Controversial

These are Masked Water Tyrants from Brazil. Relatively common birds throughout Central and South America, they prefer wetland and marshy environments. Unfortunately this image was shot from some distance and has been cropped heavily. What it demonstrates is the birds posturing while defending their territory. The reason they are exhibiting this behavior is that the guide we were using is playing their call from a recorder, a practice commonly known as “play back”. This is controversial. Our guide in Brazil used this very sparingly; typically when a bird was spotted, but was not in a good position for a good photograph. He would play the bird’s recorded call for a few seconds and frequently the bird would show itself often presenting a better photo op. Most people feel that play back, if used at all, should be used very sparingly. This is often not the case. I have seen groups of birders/photographers on opposite sides of a forested area, actually calling to each other; they think they are attracting a bird, when they are only attracting themselves.