Caribbean Beat — November/December 2017 (#148)

scramble and flutter among the riverside trees with hoarse cries.
These are hoatzins or Canje pheasants (Opisthocomus hoazin),
the national bird of Guyana. The Mahaica River is home to a
thriving population of these paired-for-life birds, a generally rare
Amazonian species. In all, we see around sixty hoatzins, whose
preferred food is the leaves of the moko-moko (Montrichardia
arborescens), a tall straight plant on the edge of the river with
arrow-point waxy leaves.
The Mahaica River provides a connecting corridor for avian
and riverine wildlife. Threats come and go, but the river is a
highway along which animals and birds can move to safety.
The small four-stroke outboard motor is quiet enough for
us to hear the morning birdsong. One hundred and fifty-eight
of false cocoa, and male red-capped cardinals lead the more
subdued females through the undergrowth. Chachalacas peer
from low trees into the stands of moko-moko.
Overhead, two or three kinds of pigeon fly cautiously from
tree to tree while broad-winged hawks circle and vultures patrol
higher up. As the sun ascends in the sky, pairs and trios of
Amazon parrots cross the river heading east, while small flocks
of parakeets fly west. Sunlight flares into the tree canopy, shining
off the red-brown fur of silent families of red howler monkeys,
known in Guyana as baboons. Our guide Ramesh tries calling to
them, but fails to provoke a response from the big bearded males
who watch calmly as the boat glides below.
We turn around just south of the upper limit of farming along
If you’re lucky,
our guide tells us,
you might even
catch a glimpse of
otters frolicking in
the river
Tours on the Mahaica River
include catch-and-release
fishing trips
species have been counted so far along this river. In just two
hours, we see thirty-five of these, mostly multiple individuals in
small flocks. Tiny ring-necked seedeaters flit at the river’s edge,
while three species of flycatcher and two species of kingfisher
perch on overhanging branches. Nests of yellow orioles swing
from the smaller trees, and rufous and black hawks show their
backs as they stand in the taller treetops, beautiful bars across
their backs, more pronounced at the tail. Three species of
woodpecker knock holes in dead and dying tree trunks, probing
for grubs — their scarlet crests brilliant in the growing sunlight.
Among the bushes, greater and lesser anis show their dense
black and blue plumage and laterally flattened bills. Great and
lesser kiskadees call repeatedly, while brown cuckoos sit quietly
in the rising sun, a small hummingbird zips between the flowers
the river, as the banks became
more densely wooded and the birds
more difficult to see. Speeding
back downstream, the experienced
eyes of Ramesh spot other birds
we failed to notice on the way up,
or which can be seen more easily
now in full daylight. If you’re lucky,
Ramesh tells us, you might even
catch a glimpse of otters frolicking in the river — but today we
have no such luck.
We stop for a late breakfast of fried bangamary (a river fish)
and plantain chips at the river restaurant and pool bar, where we
hear about the popular whole-day catch-and-release fishing trips
run by the same Mahaica River Birding Tours, looking for tarpon
and the peacock bass. The fishing is better when the river level is
falling, pulling the fish out of their spawning areas in the flooded
savannah behind the farmlands.
As if we needed another reason to come back. n
Dr Horst Vogel
For more information about Mahaica River Birding
Tours at dawn or dusk, visit www.mahaicatours.com
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