10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

These striking and inquisitive jays were perhaps the bird of the trip for me, and we took our time to soak in the experience of encountering these wonderful birds. This poorly documented swallow is a breeding endemic to these high mountains. A little further along the road, we stopped at a stake-out for Sinaloa Martin.

Mexico 195

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Bats 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

They are species that breed in the US and then spend the winter in Central and South America, eating what’s avialable–especially fruit. Nyjer (aka Thistle) for goldfinches was introduced from Nigeria–someone had to experiment with that. Grape jelly for orioles was an experiment too.

Nigeria 249

Nigeria Belize Birds South America 249

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

The dichotomous republic of Trinidad and Tobago may be something of a cipher to anyone unfamiliar with the point where the Caribbean ends and South America begins. I’ve been privileged to travel somewhat extensively through the Americas, but I still pulled a ton of lifers from the veranda before my first breakfast.

Trinidad 247

Trinidad South America America Ecuador 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In this first installment, I will focus on my impressions and experiences in the highlands portion of our tour. The region is also especially rich in trogons and motmots, two decidedly tropical families with a longer evolutionary history in North America than South America. Trips Honduran birding La Tigra motmot'

Honduras 218

Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 218

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

The only thing that could have made the experience with Tryngites subruficollis better would have been some sunlight. Buff-breasted Sandpipers are hardy little birds, migrating yearly between their grassland wintering grounds in South America and their tundra breeding grounds in the high Arctic. What great little birds!

Argentina 158

Argentina Farming South America United States 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. Of the native breeding species, 112 are endemic or “very nearly endemic.” (Can

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

A wonderful Audubon magazine article on birds’ bills (“ Pecking Order “) notes that individual Great Tits in England experience a change in bill shape between summer and winter as their primary food sources shift. Odd little grassquits singing from power lines in South America’s great cities.

2003 215

2003 South America Sparrows Family 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

The park is home to not one, not two, but large three colonies of breeding seabirds: the Brown Noddy , Magnificent Frigatebird , and Sooty Tern. No, that was not a typo, the Sooty Terns fly non-stop for an average of five years before they return to the Dry Tortugas to breed. Lots and lots of birds. Each took merely a minute or two.

Florida 180

Florida Birds Groups North Carolina 180

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Experiments in the field (the famed Asa Wright Nature Center veranda) involving Bananaquits and bananas came up with numbers ranging from 7 to 16, but a tanager always came along to interfere with Bananaquits’ noisy appreciation of their namesake fruit. Even during the breeding season the birds appear to be quite unwary of humans.

Trinidad 198

Trinidad South America Birds 2011 198

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. So, beside a lot of birds and the sunny sky, I want the coldest thing to experience year-round to be my beer. It makes me think what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2011

Its first flight will take it from its burrow, usually on the west coast of the United Kingdom, to the coast of South America, an extraordinary journey for an unaccompanied minor. The world’s largest Manx Shearwater colony is on Skomer, an island off the south-west coast of Wales, UK.

United Kingdom 160

United Kingdom Brazil Eggs Abandon 160

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

A few breed in Texas’ Big Bend area.) All of our other migratory species either breed mostly in the U.S. and Canada, and winter in Mexico, or breed in Mexico, and winter in Central and South America. Just a week later, I had a similar experience with an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Mexico 158

Mexico South America Birds Turkey 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

But previous experience with Ejido Triquillo taught me that another species might turn up during the spring. The Olive-sided Flycatcher breeds in Canada and the western United States, and winters mostly in northern South America. The Greater Pewee is guaranteed to turn up in our pine/oak forests here.

Mexico 185

Mexico Guatemala South America United States 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

.” They conclude that many non-vocalizing Empidonax flycatchers can be identified in the field, but only “when several field characters are used in combination–and after one has gained experience in looking at these characters on singing/calling and captive birds (i.e., known-identity).”**

Los Angeles 216

Los Angeles North America America Mexico 216

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

Right now great flocks of wood-warblers are making their way north from the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America to breed across the United States and Canada. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 185

United States South America Cooking 2011 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Right now great flocks of wood-warblers are making their way north from the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America to breed across the United States and Canada. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2011

It breeds across Canada’s boreal forest and most winter in the Caribbean, though some spend the cold months in Central America. Right now great flocks of wood-warblers are making their way north from the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America to breed across the United States and Canada.

Tigers 159

Tigers United States Jamaica Pennsylvania 159

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

I got to see a beautiful female and owlet on a trip to a secret nest location near Howard Prairie Lake (human-made nest structures have enhanced local breeding for these huge owls whose nest success is boosted to 83% on artificial platforms vs. 66% at natural sites). The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY.

2014 191

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Penguins 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

To research this book, he traveled extensively to see as many woodpeckers as he could; this field experience was supplemented with museum research and consultations with other experts, plus a library of print material ranging from field guides to scientific papers.

Woodpeckers 246

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Philippines 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

For native people, living in South America meant living with hummingbirds, and for Europeans, discovering South American meant discovering hummingbirds (and, tragically, exploiting South America meant exploiting hummingbirds, destroying hundreds of thousands for stuffed specimens and in futile attempts to keep them alive in captivity.)

South America 157

South America New York Alaska America 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

As summer ends these same birds (and the new year’s broods) then escape the snow and ice and head south for the austral summer, finding warmth, long days and abundant insect life. The population that nests in the western reaches of North America’s Arctic will cover about twice that distance, through Asia and down in to Africa.

Somalia 199

Somalia Africa Nigeria North America 199

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Right now great flocks of wood-warblers are making their way north from the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America to breed across the United States and Canada. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

South Africa 159

South Africa United States Alligators Austin 159