If you see a bird flying over Mexico can you count it for your American bird list?

The group in search of Green Kingfisher and Muscovy Duck

Saturday, April 30th threatened to be a 104 degree day so we got an early start with plans to end birding just after noon to avoid the blistering heat.  We drove an hour and a half west to reach Las Palamos Wildlife Management area located on the Rio Grande. 

Once we arrived we immediately began scanning the water for birds and saw a Groove-billed Ani fly into a near by bush.  Once again we got great looks at this oddly looking bird. 

The group decided to begin the trek into the woods which bordered the river.  Our hope was to get to a clear spot to view some of the islands in the river for Red-billed pigeon.  Immediately we noticed this was not a groomed trail-but we all made the best of it and it paid off.  We saw the red-billed pigeon on an island in the river!  After that the trail got even worse so we decided to head back to our first open spot on the river to continue to look for the Muscovy Duck and Green Kingfisher. 

Green Kingfisher

After grabbing and snack and hydrating our search began.  Within minutes we saw this gorgeous, small kingfisher with a huge bill land in a nearby tree.  Sure enough it was a Green Kingfisher.  We were fortunate enough to watch this little fish. 

Other birds we saw were:  Yellow-headed blackbird, Mississippi Kite, Tricolored Heron, Caspian Tern, White-tipped Dove, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Purple Martin, Chipping Sparrow and Olive Sparrow to name a few.

Green Parrots are cavity nesters

After we got a siesta and an early dinner we went searching for the Green Parrot.  This city bird had been rumored to be seen within McAllen city proper.  The sun was setting, wind blowing and we all felt great walking off the good dinner we had just had.  As we walked listening for the loudness of a flock of parrots we saw a kettle of Mississippi Kites fly overhead.  One of our members shouted, "Green Parrots overhead"!  Sure enough it seemed they were headed north of us and landing nearby.  We followed the migration and found hundreds of them in a tree outside an apartment building.  The tree was brilliant green.  They seem to be pairing up ad lots of courting was happening.  We all wondered why they would flock like this when they should be pairing up and laying eggs.  When we tried to research further via the internet it seems that there is not a lot known about the behavior of the green parrot.   

Once again we ended a great day with a great bird!