10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? 2) Which hummingbird was more beautiful—Tufted Coquette or Ruby-topaz Hummingbird? (3)

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Trinidad South America Birds 2011 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Here in Trinidad, we routinely experience several of these migrants – most of these birds surely pass by unrecorded as not everyone is a birder and not all birders are huge fans of suffering from Warbler Neck.

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Trinidad 2015 Suffering Cats 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

It was a dreary morning, with Trinidad under watch for an incoming tropical wave. We are lucky here in Trinidad to experience migrants from both the south and the north – after we saw the elaenia we enjoyed fleeting views of a male American Redstart. The first cooperative birds of the morning were Streaked Flycatchers.

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Trinidad Birds Woodpeckers Species 268

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2022

Don’t get me wrong, Rufous-breasted Wrens are fairly common across both Trinidad and Tobago. All the while it moved a grand total of three times – vastly differing from all my prior experiences with this species! I wheeled my focus button on my binoculars all the way back before putting it to my eyes, it was that close.

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Trinidad ALA Woodpeckers Experiments 221

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2020

This sleepy fishing village on the north coast of Trinidad should ring a bell – it boasts the densest nesting population of Leatherback Turtles in the entire western hemisphere. The mature forest deep in the hills is the single best place in the world to catch a glimpse of the critically endangered Trinidad Piping Guan.

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Trinidad Turtles Turkey Fish 203

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Out of the approximately 26 species of snipes worldwide, two have been recorded on Trinidad. On Trinidad it took me some more time until I saw my first snipe. Without the optimal view, some snipes like this one seen in February this year on Trinidad shall remain unidentified, unfortunately. Any snipe is a good snipe, they say.

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Trinidad Welfare North America Emotional 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Seven hours in total, reaching halfway up the second highest peak on Trinidad, El Tucuche. Trinidad Lancehead , or Fer-de-lance. The following year, 2014, I elected to join a different group birding the lowland seasonal forest at the opposite end of the CBC radius from where I had that wonderful experience the year before.

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Trinidad Livestock 2015 Buffalo 168

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2023

Mentions of Trinidad being the “land of the hummingbird” served to further irk me later on, and the fact that the airline selected this logo to reference that makes me bring up a little bit of breakfast. To my limited knowledge, hummingbirds all had brown wings. Could this be a real bird?

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Trinidad Experiments Experience Rights 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2023

I began recording my bird sightings with photographs in late 2009, and since then I have seen (or at least heard) a fair proportion of species recorded within my home country of Trinidad & Tobago. After all, it was a straightforward procedure: drive to the mangrove swamps, play the call, photograph the bird, leave.

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Birds Trinidad 2020 2009 259

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2022

Back in Trinidad, both Spectacled Thrush and Cocoa Thrush would nest in our backyard. This gave us several chances to experience them at various stages of growth. A pair of Spectacled Thrushes at the very commencement of their noisy life.

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Trinidad Emotional Breeding Cats 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2020

Far less experience the two in a single morning. Fortunately, I live in Trinidad and Tobago – a twin-island nation that boasts the second highest density of bird species in the world. Those experiences also served to illustrate a point that was enforced several times during our birding session within the forest that morning.

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Trinidad Pelicans Humane Fish 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

Birding in Trinidad and Tobago has been likened to an introductory chapter in the book of birding in the Neotropics. And for good reason. While the 480-odd species recorded within T&T may outstrip our fellow Caribbean islands by leaps and bounds, it pales in comparison to the massive lists of mainland South and Central America.

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Trinidad Family America Species 251

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

I would love to spend a night at this lake to experience the magic of twilight here – but there are many other animals which frequent this area that can materialize at any moment. The first post I ever prepared for this blog centred around a search for a vagrant Curlew Sandpiper here in my native Trinidad.

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Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

One of the most regularly traversed roads for the purpose of birding on the island of Trinidad is the Arima-Blanchisseuse Road. Only a couple articles back I described the experience of a morning’s birding along this road. White-throated Spadebill.

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Trinidad Squirrels Species Birds 207

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

Great Kiskadees are ubiquitous in Trinidad and Guyana, this bird’s proportions were slightly different, however. Wing-barred Seedeater was formerly a common sight on Tobago but intensive trapping for the pet trade has extirpated the species from that island. Once it vocalized, the differences were made even clearer.

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Guyana Parrots Trinidad South America 180

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. These irruptive visitors to T&T always are a pleasure to experience. Golden-crowned Warbler is one of the three resident warbler species on Trinidad. Bay-headed Tanagers.

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Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 207

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

During a two-year long moratorium on hunting in T&T, I had some of the most incredible birding experiences. It had been some months since we had been in the hills of Trinidad’s Northern Range, and let it be known that all forests are very different. Our yearly CBC racked up its highest numbers in a decade.

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Trinidad Hunting Venezuela Woodpeckers 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2013

If you are a birder and you visit Trinidad and Tobago you must go to the Caroni Swamp. If you visit Trinidad and Tobago you must visit Caroni Swamp. Visiting the Caroni Swamp and seeing the soul-satisfying scarlet of the sensational ibis was worth the trip to Trinidad and Tobago all by itself. Actually, scratch that.

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Trinidad Spain Cooking Hunting 184

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2023

Those who are familiar with my ethos know quite well that I am very much for the experience as opposed to the payoff. Whether on Trinidad or Tobago, there are few places one can visit where the presence of the sea isn’t felt. Some call it a preference for the journey rather than the destination.

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Trinidad Pelicans Groups Humane 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad holds a prominent position on that list of luminaries. 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. Now I’ve finally spent time at Asa Wright, I understand why.

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Trinidad South America America Ecuador 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

That was a fleeting occurrence, and part of the beauty of the experience altogether. The light falls on it differently each time, it holds its feathers in unique ways; the combination of these factors leads to a plethora of experiences that mirror the magic of the natural world. Hummingbirds are enthralling by nature.

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Experiments Experience Birds Trinidad 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

But this experience which I’m about to relate to you was much more significant than chasing a rarity. Having extensive experiences with this species did not prevent me from enjoying them, for as I said – they show themselves. You can still check the spoonbill out in all its innocence here. Aplomado Falcon. Frustrated, yes.

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Falcons Experiments Experience Birds 273

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

My first experience was with a nesting pair, one bird was out at the time and the other was comfortably sitting quite low in the nest. These all added to the overarching foreboding feeling of the moment – after all it was the 59th anniversary of the independence of Trinidad & Tobago.

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Birds Owls Litter Trinidad 231

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2012

However, I spotted that egregious invasive while in Miami during a layover fro Trinidad and Tobago. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Instead, I’ll mention the Eastern Bluebirds I saw with my kids at the Genessee Country Village-Museum on Father’s Day!

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Hungary Miami 2012 Trinidad 166

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2013

After all, he was in Trinidad until Saturday afternoon. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. One particular cormorant appeared to have streaks of white plumage that mirrored the effect of the foamy water. Fascinating! What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2013 Trinidad Birds Experiments 158

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Here are the results: 3 per cent of respondents (in no particular order): Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Tanzania, Madagascar. They would like to experience it, but have no sufficient knowledge of its birding possibilities to choose one, or a few, instead of a continent as a whole. 8%: Brazil, Panama. 10%: Australia, Papua New Guinea.

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Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

You truly cannot experience the Gray-barred Wren without hearing the raucous calls shared among group members of this highly-social species. White-striped Woodcreeper : Faraaz Abdool recently wrote about Trinidad and Tobago’s wonderful Woodcreepers , and this one is the Woodcreeper of western Mexico’s pine-oak forests.

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Trinidad Transported Emotional Mexico 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2022

I don’t know what the experience is like in other parts of the world – so do let me know – but at least here in T&T, some of the absolute best waterbirding can be done at sewage ponds.

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Ducks Groups Experiments Experience 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Animals obviously see death and experience it as we do, so the question is not one of if, but of how. Did the Black-bellied Whistling Duck represent his family, “showing face” as we say here in the Caribbean? Or was it all dumb luck, the randomness of nature at play, pure coincidence?

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Elephants Ducks Humane Family 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

The years passed and I had several similar experiences with this cryptic species. Only then I realized that it was an adult with a juvenile – and the experience took on an entirely new dimension. I was on a Christmas Bird Count and none of the other more experienced birders even attempted to get a good view of it.

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Bears 2012 Experiments Experience 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2012

In June 2012, I had the great fortune to visit Trinidad and Tobago in a group that included birder and artist Matthew Dodder. But for non-artist birders as well, stopping to notice this feature in a bird enriches our birding experience whether we plan on drawing or not.

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Laws Birds Nevada California 205

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Steve Howell has spent decades of experience in the field studying the birds of Belize, Costa Rica, and especially Mexico. Conclusion Birds of Belize and Birds of Costa Rica are both impressive, informative, well-organized field guides, distinguished by the expertise, experience, and talents of their authors. 4 (July 2013), pp.

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Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2020

Especially as we were at the time about to experience a rapidly advancing tropical storm. Even though I had seen these cryptic austral migrants before, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity that was this close to home. Striated Heron in breeding plumage – extra plumes and blue lores.

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Livestock ALA Ducks illegal 202

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

Black-faced Antthrush : Just as the Maya Antthrush sounds different from the birds in Costa Rica, so do the birds in Amazonia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Guyanas. A Black-faced Antthrush from the Amazon. Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner : No not a case of déjà vu.

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Costa Rica Species South America America 204

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Nevertheless, it necessary to combine field experience with museum experience to create a vivid and accurate image of a species. & updated (PUP, 2010); you can find a full list of his publications and listing of number of plates contributed on Dyer’s web site.

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America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 211

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2023

One of the interesting aspects of Trinidad’s nature is that both southern corners of the roughly boot-shaped island are dotted with wetlands. Some weeks ago, I elaborated on some of my experiences on the eastern and southeastern ends. As such, the area is one of the best places to catch a glimpse of a Red-bellied Macaw or two.

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Trinidad Protesting Protesters Protest 149

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Chacachacare (pronounced shaka-shaka-reh ) is the westernmost of the Bocas islands off the northwestern tip of Trinidad. Accessible by boat only, it takes about half an hour to get there from mainland Trinidad. Trinidad and Tobago has a wide array of different habitats, made possible by a unique rainfall distribution.

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Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 170