.
_Buteo magnirostris gracilis_ (Ridgway): Roadside Hawk.--This was the
only hawk seen on Isla Cozumel.
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