Lazuli Bunting

I've been going to Big Morongo Canyon Reserve for a number of years and it seems like I always miss the lazuli buntings that seems to go through there for just a short time each year. I will hear a regular there say, "a lazuli bunting came through last week, but it is not here anymore." So when a friend I following posted photos of lazuli buntings at Big Morongo on iNaturalist during the week I decided I needed to go the next Saturday. Friday I checked on eBird and someone noted seeing three lazuli buntings. 

I looked to the north where I thought they had been seen and found nothing. Later as I walked up to the bird feeders I asked three people there if they'd seen any and they said, "yeah, we just saw three of them on the feeders. I'm sure they'll come back." So I parked myself there for awhile and they did come back. I saw as many as five or six at a time, but they were smaller than I had envisioned. 

Birds of the World notes that in California it breeds mainly west of the Sierra Nevada and in the Mono Lake Basin, Owens Valley, and White, Inyo, Grapevine, Panamint, Kingston and Clark Mountains. So although the range map makes it look like it breeds in southwestern California, it confirms that our area is for migration only. 

Range of lazuli bunting from Birds of the World. 

It gets its name from the color of the gemstone lapis lazuli. 

Lapis lazuli with gold colored pyrite mixed on. From Wikipedia. 

The male has a bright blue head and back, white wingbars, a light rust breast and white belly. The female is brown. I got a poor photo of a female, but only noticed one. 

An illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Some photos from Big Morongo. 

Gadwall

I just realized I've done a post on every duck species I've seen except the gadwall and I realize it is not a fluke, but a psychological barrier. I don't like gadwalls. They're bland and ugly while most ducks have at least some flashes of brilliant color. They're kind of like the ducks in military fatigues that are not meant to stand out. In fact, I realize I usually don't even photograph gadwalls anymore. Just compare them to the green-winged teal I posted on yesterday with flashes of color all over it.  I was surprised to see gadwalls in Kaziranga NP in Assam, India and would not have recognized them if my guide, Bablu, had not pointed them out. So at least this post may help me sort out why they looked different as they don't appear to be a different species. 

Gadwall female and male at Bolsa Chica.

Gadwall female at Bolsa Chica.

Male and female at Irvine Ranch Water District

Male at IRWD.

Female gadwall illustration from Birds of the World.

Male gadwall illustration from Birds of the World.

Male from the Western Range of Kaziranga NP in Assam, India, and a female in the photo below. 

Horrendous photo from the Eastern Range of Kaziranga NP. 

As I line them up together I'm not seeing the differences I thought I was seeing in India. Below is the range from Birds of the World. 

They actually have a wider range in Africa, Asia and Europe than they have in North America. It appears that they have a year-round presence in Southern California and a winter range in India. 

The illustrations make them look prettier than the photos, particularly the male. But they do have an amazing range and are obviously a resilient species. 

Eurasian Green-Winged Teal

The green-winged teal or American green-winged teal is treated as the same species as the Eurasian green-winged teal by Birds of the World. They are treated as separate species by iNaturalist and Wikipedia, the two other sources I usually look at. Wikipedia notes that whether they are one or two species is still being reviewed by the American Ornithologists Union while the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Birdlife International treat them as separate species. 

I saw my first Eurasian green-winged teals in Kaziranga NP in Assam, India in December 2024. They were at some distance from our vehicle in a lake surrounded by other kinds of ducks in the Eastern Range. 

Since I only saw, or at least only photographed the more colorful males, I show illustrations of the male Eurasian green-winged teal from Birds of the World, one standing and one flying. 

Next I show the illustration of a standing green-winged teal or American green-winged teal from Birds of the World. 

The most obvious differences are that the breast of the American is darker than the Eurasian, the American has a vertical white line on the side that the Eurasian does not have, and the Eurasian has a white and black line at the outer edge of the secondary feathers while the American has only a black line. Below are two photos of American green-winged teals I took in Newport Bay. These photos clearly show the vertical white line on the side that they Eurasians do not have and they show the lighter belly which looks like the belly on the Eurasian teal and not the American teal. 

This photo taken at the Leona Turnbill Birding Center in Port Aransas, Texas have a little more colorful chest and breast, but not as dark as the illustration has. So it appears that the vertical line on the side may be the best indicator, other than, of course, geography. Below is the range of the Eurasian green-winged teal from Wikipedia (the range map from Birds of the World includes the American green-winged teal as well). Assam, India is clearly where they are wintering. 

Little Cormorant

The little cormorant in breeding plumage is black, or brownish-black, and has a small crest on the forecrown which is often flattened. Non-breeding adults are duller and a little brownish, particularly on the head and neck. It has white on the anterior face from below the gape (the inside of the birds mouth) to the throat. The gape and the base of the bill are often bluish. 

This is the first little cormorant I saw - in Yala NP in Sri Lanka. 

This little cormorant was in a small lake near the Diphlu Lodge near Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. 

This little cormorant was in a lake below the Amber Fort in Jaipur, India. It clearly has the white spot beneath the gape and a bluish lower bill.  

This is an illustration of the little cormorant in breeding plumage from Birds of the World. 

It is found in eastern Pakistan, India and northern Southeast Asia. 

Range of the little cormorant from Birds of the World.

Medium Egret

In the U.S. we have our white egrets: The snowy egret, cattle egret and great egret. I go internationally and see what I think is a snowy egret, and the guide says, "little egret." What? In India recently I saw what I figured was a great egret and the guide says, "medium egret." What? In Kaziranga NP in Assam, India I got photos of two medium egrets, one in the Central Range and one in the Western Range. The first time I've seen them or even heard of them. 

Medium egret in the Central Range.

Medium egret in the Western Range.

What was known as the intermediate egret had three recognized subspecies which in 2023 were each raised to species status. They were: (a) the yellow-billed egret of sub-Saharan Africa; (b) the intermediate egret of Asia to Eastern Russia, to Japan to India to the Greater Sundas; and (c) the plumed egret of eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. The intermediate egret subspecies was re-named the medium egret species. It differs from the yellow-billed egret species in that it has a black bill in breeding plumage (instead of a yellow bill) and has black at the top of the legs compared to reddish in the yellow-billed egret. 

The medium egret in breeding plumage from Birds of the World (also below flying).

In non-breeding plumage (yellow bill) from Birds of the World.

Medium egret range from Birds of the World. From the map it looks like it is a year-round species in Assam, India. 

The great egret is larger and has a noticeable kink in the middle of the neck. The medium egret has a slightly domed head and a shorter, thicker bill. Little (and snowy) egrets are smaller and have yellow-soled feet and black bills. 

Falcated Duck

On a safari in the Eastern Range of Kaziranga NP we drove along some lakes with lots of ducks. Some of them were at quite a distance with groups of like-kind ducks intermixed occasionally with loners from other breeds. My guide, Boblu, with binoculars in hand, was spouting off familiar and unfamiliar names of ducks that all looked the same to me with my naked eye, and not much more distinguishable with my 400 mm lens. I found myself taking photos in the directions he was pointing and hoping that when I was able to crop my photos I could distinguish the differences. One of these unfamiliar names was the falcated duck, a name I wrote down on a list I kept from this morning with Boblu. I looked up the falcated duck on Wikipedia and then went through my photos scanning pockets of birds scattered along a large area of lake looking for one. I eventually found it, a beautiful bird that I would love to get a closer look of. 

My photos on iNaturalist are the only ones that I can see of falcated ducks identified in that area of Kaziranga NP. 

It breeds in northern eastern Asia, including Russia and Japan, and winters in parts of southern and southeast Asia, including northern India, where I saw it. 

Range of falcated duck from iNaturalist.

The male has a dark green head with a white throat, a bronze crown and a dark green collar. It has a silver-gray body with black crescents on the breast and belly and vermiculated flanks. It is closely related to the gadwalls and wigeons. 

Illustration of male falcated duck from Birds of the World.  Same below, but flying. 

Female illustration from Birds of the World. 

Stork-Billed Kingfisher

I got a poor photo of one stork-billed kingfisher on the road to the eastern range of Kaziranga NP standing on a power line. There are 13 subspecies and they vary in color, but generally it has a green back, blue wings and tail, and buff underparts and neck. It has a very large bill, like a stork's, which is red as are the legs and feet. Both sexes are similar. Pelargopsis capensis capensis, the nominate subspecies, is found in the Indian Subcontinent along the base of the Himalayas and the Gangetic Plain, from west Uttarakhand and south Nepal to Assam and Bangladesh, and from southeast Gujarat and southwest Bengal to Sri Lanka. 

This illustration of the stork-billed kingfisher, ssp capensis, is what I should have been seeing in Assam, where Kaziranga NP is located. This is from Birds of the World. 

This is my photo. Note the darker head and the darker tip of the bill. 

This is an illustration of P. c. floresiana found in the Sunda Islands of Indonesia, including Bali and Flores. Note the darker head and blacker tip of the bill. From Birds of the World. To me it looks more like the subspecies I saw. 

This is the range of the stork-billed kingfisher from Birds of the World.