New species and new family: Cathartidae

At Red indian shot Canna indica

Parsitized by shiny cowbird

With male glittering-bellied emerald

All the crown red indicates it is a juvenile

Amelia y Pablo tell us they were watching this dark-billed cuckoo feed for a long time. It moved about the tree, jumpig from one branch to the other in search for the spittle masses, cuahgt the bug and ate it. Some time ago I mentioned this spittlebug since the spittle masses it forms are so striking. Today it is a link in the food chain, being predated upon by this cuckoo. What surprises me most is how malleable the spittle is that it kneads into a spaghetti-like string and keeps sticky without breaking .

These three videos show the previous moments to and the mating. Some interesting displays could be associated with courtship. To cover the female with the body. To march without moving. The female moving in a circle before mating. To mate the male holds the female by the neck and positions her to penetrate her vent with his hemipenes. These are not external organs. They are everted for defecation and copulation and then they retract into the base of the tail.

Dilligent parents, hungry chicks

Female and male going in and out of the nest and doing the cleaning

Female and male going in and out of the nest and doing the cleaning