Bird Buzz
 Line-fronted Canastero [photo by John Rowlett] |
One complaint I hear when leading tours in the Neotropics is “Why spend time trying to bring in the ‘little brown jobs’?” By way of explanation I’d suggest taking a look at any tropical bird guide — or any guide for that matter — and you’ll see that perhaps 70% of the region’s avifauna is brown, gray, olive, or some other muted color combination. It’s simply a fact of life — and, in my book, no reason to despair!
Often these “dull” birds can have impressive voices — be they the loud cry of a Screaming Piha or the incredible symphony of a Musician Wren. LBJs can be furtive, and thus getting a good look can be a real achievpent — imagine the thrill of locking in on a Thrush-like Antpitta after spending tedious minutes playing it in and searching the understory for its great dark eyes! LBJs often represent a high percentage of the regional endpics, so they are much sought… More importantly, many of these less-than-startlingly plumaged birds are poorly known, and current study is showing that there is more diversity among thp than previously recognized — read: new species are being described even now (and several FGI folks are among those doing the describing). And finally, despite the hand they’re dealt off the color palette, LBJs can still be downright breathtaking — “differently colorful,” if you will: witness the plumage pattern of the “humble” Line-fronted Canastero.
So next time you’re on tour, say in the mountains of Peru, and one of us Field Guides announces, “Now, let’s try to see that vocalizing Unadorned Flycatcher,” rather than step aside to await the Ornate, focus in on nourishing an appreciation for those unsung gps of the bird world: the less-than-sparkling LBJs. For it is they who inconspicuously make up some two-thirds of that world!
– Dan Lane
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