Mystery Bird???

Yesterday,  my friend Choo, from out sister site Love Canada Geese, ran across eye-catching photos of an unknown bird building the most complex and unusual nest.  We marveled at the ingenuity, determination and work ethic involved!  What a wonderful example of goal setting and steadfast follow through they set for all of us.   As the Chinese philosopher Laozi once said “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” or, in this case, a mere mouthful of mud.  Amazing! 

I spent the better part of the morning conducting countless searches to identify this industrious little avian and came up dry each time.  Thanks to our friend, Washington County’s  conservation authority, Angie Hong, for lending a hand in the ID process.  In the end, the Gold Star goes to birding expert and artist extraordinaire Mary Beth Stowe.  The bird’s name and story are revealed after the video—which includes pictures of nest construction from start to finish.

Mary Beth tells us the bird is the Rufous Hornero (Argentina's national bird). “They build these incredible ‘ovens,’"she explained, “and used to be called ‘Ovenbirds’ (no relation to OUR Ovenbird, which is a warbler). Horneros are members of a strictly tropical American family called Furnarids.”

Thank you so much, Mary Beth, for sharing your knowledge with us and helping acknowledge this stellar member of the avian kingdom.  Please visit Mary Beth’s wonderful website to learn more about  birds, view her great artwork, listen to her beautiful original music compositions based on bird songs/calls and much much more!!

 

http://www.miriameaglemon.com/Index.htm