Howdy, friends.  Last week your friend and mine CapitalCanadian suggested I look into other racket-tails, so this week we are doing the rufous-booted variety.  Also, just this very evening Ma Killsock mailed me a little book about birds she suggested I use for ideas.  She underlined the names of birds in the index that she thought were neat, and wouldn’t you know it, she underlined the racket-tail.  Between family and friends, this whole bird journey we are on has become a real team effort, huh?

Anyway, this week’s bird is very similar to last weeks, to the point that whether it counts as its own species is a matter of some dispute.  No juicy ornithology drama as far as I could find, though.  If I’m wrong about that please do let me know.  For now, I will just cover things about this bird that are different from the racket-tail we talked about last week, so for further info please consult the PT archives.

The rufous-booted racket-tail lives on the eastern slope of the Andres in Bolivia and Peru.  It only migrates in that it changes elevation after breeding, although just like the one last week, I couldn’t find the direction of this change.  Other birds we have covered tend to change elevation in a seasonal search for food, so I think it is safe to assume that is also the case here.

The IUCN does not recognize this variety as a distinct species, so like the white-booted variety it is rated as “of least concern.”  The population is thought to be slightly declining, but not enough to warrant being reclassified.  The bird is fairly common throughout its large range, which encompasses several protected areas.  Despite that range looking fairly small on a map, it apparently encompasses 3.6 million square kilometers.  Dang, South America is huge.

That’s birds for the week. Be kind to yourselves and others, make the mods job easy.

Links: https://tinyurl.com/mpv5zcup, https://tinyurl.com/sw5kmmsy, https://tinyurl.com/fcvwy4hb, https://tinyurl.com/3ts6txyk, https://tinyurl.com/3vtczr2d