Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
J.P. Myers
1979
Trygites subrofricollis
Tower Llanos, Estancia Wedelond, 35 Km S. of Juancho by road, Pto de Madariaga, Pcia de Buenos Ayrs, Argentina
27 February - Buffiio on grids 10 and 9 at 0720, may have been before. No flights seen by 0750.
1 cup display on sand in Arroyo behind the tower - lasted ~2 sec. 0758 - local buffiio flew down onto beach. (First flush). Within 3 minutes however they had returned to grid 9 (see 0800 sample). 0825 - local buffiio again took off, ~30 of them, they split into two groups. There appears to be a lot of flying in circles going on now this morning. A bird will take off, without any apparent spooking, fly 200 m in one direction, snaggary close to the ground at one instant, then grown up 30m, dive down, and land within 10-20 m of a spot somewhere it took off.
28 February - 1530 - picked up two buffiio bathing in linear grid sample about 1. They were with a flock of 43 LK and 1 Redoal. 1730. 10 buffiio bathing and preening at curve in Arroyo S of tower; they are with ~50 WR. These birds lift en masse at 1745, flying ~200 m E NE after sundown, revealing they landed - At least 20 of them accumulated into the departing flock. 1845 - Several incoming buffiio have been walking and foraging, working from (1) to (2,2) of grid 4. At 1855 - the flock was gone. However before they flew I counted 39 across Venturin Llanos. Some certainly remained undetected in the Nortedace to the S of grid 7. 1928 - small group of buffiio that had been foraging on sand in Arroyo took off + headed inland. Just beyond Grid 7 or 9, foraging tightly in a slight depression in the Llanos.
3 March - Despite a real effort we could not locate any concentrated buffiio roost on the Llanos, searching from 2000 to 2115. Buffiio at first appeared to be collecting in this area ~5 km from tower. We watched them for 20 minutes. I was very tired but the amount of flying - several flights circled out 200 m to the W, then will past the WR roosting swamp, and back around by the S fence to the Thrift again. Is tonight the night? Moon will be full in a week. At dusk I found 5 birds actually roosting: one group of 9 in exactly the spot where we settled 24 February, and one solitary bird - looking like it had come out of a good sleep - appeared just spot-lit behind the Thrift and the other nesting site. Just before dusk I saw a flock of 30 buffiio flying low near the edge of the Llanos, but were unable to break their roost.
9 March - First Buffiio heard from tower at 0734. 0756 a flock of 20 Buffiio landed 100 m SE from grid. However until 0829 Buffiio stayed away from both grids. They A flock, probably that seen at 0750, foraged in a broad path from SE of the grid to NE, appearing (3?) of 46 within 25m, but