CACIQUES AT CHINO I spent a wonderful 4 days at the village of El Chino on the Tahuayo River earlier this week. I went there with our CACE team and three artisans from San Francisco on the Maranon River so they could teach Chino artisans how to weave several types of birds that they could sell to us and tourists who visit their village. One of my favorite birds to see in Chino and other parts of the Amazon is the Yellow-rumped Cacique (Cacicus cela) locally known as "pau car." Like other oropendulas (Latin for "hanging egg"), they weave nests in colonies which hang from the branches of a tree. Their calls are varied and often sound like large falling drops of water. I hung out near a tree with many nests to try to get a few good shots of the birds darting in and out of their nest entrances. More about the workshop tomorrow. See some videos with sound of the cacique at: https://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/yellow-rumped-cacique-cacicus-cela
