The Plain Chachalaca

Plain Chachalaca

This crow-sized bird with a long tail exists only at the very southern tip of Texas, near the Rio Grande.

It is a very raucous bird, constantly squawking it's name.  Sometimes there will be two or three of them carrying on at the same time, filling the area with their sound.  The bird is a depressing brown in color, and can be seen either on the ground, or up in a tree.  We almost stepped on the egg of one of these birds...looked exactly like a chicken egg.

It was here, I suspect, that I left some items in a drawer at the motel, including my "Law and Order," and "Paco de Lucia" T-shirts."  The boys had to put up with a one-T-shirt partner. Towards the end of the trip, the T-shirt was able to stand up on it's own, and walk around the room like the Plain Chachalaca.