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8

Pezopetes, Oct.8, 1960, II  

Later on I saw one bird follow another into a bush. Then one uttered a distinctive vocalization which was probably a form of "greeting." A series of soft "Zeee " Notes (about 5 or 6), followed immediately by a very soft formless warble. It is possible that both the "Zee" Notes and the warble were variants of what I called "SN's" before. More probably, the "Zee" Notes were a variant of what I called "MW" on Oct. 4th. But they were rather buzzy and not noticeably metallic. (I didn't see these birds during the "greeting" either.)

It is obvious, I think, that these birds are breeding now, or just about to begin breeding. This seems to be the only species, or one of only two species, which are breeding at the present time.  (It is possible that the Yellow-throated Bush-finches are also breeding now. It might explain why I have seen so little of them this trip).


Pezopetes, I 

October 9, 1960
Cerro Punta

When I first arrived below the upper pasture (6:30 a.m.) there was no "Dawn Song" by any Pezopetes. But I did hear some snatches by one or more birds fairly soon. All composed of LW's all [[image]] in pitch. In one case, I was able to determine that this song was uttered by a solitary bird, apparently stationary.

I got some very nice views of 4 different birds at various times during the morning, and saw their Flicking movements very clearly.  They do perform extreme WF's. Also very exaggerated TF's. Usually with a very conspicuous vertical component.  Always with a very conspicuous lateral component. Almost always U-D, but very occasionally D-U (TF's with a very strong lateral component are frequently difficult to classify in terms of U and D).