Bird of the Far South (Pt. II)~

Mar19


These birdies give us a good sense of how difficult bird identification is, and why I am sometimes uncertain of my labels. If you find I am wrong with an identification, please don’t hesitate to set me straight. I welcome the help. This is a male Kelp Goose who was photographed at the furthest southern point in Argentina. Kelp Geese are part of the sheldrake family and range from the southern portion of Patagonian Chile to Tierra del Fuego and The Falkland Islands. They have yellow legs and feet.

Here we have a Kelp Goose chick, note the dark legs on the chick, and the yellow legs on the adult.

These are Upland Geese. They are also birds of the far south. They have the same basic coloration as male and female Kelp Geese, but male Upland Geese have black feet and females have yellow feet. I was pretty sure this was a female Upland Goose because she and the male had a chick which you can see below.

The chick had black feet too! Are you confused yet? This is why I would never swear by my identifications….

Here you can’t see the feet at all but this is the same pair that I am betting are Upland Geese. This family was photographed in The Falkland Islands.

In this group shot, the legs are not really cooperating, but my guess is still Upland Geese, males with black legs, and females with yellow. But they could be Ruddy Headed Geese.
Check this out:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/saving-a-species-by-splitting-it-the-case-of-the-ruddy-headed-goose/
You have to be kinda confused my now, I am. Still I’m going with Upland until someone corrects me….

Here is a Male Upland Goose with Magellanic Penguins in the Falkland Islands. At least we can be sure of the penguins right? Don’t be too sure. They are some other penguins mixed in with this colony, but thankfully this shot is far enough away, and we can’t see well enough to sort this out! Laughing……

These are Patagonian Crested Ducks. They live in the same far southern region and there are about 10,000 estimated breeding pairs of these ducks in existence. This pair was in Ushuaia Argentina.

This guy is a year old Dolphin Gull, whose coloration is entirely different from adults whose photos I posted on my previous post. They are this color when they are young and change as they mature. He was in Tierra del Fuego and is also a bird of the far south.

This cutey is a Grass Wren, known as a Sage Wren in North America. He sings beautifully and was photographed in The Falkland Islands.

And finally we have a Southern Lapwing. This bird is found extensively throughout South America and extends to the very tip of the continent.
The good news is, we aren’t having a test on any of this, so we can just enjoy the beautiful birds, and hope I identified them correctly.
Cheers to you from the many amazing birdies of the far south~

233 thoughts on “Bird of the Far South (Pt. II)~”

  1. Once again – sharp interesting photos and commentary. Looks like the Sothern Lapwing has a problem with getting a properly colour-cordinated outfit – just used what was available in the closet.That Grass Wren is a little cutey and my favourite shot would be the pair of Upland Geese (photo#3) Very nice Cindy!

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  2. I use to take a lot of wildlife pictures when we lived on a lake and had 70 acres of woods, wetlands, fields and water. I always would look through my many reference books (retired librarian), especially the Michigan ones to try and identify accurately. Birds/animals go through different stages and their looks change as well as female/or male. Fun – I know you’re doing the best you can.

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  11. Pingback: Birds of the Far South (Pt. II)~ — Cindy Knoke – Vietnam Travel & Trade Portal

  12. Awe inspiring, phantasmagorical & beyond. Cindy, I don’t know one bird from another, but I am more educated than ever. I am also more in love with birds than ever! THANK YOU!!!!

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  13. I am glad that this is not class to identify birds. I would not be able to identify birds. I guess I can only remember black feet for male and yellow feet for female. If you asked do I enjoy the post and these cute birds. Absolutely!

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  14. What a stunning series of bird shots and I’m like you and have to guess at some of the identification.

    Like you I find the chicks not necessarily indicative of their eventual adult appearance and identity.

    (All the Australian Wood Duck ducklings I’ve seen have the stripe above and below the eye indicating females as adults. I’ve never seen a duckling that has the male head colour. Do they change colour and feather pattern as they grow OR, out of the dozens and dozens I’ve seen, including 14 chicks in the one family, all REALLY been females).

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    • Ich habe alles in freier Wildbahn an der Südspitze Südamerikas fotografiert. Und ja, Vogelidentifikation ist eine sehr lustige Herausforderung. Ich hoffe, es geht dir gut, mein lieber Freund.

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  24. Great pictures as always, Cindy! How are you liking your new camera? It has great resolution, and great aperture for you to capture bird images with short exposures. This plus your eye for composition makes your blog one of the best! Not to mention your adventurous spirit!

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    • Our community of bloggers is so miraculous. I feel so blessed to be part of this kind, creative and supportive community, and you are our pastor! It doesn’t get better than this my friend. Thank you & cheers too ❤

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  27. Beautiful photos and no way could I identify all these birds… so you can call them what you want and I wouldn’t know the difference… names aren’t important, I love looking at them!

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  29. WOW! Such great pictures and captions, Cindy…like always ❤ There are so many differences and look-a-likes that we found the solution and just call them birdie, ducky, goose or just love ones 😉 Pawkisses for a wonderful day 🙂 ❤

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  35. Good for us that we only have the joy of enjoying these beauties without the task of identifying them. Many species do look so similar that only experts can make a proper identification.

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  37. Such lovely geese. You must be an incredibly happy person, travelling around and seeing all these wonderful birds. I adore geese. Every year, when they arrive on the south coast of the UK from Scandinavia for the winter and fly over my house several times a day in wonderful configurations and honking at the top of their voices, I am in awe of them.

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  40. Hey Cindy– I applaud your identification efforts! Did you have a Bird Guide of South America to see you through?? Your photos are really stunning! They should be used in a bird identifcation guide– so clear and detailed! thanks!

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