Abstract
The screech of green (olive-throated) parakeets awoke us from our tent signaling that it was time to take our positions on the rocky hillside. We were in the Sierras of Tamaul ipas censusing red-crowned (green cheeked) parrots, a species frequently encountered in captivity but rapidly becoming rarer in the wild. As I sat sipping a cup of instant coffee, a loud "swoose, swoose, swoose" noise increased in intensity from my right. Sounding like the noise created by one of those old planes in the days of the Wright brothers, the source of the commotion would soon be unveiled. From the corner of my eye l could see a large, nearly totally black duck (although they do have white wing patches and underwing coverts) laboriously approaching. Soon several of these magnificent birds passed. Most were quite lean and flightworthy but one was obviously twice the size of the others and having a bit of trouble keeping aloft.
