Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this page were taken by Paul Smith, Jonathan Newman, Hemme Batjes, Steve Hiyashi, Frank Fragano,
Clyde Morris, Sylvia Centrón and Arne Lesterhuis and are used with permission.
STRANGE-TAILED TYRANT Alectrurus risora VULNERABLE
Strange is not the word! The elongated train of males is one of the bizarrest adornments in the animal kingdom. Females are a little more "normally proportioned". Another remakable feature of this handsome species is the throat of the male - feathered in winter, it becomes completely bare and flushes red during the breeding season in a bird to attract a mate. Sadly it is becoming an increasingly uncommon sight in Paraguay (and elsewhere), one of its last strongholds being marshlands at Arroyos and Esteros where birds risk their life flitting across Ruta 3, desperately dodging the cars, trucks and motorbikes that zoom by.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2160PH) Adult male breeding lateral, Campo Llano, Departamento Misiones (Jonathan Newman October 2009).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE2161PH) Adult male breeding dorsal, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE2162PH) Adult male breeding lateral, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE2163PH) Adult male non-breeding ventral, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE2164PH) Adult male non-breeding ventral, Campo Llano, Departamento Misiones (Arne Lesterhuis March 2008).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE2165PH) Adult male non-breeding ventral, Pilar, Departamento Ñeembucú (Arne Lesterhuis November 2004).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE2166PH) Adult female ventral, Campo Llano, Departamento Misiones (Sylvia Centrón March 2008).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE2167PH) Adult female dorsal, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 9 - (FPAVE2168PH) Adult female dorsal, Arroyos y Esteros km100, Departamento Cordillera (Paul Smith November 2008).
FIGURE 10 - (FPAVE2169PH) Adult female ventral, Arroyos y Esteros km100, Departamento Cordillera (Clyde Morris November 2008).
FIGURE 11 - (FPAVE2170PH) Immature male, Arroyos and Esteros, Departamento Cordillera (Hemme Batjes November 2005).
FIGURE 12 - (FPAVE2171PH) Adult female and juvenile, Arroyos y Esteros km100, Departamento Cordillera (Paul Smith November 2008).
FIGURE 13 - (FPAVE2172PH) Juvenile, Arroyos y Esteros km100, Departamento Cordillera (Paul Smith November 2008).
FIGURE 14 - (FPAVE2173PH) Adult female feeding juvenile, Arroyos y Esteros km100, Departamento Cordillera (Steve Hiyashi November 2008).
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