BIrds known and unknown

The first two photos are of one of the commoner sights here. We regularly see large flocks of turkey vultures, but up to now they have remained stubbornly elusive whenever I've had the camera with me. (As always, you should be able to 'click' your mouse on any of the photographs to see an enlarged version).

Close up, they are unattractive birds, especially when they descend to the side of the road to feast on road kill. But soaring they are quite impressive, and move surprisingly fast. Locals refer to these birds as "johnny crow". This bird was photographed just a few hundred yards from our house.

I'm not at all certain about identifying the next bird in this post, and I'd appreciate any comments. The two photographs below were taken of the same bird within minutes of each other - but the automatic systems on my camera have given the second photograph a very green cast. The actual colours were as seen in the first picture.

What is it? It's quite a small bird, and flew low and very fast over the river when it wasn't perched on an overhanging branch. My best guess is a 'mangrove swallow', which my guide describes as the smallest of the Belizean swallows (about 4 1/2 "), and fairly common inland near rivers and lagoons.

This next one, however, I cannot identify at all. It was photographed on Caye Caulker, one of the offshore islands, and is pigeon sized. It has a distinctive beak, white under wings and the dark bar below the eye. And it has a clearly forked tail. That should help me identify it, but I'm unable to match this image to anything in my guide. Any suggestions?

Driving up to the northern town of Corozal from our home in Belmopan, we first drive east towards Belize City, then turn on to the northern highway. About 10 miles north of the turn off we saw a spectacular number of lilies, wonderful in the morning sunshine. Sadly we had no time to stop on the way out, but made sure we stopped on our way home. This is where we saw these Northern Jacanas. They seem to have disproportionately long legs for their body size, and when they spreads their wings they have glorious bright yellow underwing plumage.

We expected to see hummingbirds in Belize. Even one of our main roads is named the "hummingbird highway". But in reality we have seen very few. Perhaps because I've been seduced by the artistic photographs of hummingbirds hovering and feeding on flamboyant tropical flowers. I should have been looking up at the phone cables instead! This one - a cinnamon hummingbird, I think - was photographed in the middle of a built up area in the southern coastal town of Placencia.

Also in Placencia were these Ground Doves. I assume these are "common" ground doves - the distinctive feature is apparently the 'scaling' on the chest. But the guide insists that they are "found exclusively in open country". These two were on a patch of barren land between two houses in the town centre. Perhaps they were lost?


And the final entry in this episode full of uncertain identifications is this bird, photographed at the Belize Botanical Gardens, near St Ignacio in the west of Belize. I was very pleased with the photograph, and was sure identification wouldn't be a problem. But again (I'm beginning to get used to this!) the bird I saw doesn't obviously match any of the descriptions in my guide.

I think it is probably a Greater Peewee. Unfortunately the description in the guide is full of comparatives: "darker, browner, with less wing - back contrast; no eye-ring, longer primary projection and wingbars less well defined" - only helpful if you know the other flycatchers it is being compared with! So I could be wrong again. Being a bad birdwatcher seems to be all about uncertain identifications. But you get to notice some wonderful birds along the way.