birds

580 species of birds have been spotted in Argentina's Salta province, including the ubiquitous Southern Crested-caracara (Polyborus plancus), which is as common in our neighborhood-to-be as are boat-tailed grackles in our Charleston backyard. Here, photo by Morti Riuuallon, are an adult and a juvenile.

These birds are carrion eaters. Here's my shot of an adult caracara picking at a dead toad while two juveniles look on. (Not enough zoom to satisfy me, but because some baggage handler or security guy boosted my camera somewhere between Salta and Buenos Aires, I'm getting a new camera, a Nikon P100 with 26x optical zoom.)

The bird didn't like our interference so he took his toad and left.