Venezuela: Cienagas del Catatumbo NP – Birds of Catatumbo Delta

The Catatumbo Delta and the surrounding Ciénagas del Catatumbo National Park are some of the most birdlife-rich area in South America – there are over 300 bird species inhabiting these riverine gallery forests, flooded savannas, blackwater lagoons, and coastal mangroves of Maracaibo Lake. There are multiple species of herons, egrets, storks, anhinga and cormorants, hawks, kites, caracaras, and ospreys. Some of the most interesting or never seen by me bore species were – Horned Screamer (known locally as the Aruco, these are turkey-sized birds with a quill-like horn protruding forward from its crown), Ringed Kingfisher (largest kingfisher in South America), Crested Oropendola (the make large hanging pouch-like nests in tall isolated trees), Common Potoo (a nocturnal predator that uses night vision to hunt large beetles and moths), and finally King Vulture (a massive bird with distinct red head as if it came straight from the hell underworld).