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While in Rio recently (for the International Symposium on Pterosaurs: see write-up here), I saw an enormous number of birds, virtually all of which were new to me. I photographed many of them (some were too elusive, or too fleetingly seen, to be captured on film, alas) and, when time allows, I've been going through them with the aim of sharing what I saw here on Tet Zoo. A few of the passerines are giving me problems though and I'm interested in second opinions. On the advice of fellow birder Simon Woolley, I've decided to share a few of those images here. I think I know the species concerned, but have fun trying to identify them yourself. I want to say one more thing before we get on with it: I didn't (and, indeed, couldn't) go on any special birding trips while in Brazil - the many, many species I saw were all hanging around in town, especially in the parks and on the beaches. For most places in the world, animals are (still) everywhere if only you go and look for them. Anyway...
What is this small green passerine? It was part of a group of five or six and only stoped briefly on the ground. Like many of my bird photos, it was taken at maximum zoom, hence the crappy focus. Here's another (arguably easier) small greenish passerine (of course, it might be the same species as the first! What do you think?)...
Finally, two more passerines, both seen at distance while on wires and in a treetop, respectively. Again, both images are taken at maximum zoom and I deliberately haven't tinkered with the colour or contrast or anything like that.
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Ok, I look forward to seeing some answers. I'll post the remainder of my photos in the next article: I managed to get good images of 20 species and will be talking about all of them.
