Community News & Sightings

192 Species Sighted Last Month by Duncan Poole

There were 192 species reported this past month for the lake area. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter.

FYI: Russet-crowned Motmot is now called Mexican Motmot. Painted Redstart is now called Painted Whitestart. Great Egret is now called American Egret. (Name changes from the American Ornithological Society. More to come on this in next month's issue).

Interesting species sighted:

• Prothonotary Warbler, seen and photographed by James Hatfield eBird, (photos) and others birders on San Antonio Tlayacapan Malecon

BOOK LAUNCH! "Birds of Central Jalisco, Guadalajara and Chapala" by John Keeling, Jules Evens and Julio Alvarez

Book Launch Postponement.

The launch of "Birds of Central Jalisco, Guadalajara and Chapala" is postponed to late November. The authors have been waiting a month to receive an official ISBN number for the book from Mexico City.

Chapala Birders Historical Species List for 2026 has been updated. You can view and download the list here https://chapalabirders.org/bird-lists

San Blas Bird Count: Save the date for the San Blas bird count will be on 2 January 2027, and folks who want to participate should contact Mark Stackhouse by email at [email protected].There are potential outings in the days leading up to the bird count. No experience necessary and all are welcome! Post count social TBA on the evening of the second. For more info on where to stay, etc please contact Kate and Carl at [email protected]

Donations are appreciated💸💰

We are extremely grateful for all donations are used to cover expenses such as the costs of the website hosting and the newsletter. If you wish to donate, please give it to your birding leader to add it to the donation box, or email [email protected] for options.

Birding Ethics: eBird now allows you to upload media for habitat, landmarks, and recordings or photos for other animals. All of this is beneficial to showcase the environment where birds have been observed. However, there are certain protocols which make your media most valuable for research. To learn more, go to ebird support for checklist media. And in general please remember to follow the ethics of birding during outings.

Feature Bird: Gray Silky-flycatcher

(Ptiliogonys cinerieus) [GRSF] by Jules Evens

Gray Silky-flycatcher (Ptiliogonys cinerieus) [GRSF]. Photo credit Cheshta Buckley

Gray Silky-flycatcher

This bird family, the silky flycatchers (Ptiliogonatidae), contains four species, all found exclusively in Central America and the southwestern U.S. They are sleek, elegant birds and closely related (probable “sister species”) to the familiar waxwings.

One family member, the Phainopepla (P. niens), is rare in the Chapala area. Fairly common is the Gray Silky-flycatcher, an eye-catching, even flamboyant, bird with a long, slender tail and a prominent crest. As the name “silky” suggests, its plumage has a velvety texture. Indeed, the plumage shows some of “the most understated elegance in texture, shade, and form of any birds” (source: Birds of the World). The upperparts are a silky gray extending down onto the upper breast, contrasting starkly with a bright yellow underbelly and a conspicuous black-and-white tail. The females are not quite as flashy as the males. Both sexes have a bright, white eyering.

Although named “flycatchers”, fruit is more common than insects in the diet. As with other frugivores, GRSFs are somewhat nomadic, roaming around in search of available tree fruit. That said, they are often noticed sallying out from trees, catching insects on the wing. Because they tend to occur in flocks of up to a dozen or more birds, concentrated near a food source, they are usually easy to observe, perched in the tree tops chattering and chortling or taking short sallying flights while flycatching.

As with other Ptiliogonatids, Gray Silkys are monogamous. Nests usually contain two eggs and both parents care for the chicks.

GRSFs are found mostly in montane forests where they are generally resident, but wander into adjacent, more open habitat where there are scattered trees.

Mistletoe berries (Psittacanthus schiedeanus) are an especially important food source and numbers of birds present may vary with abundance of ripe mistletoe fruit. 

Gray Silkys are fairly common throughout much of their range, though not seen on every outing lakeside due to their wandering habit. When encountered, their beauty and liveliness adds a welcome “icing” on one’s birding day!

Photo credit by Cheshta Buckley showing the characteristic crest