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~
Tag Archive | Southern Lapwing
My final Six: Patagonian Bird Shots!
This post is dedicated to Alistair. Check out his incredible seagull shot & say goodbye to the last of my Patagonian bird shots!
http://kattermonran.com/2013/02/07/a-photo-a-day-february-07-2013/
Click to enlarge for optimal viewing.
Southern Caracara (an aggressive raptor with an up to 52 inch wingspan)
Dolphin Gull (native to Southern Argentina & Chile) It took me awhile to find out what this bird was!
Goslings (these were in Buenos Aires)
Magellan Goose (South American goose)
Southern Lapwing (only crested wader in South America)
Long-tailed Meadowlark (native to Southern South America)
The heron in my prior post is a Black Crowned Night Heron!