I recently learned that on our planet there are people, actual living, walking, breathing people, who claim that birds are robotic drones used by governments around the world for espionage purposes. Those are probably the same individuals who believe Australia doesn’t exist.
Now, let’s distance ourselves from reality for a moment and consider this ridiculous conspiracy theory that is remotely possible. In that case, I think I can guess the perfect candidate who gave birth to such a ridiculous idea: the Trogons. And who is better than Black-tailed Trogon (trogon melanurus) who had perfected the peculiar habit of turning and tilting his head very slowly while looking while lying still.
Primarily a species of the Amazonian lowlands (two other disjunct populations exist from central Panama to northern Colombia and in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru) they are heard more often than seen because they tend to to remain above ground, favoring the forest canopy over the subcanopy. If you really want to get good views of one though (they are rarely seen in higher numbers in one place) then the best thing to do is to climb the canopy tower. Which is exactly what I did. Because the bird likes to sit still for long periods of time on one sturdy leg, often out from the foliage and close to the main tree, canopy towers are the perfect place for close-up views as they hug the main tree wood is therefore the hardest. the branches are close.
Going to the top, I got amazing views of birds and other wildlife as they were at eye level. It’s so easy, no neck strain! When I finally reached the top, a whole new world opened up. Birds are basically everywhere around me. Macaws and other parrots circle; new world warblers, honeycreepers, attilas are flying here and there; the branches are covered with woodcreepers and an occasional woodpecker can be seen; cotingas, aracaris and barbets abound in the adjacent trees. Among the many birds was a single one Black-tailed Trogon, not ten meters away from me adopting the typical very upright posture. It sits completely, like a statue. Sometimes it just looks fake. It’s funny to think we took pictures of each other at the same time, probably with a hidden spy camera for an eye. It’s funny. Then at some point it began to slowly roll its head from side to side and peer up. It then darts out to catch an insect presumably from among the leaves before moving on to another perch. Eventually it flew off, probably back to HQ to give our position.
There it is. Avian spy drones are real and they charge power lines. Please feel free to provide examples in the comments of other interesting birds that come to your mind whose behavior fits the picture of a government surveillance drone.
