Category: Birdwatching

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

The sleek, Velvety Black-tyrant or maria-preta-de-garganta-vermelha in Portuguese, is found only in dry grasslands and forests of eastern Brazil, where its inky black plumage appears almost like a silhouette against the surrounding rocky, shrubby terrain. It shares these arid places with other rare endemics such as the Blue-eyed Ground-Dove, and the White-browed Antpitta.

This flycatcher belongs to the enormous Tyrannidae (tyrant flycatcher) family, the largest bird family in the Americas. This feisty, fearless family of birds reaches its greatest number and diversity in South America, and includes species such as

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

Although gulls are widely regarded as super-abundant (sometimes even characterized as pests), the handsome Lava Gull is a rare exception and is a sought-after sighting among avid birders.

The use of “lava” in this bird’s common name refers to the dark basalt lava rocks of its favored coastline habitats. This dark-plumaged “dusky gull” (a former nickname) can only be found in the Galápagos Islands. The Lava Gull is closely related to the Laughing Gull, a species common along beaches throughout the Americas. The Lava Gull, like the Laughing Gull and