Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. (Psalms 104:12 ESV)
Two of our church members, a pastor and his helper, have gone on a two week trip to assist and train preachers down there. So, here is a survey of some of the birds in those countries that they might encounter. Just the trip on the Amazon should give them some interesting views of our feathered friends. Let’s see what we can discover:
Since there are so many to consider, see the numbers below, I have picked out some of the most interesting (at least to me) that you might enjoy seeing God’s Designing Hand at work. To start off, there is the Potoo – Nyctibiidae Family, which is related to nightjars and frogmouths (Whip-poor-will or Chuck-will’s-widow). They are nocturnal and hunt insects, but lack the bristles around the mouth. What is so neat about these is how they appear in the daytime. They sit on branches and look like the bark or a stump. Peru has the Great, Long-tailed, Common, Andean, White-winged and Rufous Potoo. See an article about them and their Family page.
Another interesting set of birds they could encounter would be ones from the Sulidae Family which Peru has; the Blue-footed, Peruvian, Masked, Nazca, Red-footed and Brown Booby. Chile has those minus the Red-footed Booby. The family also include the Cape Gannet found in Peru. We did an article about the Blue-footed Booby.
Our team may also get a chance to spot the beautiful Sunbittern while in Peru. See Birds of the Bible – Sunbittern. They could also see the “The Stinker” or Hoatzin and the Oilbird also in Peru.
Of the 14 Motmots in the Momotidae Family, 5 of them can be found in Peru, but none in Chile. The Whooping, Amazonian, Andean, Rufous and the Broad-billed Motmots live in Peru.
The Cotingas – Cotingidae Family has 30 species in Peru and 1 in Chile. Some articles about them are:
The Pompadour Cotinga – Concealed incubators…
Andean Cock-of-the-rock – The Changer… Both by a j mithra
The Cotingas in Peru are the Red-crested, Chestnut-crested, White-cheeked, Bay-vented, Black-necked Red, Plum-throated, Purple-breasted, Spangled, Black-faced, Purple-throated, Pompadour. Chile only has the Rufous-tailed Plantcutter and Peru has the Peruvian Plantcutter. Peru also has 8 Fruiteaters, 2 Fruitcrows, 4 Pihas and the Andean Cock-of-the-rock.
Peru has 1782 species, with 110 only found in that area, 89 species are globally threatened. Peru List of Birds
Chile has 485 species, with 14 only found in that area, 35 species are globally threatened. Chile List of Birds
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