10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. And now we have the third iteration in Audubon’s guide book history: National Audubon Society Birds of North America. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count. SPECIES ACCOUNTS.

North America 278

North America America California Condor Birds 278

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2024

These species are not only beautiful or charming, but have a personal resonance for me. It turns out this species is very difficult to see — everywhere except in my territory, since to date I have now seen it 64 times within an hour of Morelia. But I will still provide one.)

Squirrels 218

Squirrels Mexico Kansas South America 218

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

Being a westerner — raised in California, and now living in western Mexico — I was perhaps most excited about the migratory birds that breed in eastern North America. And the Baltimore Oriole is an iconic eastern bird, which winters along Mexico’s east coast, but never in the west. Then, around 4:00 p.m.,

Mexico 188

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2024

When a birder uses the word, we usually refer to a species that canbe mostly or exclusively found in a single country. Which means that the large country of Mexico boasts (according to one list) 127 endemic bird species, while the famous birders’ destination of Costa Rica has only 6. It doesn’t seem fair at all.

Costa Rica 180

Costa Rica Mexico Lions North America 180

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

So, if you are going to write a field guide on the birds of the countries south and east of Mexico–Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—it makes the utmost sense that you embrace the whole geographic area. It has been a long time between field guides for most of these countries.

El Salvador 230

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 230

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2024

I have mixed feelings about ranking different bird species. The Rusty Sparrow is a large sparrow that can only be found from western Mexico to northern Central America. Bird long enough in North America, and you will eventually meet the Empidonax flycatchers: 14 small flycatchers, most of which are very nearly identical.

Livestock 201

Livestock Sparrows Birds North America 201

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

The April arrival of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, Second Edition was a supremely happy moment in a very difficult, sad month. A companion regional guide, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was published in 1941; its fifth edition will be coming out in early September.

North America 202

North America America Hawaii Birds 202

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

The first is that the illustrations by Dale Dyer are based, and largely seem to be the same, as the illustrations for his previous guide Birds of Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (co-authored with Andrew Vallely, PUP, 2018). Why are these issues? Doing this work takes time!

Costa Rica 206

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 206

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. This poorly documented swallow is a breeding endemic to these high mountains. Photo by Andrew Spencer.

Mexico 188

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Bats 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

When I got back into birding about six years ago, I would not have predicted the personal bonds a birder can form with certain species. While all birds bring us joy, and we certainly want to see as many as we can, some species just seem more… special. I’ll start with two species that are especially hard to find.

Mexico 155

Mexico South America Birds Turkey 155

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2020

One of the ways I could describe the unique mix of birds I can see here in southwestern Mexico, would be to divide our species into five categories. The invasive species are few, but, unfortunately, very numerous. But there is a final group of species here, about which I have not written very much.

Mexico 187

Mexico Birds Honduras United States 187

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

elegans ) are the largest rails in the Americas. Their taxonomic status long has been unclear due to their overall similarity and the fact that in eastern North America and Cuba, they hybridize. King Rails occur widely in eastern North America, in eastern and central Mexico, and in Cuba.

Species 214

Species Cuba North America Louisiana 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

American White Pelicans spend their winter months along the Gulf states, California, parts of Arizona, and Mexico down into Central America. They migrate north through the Western United States, breeding in pockets all the way up through Canada. No matter how many times I see them, this particular species remains breathtaking.

Pelicans 221

Pelicans United States Arizona Canada 221

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

This sort of biozone mixing can create a tremendous richness of species. Each of these habitats attracts its own group of species. I mentioned last week the Jamaican Nettletree, whose tiny fruit was attracting all kinds of species — even some I thought did not eat fruit or seeds. This one was a true lifer for me.

Mexico 235

Mexico Nicaragua Lamb South America 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

and Canada and winter in northeastern Mexico, while the sedentary wrens of central Mexico, Central America, and South America are now to be identified as Grass Wrens. But its two mixed-breed children would make an 80’s British soccer club proud, with their punk hairstyles. Did they show up for us?

Barn Owls 254

Barn Owls Leopards Owls Mexico 254

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Unlike the more common American Goldfinch, the Lesser Goldfinch’s ( Spinus psaltria ) plumage does not change color during breeding season. Eastward, frequency of individuals with black on auriculars, neck, and back increases; southward into Mexico, nearly all adult males have completely black upperparts 1.

California 163

California Species Oregon North America 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2016

I want to alert you to a recent study (from April) that looks at the plight of bird populations under conditions of climate change in Europe and North America. Data were collected from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Pan-European Common Birds Monitoring Scheme. Stephens et al. Let’s look at that first.

North America 114

North America Europe America United States 114

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2020

May migration in many parts of eastern North America was and is an amazing natural celebration. Yes, the birding is truly exciting but we just don’t have the annual parade of breeding plumaged, singing warblers, grosbeaks, and orioles. Yes, another bird looked for by North American birders in places just north of Mexico.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Panama Nashville Baltimore 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

Wood-Wrens , birds of the family Henicorhina , are very small wrens of Central and South America that like to live very close to the ground, in dense forest underbrush or elfin forests. The only one that occurs in western Mexico, where I live, is the Gray-breasted Wood-Wren. So why am I focusing on that species in this post?

Mexico 185

Mexico South America America Species 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2022

Alberto Lobato, an ornithologist from the eastern side of Mexico, would be in Morelia, and could we go birding? ” (Actually, Chivizcoyo is a common name for Mexico’s legendary Bearded Wood-Partridge.) thousand reported sightings of Central America’s Black-capped Swallow. Mexico boasts ten Swift species.)

Mexico 147

Mexico Penguins United States Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. The 39 owls include five endemic Caribbean species.

North America 216

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Perhaps one of my reasons for going to the lake was that it guarantees more species in one day than any of my other sites. But I am also always eager to get a better handle on the migration dates for our wintering species, and April is a great month for that. How on earth do they breed so quickly up north?)

Mexico 162

Mexico Breeding Ducks North America 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2024

Bald Eagle Species Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Range: Most of Canada, Alaska, All of the contiguous United States, and Northern Mexico. Status In Alaska: Breeding resident. Endangered Species list in 2007. Steller’s Sea-Eagle Species Name: Haliaeetus pelagicus. Golden Eagle Species Name: Aquila chrysaetos.

Alaska 203

Alaska Eagles Bald Eagle Deer 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

For us, it’s all about birds moving north during the warm season to breed, and south to escape the winter cold. Those that move south to Mexico in the fall come as much for the abundance of winter food sources, as for winter warmth. On that occasion I counted 40 individuals from 10 different species.

Mexico 175

Mexico Alaska Falcons Raised 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2020

For, in birder lingo, a split occurs when subspecies are determined to be, in fact, entirely separate species. If you happen to have seen both species, your life list can increase without you even leaving the house. Two former species can also be joined into one, the same way. Do we really need to talk about sad events?).

San Diego 172

San Diego San Francisco Baltimore Mexico 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2020

When our local government called for Michoacán’s residents to stay at home, I said goodbye to some 250 regional species, and shut myself in at home with the other 30 that regularly visit my neighborhood. And on this particular trip, I could see all these species on a single kind of tree. And what species!

Squirrels 166

Squirrels Sparrows South America Mexico 166

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

Most of our readers are not likely to be able to ID this bird, because it only occurs in Mexico and Guatemala. But it wasn’t the day’s first FOY species. As it turned out, these were not the only bad photos to help me flesh out my 2022 year list that day (species 201-211, on February 12th).

Mexico 177

Mexico Guatemala South America United States 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2020

I am only responding to my subjective impression of a single species’ appearance here; specifically, that of the Bronzed Cowbird. Especially when I compare it with the other cowbird present in central Mexico, the Brown-headed Cowbird. In contrast, the Brown-headed Cowbird is a same-continent invasive species.

Blackbirds 153

Blackbirds Mexico Cattle Birds 153

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For ornithologists, it is the documentation of a multi-year project designed to record the distribution and abundance of birds in a specific area (in North America, usually a state or a province), utilizing a mapping method involving blocks and grids.

Pennsylvania 223

Pennsylvania Breeding Sparrows Birds 223

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2019

One of the ironies of birding in North America is that the easiest way to see many species that breed on the shores of the Arctic Ocean is to go to tropical coastlands. Marbled Godwits, like the Willets shown above, breed on the northern Great Plains. Only their reflections give any sense of the beach beneath them.

North America 120

North America Mexico Breeding America 120

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2021

A lot of birds take a shorter trip to Florida and the Caribbean, many spend the winter in southern Mexico, and some species even fly all the way to southern Amazonia (this drink is for you Veerys). This tail bobber is a common species of mangroves and any other wet spot in the lowlands. Cloud Forest near San Ramon.

Costa Rica 221

Costa Rica Kentucky Louisiana Parrots 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2013

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. We hope that our journey will provide important information about many Neotropical bird species as well as inform conservation.” Very little is known about this enigmatic species.

South America 180

South America San Diego Mexico America 180

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There’s a new proposal before the American Ornithologists’ Union’s North American Classification Committee to split Painted Bunting into two species (yay! — maybe, more later) and to name the new species “Eastern Painted Bunting” and “Western Painted Bunting” (no!).

Mississippi 266

Mississippi Mexico Alabama North Carolina 266

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. The largest colony exists on Isla Raza, where an estimated 90–95% of the total world population breeds 1. This photo by Basar from Wikipedia Commons shows the adult in breeding plumage. v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2019

It’s also a big time for bird movements, a period punctuated by waves of migrants, first the early ones, then a time of many species, and finally, those last “late” migrants moving north. While our winter residents bulk up to head north, they are joined by other species coming from South America.

Costa Rica 135

Costa Rica Tennessee South America Philadelphia 135

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2019

it is in Michoacán , in the southwest of Mexico. Lamb, who surveyed the birds of western Mexico from 1932-1955, and whose lists have been posted on eBird in recent years. I also presented this site and species in my first two posts on 10,000 Birds.) 1st Hudsonian Godwits in central Mexico. But my home is not in the U.S.

Mexico 127

Mexico Birds Lamb 2013 127

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

One of the most impressive birds in North America is the Golden Eagle. It is found as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico, taking its place as one of Mexico’s official symbols. The oldest known Golden Eagle was over 30 years old, and as a species they prefer open and semi-open landscapes.

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Kazakhstan Austria 101