Uruguayan Bird Help

[Ricardo]

OK, I know this post will come across as vague and probably even
impossible to answer but I will try a post anyway.

I lived in Uruguay in the 60's and remember that on rare occassions at
dusk I would hear and catch a glimpse of some large birds flying high
above some pine trees near our home. I know nothing about birds, but
from time to time I think about the ones from my childhood and I would
love to put a name to the species that still haunts me.

As memory serves me, these birds were very large - maybe the size of a
vulture. They never seemed to alight anywhere and just sort of
languidly glided above the treetops. They had very large wingspans. I
think they were mostly a mottled brown. I distinctly remember the
calls they made as it was loud and guttural. Basically it sounded like
a few interspersed sounds that sounded like "gua." They seemed to
travel in small groupings so the "gua" sounds punctuated the moment.

Maybe when you're done laughing you can help me narrow this rarity
down. Any help would be appreciated as would alternate areas to post
my question.

Thanks

Rick

[Steve McDonald]

Maybe they were fruit-eating bats.

Steve McDonald

[tangara]

Were you near water? Could it have been Night-Herons coming to a feeding spot?
Although the adults are mostly shades of black and white, the immatures are a
mottled brown. And they do make those kind of guttural sounds you describe.

sherri
Bangor, PA

[Ricardo]

Thank you Steve and Sherri for your thoughts on the mystery bird.
Actually, I did some hunting on the net and I am quite certain I
solved the mystery. The birds were most likely cormorants, probably
phalacrocorex olivaceous.

Here's what I did to solve the mystery:

First I went to a uruguayan birding page and looked for the largest
birds listed:

http://zonacharrua.com/cgi-bin/gale1/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=aves&page=13

I didn't really think it was the "bigua" listed but it looked like a
possible candidate. I had never considered the water connection a
Sherri later brought up. Our house was quite near some marshy land
were I sometimes went fishing.

I did some more checking on the types of cormorants in Uruguay and
found additional photos:

http://www.viarural.com.ar/viarural.com.ar/servicios/turismorural/san-roberto/fauna-ars/phalacrocoracidae/bigua.htm

Although the color of the bird was not exactly as I thought it was, it
was so long ago and I rarely got a good look at it so I kept an opened
mind. That and the cormorant's large wing span helped me make the
connection. But what really caught my attention was the portuguese
name for "cormorant" which is "bigua" - with an accent on the "a." I
thought the name was suspiciously similar to the bird's call I
remember - "gua." I wondered if the vulgar name for the bird was
related to its call. Some more checking led me to an old guarani
indian legend. It's in spanish on this page:

http://www.avesdelapatagonia.com.ar/bigua%20tx%201.htm

The legend did not really bear out my "name as call" thought so I kept
looking for some information on what this type of cormorant's call
sounds like. I finally fit paydirt with this Brazilian page
(translated in Google) on the phalacrocorax brasilianus:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.faunacps.cnpm.embrapa.br/ave/bigua.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbigu%25C3%25A1%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8

The "sonorous manifestation" is just too perfect for it not to be my
bird. It makes sense to me that I also heard them at dusk, after they
finished diving. I understand that they roost in tall tree-tops to dry
their wings and make their gua sounds.

Thanks again,

Rick

tangara <sla...@enter.net> wrote in message news:<3F6E3152...@enter.net>...