10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2014

Let’s say you’re a bird wrapping up your breeding season in the north of Scotland—where do your thoughts turn when winter beckons? If you’re like most, you head southeast, meeting up with your continental cousins near the Mediterranean or Arabian Seas. the Caribbean islands, and Ecuador and Peru.

Iceland 237

Iceland Stray Ecuador South America 237

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2013

Perhaps because of threats to the ecosystems of the many places the Arctic Tern visits (Europe, Africa, South America, and North America), it may be on the decline. Some of those once-popular breeding spots now produce no chicks at all.

Bald Eagle 234

Bald Eagle Pandas Puffins Bears 234

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2013

Of all migratory birds breeding in North America, Swallow-tailed Kites are among the first to leave for the wintering grounds. Kites generally fly to Cuba and then over the ocean to arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula or areas further south. The local kites at this time of the year are about to start breeding.

Florida 262

Florida Cuba Colombia 2004 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2020

I haven’t seen any kind of breeding activity from my bird, but my observations are few, far between and for short periods of time. Despite the breeding activity bit, it appears that both birds have habits in common. Another search revealed that South America’s ubiquitous Turdus can live for 25 – 30 years in the wild.

2005 229

2005 Brazil South America 2018 229

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2012

When they are not getting ready to breed they are a pretty bland brown-and-white bird. Actitus macularius , as spotties are known to the scientific set, are widespread across North America and winter across Central and South America, even as far south as Chile.

New Jersey 226

New Jersey North America Chile South America 226

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Its wintering range includes most of northern South America. However, they do not settle down and setup breeding territories at my local inland locations until the latter half of April. By the end of September, the territorial birds that breed in the local parking lots are gone.

Dominican Republic 257

Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Miami Florida 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Across the world’s northern oceans, 24 species of auklets, murres, puffins, guillemots, and related seabirds make a living catching food beneath the waves and breeding, often in large colonies, on coastlines and islands. Alcids are thought to have originated along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean during the Eocene or even the Paleocene.

Penguins 274

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 274

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2014

The Great Grebe , Podiceps major , is a bird of South America where it frequents large waters and coastline on both sides of the continent. It prefers large waters and coasts during the non-breeding season, but seeks out wooded, well vegetated lakes and marshes for breeding. And did I mention that it was big?

Argentina 222

Argentina Uruguay Chile Brazil 222

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Its population actually fluctuates in response to the availability of Spruce Budworm and though it nests on the ground it is entirely inseparable from the forests of the north during breeding season. The bird in the images in this post was spotted in fall so it in mostly basic plumage, not surprisingly.

Tennessee 245

Tennessee Ecuador South America United States 245

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

The Sinaloa Martin is a large swallow, which seems to breed only along a narrow band of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, and Jalisco. It sports the intense purple back and head of its close relative, the Purple Martin , which is found in much of North America (summer) and South America (winter).

Mexico 246

Mexico South America 2020 America 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.” When we come to Gentoo Penguin again in the South Georgia chapter, for example, we’re referred back to its first appearance in Antarctica, utilizing the outline numbers.).

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

Maybe you are a lucky kid whose parents took you birding South America as a toddler, a rich heir with an inheritance to burn, a lucky diplomat choosing your tropical posts, an international bird guide or a bird tour agency owner? That gamble is rigged, so the house always wins.

Family 299

Family Birds South America Breeding 299

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.

United States 235

United States South America Cooking 2011 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

However, the bulk of the population breeds in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties at the southern tip of the state, particularly around the mangrove fringed coasts and islets of Florida and Biscayne Bay. It might be a recent colonist from the Caribbean, as it was only first found breeding in Florida in 1942.

Florida 239

Florida Miami Breeders Tampa 239

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2012

They are fiercely territorial on breeding territory, but in migration they often gather in rather large numbers. Eastern Kingbirds breed across the eastern United States and much of southern Canada. They migrate through Central America and winter in South America, apparently almost entirely east of the Andes.

Kittens 245

Kittens Hunting South America United States 245

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

While the native apple snail continued declining, another species of apple snail native to South America began to appear in canals and ponds in South Florida. The baseball-sized “Island apple snail”, as this exotic snail is known, spreaded through South Florida. Snail Kites now favor these ponds and breed around them.

Florida 247

Florida South America Bolivia Eggs 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

This is when we might see the greatest variety and numbers of wood-warblers, where we can watch dizzying groups of swallows zip through the skies as kettles of Turkey Vultures , and Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks flow towards South America. How many Sinaloa Martins also fly this way?

Costa Rica 338

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 338

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2019

This is the vital time to get outside and see what’s around because lifers could be in the neighborhood, rarely seen species might be just around the corner, and each and every “regular” bird is decked out in beautiful breeding plumage, many also filling the outdoor audio scene with song.

Costa Rica 191

Costa Rica South America Tennessee Philadelphia 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2022

Three live and breed here, two migrate through the country in large numbers (one of those also breeds here in small numbers), and another migrates through and winters in Costa Rica. This is how these charming flycatchers roll in southern Central America. In Costa Rica, we have our pewees, 6 species of them.

Costa Rica 279

Costa Rica Pennsylvania South America Panama 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2012

They are found in South America, the Caribbean, and the gulf coast states in the southeastern United States. They do tend to wander after breeding which explains my first encounter with that New Jersey bird.

Wildlife 233

Wildlife New Jersey South America United States 233

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. Some of my happiest memories were sitting on the deck with a big ole’ cup of coffee and watching the parade of birds come in for the fruit.

Nigeria 252

Nigeria Belize Birds South America 252

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 198

Mexico South America Birds Turkey 198

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2020

Many of these were still in their breeding plumage, a special treat for us here in the tropics as they would soon shed their richly patterned exterior for a drab and more mundane outfit. Pectoral Sandpipers pass through en route to southern South America, some going as far as Tierra del Fuego. Greater Yellowlegs.

Trinidad 249

Trinidad South America Blackbirds Game 249

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Perhaps the most complicated and bizarre mating system is that of the Rheas of South America. They live in flocks in the open country shrubland of Southern South America. Females end up mating with several males laying eggs in as many nests as partners they can have during a breeding season.

South America 168

South America Eggs Raised America 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

Nothing against the Rocky Pigeon but let’s be honest, if a breeding plumaged Blackburnian Warbler hops into view, It’s pretty easy to forget about that pigeon, Warbling Vireo , or even a Pine Warbler when you can treat the good old retinas to a striking combination of red-orange, black, and white.

Costa Rica 221

Costa Rica Emotional South America Panama 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

The first shorebird arrivals are apparently birds that failed at a breeding attempt and don’t have time to re-attempt; they might as well head south early. By checking my Facebook feed on a daily basis, I had a broad idea about birds arriving into different countries in Central and South America.

South America 162

South America Colombia Peru Chile 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2015

Most birds use these ephemeral beaches as breeding grounds. They have adapted to breed during the dry season when sand bars are exposed and food is plenty. Depending on the age of the dry season, birds will re-start another breeding attempt or give up until the next year. Pied Lapwing. Photo Credits: Amy McAndrews.

South America 183

South America Fish Breeding Eggs 183

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.

Mexico 258

Mexico South America America Species 258

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 250

Trinidad South America America Ecuador 250

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? Why yes, they did!

Barn Owls 264

Barn Owls Owls Leopards Mexico 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

The Yellow-green Vireo is another of those rare birds that winter in South America but only travels north as far as Mexico to breed. In spite of all these interesting species, there were two species that really made my day.

Mexico 264

Mexico Nicaragua Lamb Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2014

One of the two sub-species of Red Knot occurring in North America, the Rufa subspecies breeds in the Canadian Artic Region and migrates along the east or Atlantic coast of the United States. The other sub-species, Calidris canutus roselaari , migrates along the Pacific Coast and breeds in Alaska and the Wrangel Island in Russia.

Endangered Species 160

Endangered Species Protection Delaware Species 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2013

Though the Large-billed Tern is a bird of freshwater rivers, lakes, and marshes of South America it does wander to North America on very rare occasions. As you can see in the image below it has a very distinctive pattern on its wings, to say nothing of the big ol’ yellow bill stuck on the front of its face.

Trinidad 215

Trinidad Nevada Illinois New Jersey 215

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Recently a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was reported from a park in San Francisco, a long ways away from its home in Central and South America. This bird was photographed a few years ago in Connecticut, by Corey Finger. This is not only a MEGAVAGRANT, it is also an absolute CRIPPLER and hard to misidentify on top of that.

San Francisco 200

San Francisco San Diego Connecticut South America 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Odd little grassquits singing from power lines in South America’s great cities. But joining them now as our understanding grows are a host of small, often plain-colored seed-eating skulkers of high alpine grasslands and dense tropical reedbeds and grasslands. These are neither sparrows, nor finches, but tanagers.

2003 260

2003 Sparrows South America Family 260

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2013

Cosmopolitan species like Horned and Eared ( Slavonian and Black-necked respectively on the other side of the oceans) Grebes and Red-necked Grebe breed on freshwater bodies across the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and turn up anywhere from sewage treatment plants to saltwater in the winter.

Jordan 246

Jordan Guatemala South America Birds 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2014

Each autumn, nearly the entire breeding population of the Swainson’s Hawk migrates from the temperate zone of North America to wintering areas in South America. Like most buteos, the Swainson’s Hawk feeds its young rodents, rabbits and reptiles but not so during non-breeding season.

Nevada 160

Nevada Utah North America Oregon 160