Birds: rufous horneros, rufous thrushes, kiskadees. Including a kiskadee fight, it was fucking hilarious - picture two males encircling each other, as if they were in a ring, surrounded by females. (Picture a 40yo surrounded by two cats, watching them fight through the window. It was like this.) Once in a blue moon I see a hummingbird, they used to visit me more often before the hail killed my fuchsia.
Cool arthropods: a silver argiope once, I “adopted” her but she had children and passed away, RIP Kumoko. My basil is always gathering some native bees. I guess for most people gaucho spiders count?
Mammals: only the usual. Cat, dog, cat, human, cat… …my neighbourhood has a lot of cats, including uninvited guests.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a toad. When I was a kid I had fun splashing them with water - it’s harmless to the critter, but if you startle them they jump.
For reference, this is in urban South America, Cfb climate.
To be honest I had to websearch most English names for those animals, including this one. Might as well share pics and local names:
Rufous hornero
Locally known as joão-de-barro (“Mud John” - they build their nests out of mud). They’re like winged capybaras, extremely chill… even for their own good, I had Kika (one of my cats) once catching one. (I managed to free the little guy, he was hurt but alive.)
Rufous thrush
Locally known as sabiá laranjeira (“orange tree thrush” - probably a reference to the orange belly?). I’ve seen some calling them “fiscalzinhos” (inspectors), because if you mow your grass they’ll “inspect” it for bugs.
Kiskadee
Locally known as bem-te-vi (roughly “I see you well” - their singing sounds like they’re saying it). They’re afraid of larger animals like us, but surprisingly aggressive and territorial against other birds.
silver Argiope spider
That’s the one who used to live in my garden. Locally “aranha-de-prata” (silver spider). They’re extremely chill, note how I could get really close to the spider and she (yup, female) gave no fucks.
Gaucho spiders
Locally known as aranha-marrom (“brown spider”). Like, 90% of the houses in my city have at least a few of those. And they have a rather strong venom, so you need to watch out for that. Thankfully they’re more afraid of humans than humans are of them, and they like to hide themselves in hard-to-access corners.
The name is probably because they were first described as a species in Rio Grande do Sul (demonym “gaúcho”).
native bees
By far the one I see the most are these:
I’m not aware of any English name, they’re locally known as “tubuna”. I think the name is a reference to the tubes they build to their nests, that look like papier mâché. Completely harmless but people keep confusing them with wasps and trying to get rid of the nests. After the town hall implemented a project spreading a few human-made nests with native bees through the city, they became a more common sight.
Birds: rufous horneros, rufous thrushes, kiskadees. Including a kiskadee fight, it was fucking hilarious - picture two males encircling each other, as if they were in a ring, surrounded by females. (Picture a 40yo surrounded by two cats, watching them fight through the window. It was like this.) Once in a blue moon I see a hummingbird, they used to visit me more often before the hail killed my fuchsia.
Cool arthropods: a silver argiope once, I “adopted” her but she had children and passed away, RIP Kumoko. My basil is always gathering some native bees. I guess for most people gaucho spiders count?
Mammals: only the usual. Cat, dog, cat, human, cat… …my neighbourhood has a lot of cats, including uninvited guests.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a toad. When I was a kid I had fun splashing them with water - it’s harmless to the critter, but if you startle them they jump.
For reference, this is in urban South America, Cfb climate.
I had to Google kiskadee. Nice to see some animals in a different part of the world from me.
To be honest I had to websearch most English names for those animals, including this one. Might as well share pics and local names:
Rufous hornero
Locally known as joão-de-barro (“Mud John” - they build their nests out of mud). They’re like winged capybaras, extremely chill… even for their own good, I had Kika (one of my cats) once catching one. (I managed to free the little guy, he was hurt but alive.)
Rufous thrush
Locally known as sabiá laranjeira (“orange tree thrush” - probably a reference to the orange belly?). I’ve seen some calling them “fiscalzinhos” (inspectors), because if you mow your grass they’ll “inspect” it for bugs.
Kiskadee
Locally known as bem-te-vi (roughly “I see you well” - their singing sounds like they’re saying it). They’re afraid of larger animals like us, but surprisingly aggressive and territorial against other birds.
silver Argiope spider
That’s the one who used to live in my garden. Locally “aranha-de-prata” (silver spider). They’re extremely chill, note how I could get really close to the spider and she (yup, female) gave no fucks.
Gaucho spiders
Locally known as aranha-marrom (“brown spider”). Like, 90% of the houses in my city have at least a few of those. And they have a rather strong venom, so you need to watch out for that. Thankfully they’re more afraid of humans than humans are of them, and they like to hide themselves in hard-to-access corners.
The name is probably because they were first described as a species in Rio Grande do Sul (demonym “gaúcho”).
native bees
By far the one I see the most are these:
I’m not aware of any English name, they’re locally known as “tubuna”. I think the name is a reference to the tubes they build to their nests, that look like papier mâché. Completely harmless but people keep confusing them with wasps and trying to get rid of the nests. After the town hall implemented a project spreading a few human-made nests with native bees through the city, they became a more common sight.