ML613468016
Contributor
Dario Taraborelli Media from this contributor Profile
Date
Location
Via a Caney Alto
Meta, Colombia
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
This Pauraque was flushed from a roosting/nesting site along the road when a large mixed group of birds followed it and silently mobbed it (Saffron Finches, Oriole Blackbirds, Tropical Mockingbirds -- see photo below). Dozens of birds stood on the fence watching for its next move and relocating from time to time to get closer to it. I was not aware of mobbing behavior targeting nightjars, let alone silent mobbing not involving any active harassing behavior. Unlike owls, nightjars like the Pauraque are not predators, however evidence that nightjars get mobbed just like owls exists, potentially due to their similarity. See Marks et al. (2011) Mobbing of Common Nighthawks as Cases of Mistaken Identity https://www.jstor.org/stable/23033509
Technical information
- Model
- NIKON D500
- ISO
- 800
- Focal length
- 500 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/160 sec
- Dimensions
- 4607 pixels x 3071 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.46 MB