10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2024

The fact that Mexico recently abandoned daylight saving time has made this problem more serious.) A brief mixed flock experience included this Grace’s Warbler , which is one of our relatively few resident warblers down here. (In A family of endemic juvenile Spotted Wrens really knew how to show off their warm brown colors.

Abandoning 246

Abandoning Abandonment Abandon Mexico 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment for we denizens of the New World to spend an entire week celebrating what is surely the coolest family of birds in the world, a family that is sadly absent from the Old World, but it can’t be helped. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 230

United States South America Cooking 2011 230

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Here in the highlands of central Mexico, we can see (rather easily, as I mentioned above) two trogons: the Mountain Trogon , and the Elegant Trogon.

Mexico 247

Mexico Indonesia Arizona North America 247

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

It’s a rush any new birder experiences: that of every species being a lifer. Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. Which is why we all eventually turn to the one way to combine old-birder experience with new-birder opportunities: travel.

Spain 214

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

Last week, I failed to produce a post, because I was getting ready to spend a week in Mexico’s tropical state of Tabasco. We were happy to experience three birds of prey on this jaunt. There is also a family of Barn Owls on the premises, and I have briefly seen the largest of them (enormous!) flying by at night.

Barn Owls 246

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 246

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. One of these islands may have been the present day Northern Central American Highlands which includes Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and parts of extreme southern Mexico (Chiapas). This is a fascinating area of transition.

Honduras 254

Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 254

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Although, technically, I mostly felt your pain… for the past four months, while about a dozen beautiful migratory Wood Warblers were nowhere to be found here in central Mexico. What my previous experience had not prepared me for, was that this summer I would see many of those species for the first time all at once.

Mexico 227

Mexico Nashville Virginia Shelters 227

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

We all have them: families of birds that are maddeningly similar, forever leaving nagging doubts about our identifications. Someday I will get up the nerve to write about the ten, yes, TEN Empidonax species I believe I have seen in my little corner of Mexico. New World Warblers in non-reproductive plumage. As is this one.

Mexico 178

Mexico Argentina Groups Experiments 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2019

” So, it is established: this is a film about migrant birds and the people who work to protect them in south Texas and northern Mexico. The experiences of children observing birds, touched on in the U.S. Birders is directed by Otilia Portillo Padua of Mexico, and was funded by a grant from the Sundance Institute.

Advocacy 268

Advocacy Mexico United States Sanctuary 268

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

It’s not clear how many of the plates have been touched up, redrawn or are new, and I hope we’ll learn more about the process, perhaps when the third book in the series by Howell and Dyer, a new guide to the birds of Mexico, is published.* Why are these issues? For context, the IOC version 13.1

Costa Rica 246

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

Its native range stretches from the southern Pacific coast of Mexico south to northwestern Costa Rica, where it is an inhabitant of arid to semihumid woodland and open areas with scattered trees. The young followed the parents around in small family groups well after they had fledged.

Miami 204

Miami Costa Rica Florida 2005 204

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 161

United States South America 2011 2012 161

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

In other words, millions of people got together with family and friends for a cozy day of mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, naps, football, and some serious turkeyliciousness. The turkeys I’m talking about up in here are three of the five members of the Cracidae family that occur in Costa Rica. Ain’t I great?

Costa Rica 189

Costa Rica Turkey Ecuador Hunting 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

This video by Kathi Borgmann shows an army ant swarm in Mexico. Sixteen species within the antbird family (Thamnophidae) are considered true obligate army ant followers. A bite from an army ant can really pack a punch; I speak from experience. One of our best was in the lowlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

San Diego 235

San Diego South America Costa Rica America 235

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s relatively easy to classify birds into family groups based on physical characteristics. We view them as our enemies when they eat our crops and as an extension of our family when we see them at our feeders. Remarkably, there are 59 bird families that have very little cultural significance; these are listed in Appendix III.

Egypt 244

Egypt Birds Albania Eagles 244

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

A surplus of quality birding experiences kept me from making my reports, which is embarrassing. I will start by telling you about encounters in Turkey with two special bird families. I really should have encountered these families in Mexico, as they both occur here. So writing for you fine folks fell by the wayside.

Spain 162

Spain Turkey Mexico Agenda 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2011

Mike Freiberg grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where his family introduced him to the world of birding. As his passion for birding grew he decided to travel Latin America; he has spent time in Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and a great deal of time in Brazil. Over time the hobby grew into a career. in Animal Ecology.

Venezuela 160

Venezuela Brazil Iowa Guatemala 160

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

The birds that I have experience with, like some of the raptors, wading birds, shorebirds, and tanagers, are all true-to-life in color, shape, and proportions to say nothing of being pretty paintings, if slightly sterile on the standard plain white background. of species of bird that birders the world over desperately want to experience.

Brazil 249

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Deer 249

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2011

Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species. Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

Tigers 164

Tigers United States Jamaica Pennsylvania 164

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2018

In a little less than two weeks my family and I will be enjoying a long weekend on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Having never birded in Mexico at all I was initially concerned about identifying the myriad species that can be seen. Hopefully, I’ll do better than 85% correct when I’m in Mexico.

Belize 129

Belize Mexico Honduras Science 129

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. It is not that close of a relative of the Northern Mockingbird , being in the same family, but a different genus. Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls will also sometimes do so.).

Trinidad 203

Trinidad Transported Mexico Emotional 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2014

For others, it is the desire to have a different birding experience from home without needing a passport. Every year, birders in both of these states find species more typical of Mexico (and sometimes within plain sight of Mexico!)

Thailand 172

Thailand China 2013 Birds 172

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. One field guide, seven countries. Text is on the left, plates are on the right.

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

That larger clade is in turn sister to a clade containing the four remaining totipalmate bird families, which do still seem to be related, and which needed a new order name once pelicans were removed. But meanwhile, let’s look at the four avian families that comprise the brand new order Suliformes.

2011 178

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea California 178

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

In August, we took a family trip to beautiful San Diego, seeing SeaWorld , LegoLand , and the San Diego Zoo. On August 13, 2022, I woke up early, snuck out of the hotel room without waking the rest of the family, and was at Seaforth Landing on Mission Bay by 7:00 a.m. Exactly how that cartographic alchemy works, I do not know.

San Diego 147

San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

The chapter on “Capturing Bird Behavior” (my favorite) gives detailed examples of behavior cues and sound cues to look and listen for in anticipation of interesting preening, courtship, and family behavior. In other words, if you value this type of bird photography, it is most probably worth it. The last two chapters point us to the future.

Birds 203

Birds Ethics 2019 Puffins 203

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2023

This past January, however, my experience was even better. Here are some of the factors that allowed us to pass the century mark in a single morning: Winter : If you want to rack up the species in central Mexico, you should bird here in the winter, when northern species have come down for their off season.

Blackbirds 147

Blackbirds Ducks Mexico 2020 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2011

Kirby Adams had a magical experience with his Best Bird of the Year and he blogged about it on his blog, Sharp Tern. My family also farms so that limits places we are able to go throughout the year. A whole bunch of you responded and shared your best birds either in blog post form, email form, or in our comments.

2011 167

2011 Ohio North Dakota Bald Eagle 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

John Schmitt, who illustrated Raptors of Mexico and Central America amongst many other books and magazine articles. The Checklist is more than a taxonomic listing of species and chapter number and title; it also contains useful notes on each bird family. It’s spelled this way, all caps, because that is the official name.).

North America 121

North America Birds Prairie Dogs Barn Owls 121

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. Like all talented travel writers, Dunn is adept at drawing us into his experiences.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Bolivia Ecuador 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

Catbirds are not the unfortunate result of unwise experiments with radioactivity. Birds called catbirds include two species in the New World family, Mimidae, four from the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, and one from the Old World babblers, Timaliidae. We can start first with what catbirds are not. So what are catbirds?

Papua New Guinea 231

Papua New Guinea Ethiopia Guinea Belize 231

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Marybeth learns as she birds, embraces listing goals as a means of engaging with community, unabashedly enjoys a little competition, struggles to balance her absolute joy in birding with unexpected, life-and-death family obligations. The book focuses on two listing events: her 2012 Louisiana Big Year and her 2016 Louisiana 300 Year.

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2020

While I don’t have a lot of experience with tropical terns, I believe that narrows it down to Sandwich Tern ( Thalasseus sandvicensis ), a bird that – while still quite rare in the Northeast – seems to be occurring with greater frequency , along with an increasingly northward incursion of Royal Terns ( Thalasseus maximus ).

Squirrels 221

Squirrels India North America America 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. The book does not include House Sparrow, an Old World sparrow that belongs to a completely different bird family. Mexico border.

North America 196

North America Sparrows America United States 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

These friends do work similar to that which we do in Mexico, but in much more delicate circumstances. And I have lots of experience with my long lens drawing attention. And it offered up another taxonomic family I had longed to meet, with my first bee-eater , an Arabian Green Bee-eater. And yet, concerned they were.

Jordan 147

Jordan Israel Birds Turkey 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. I wrote about the experience here. There are three principle reasons for my choice: First of all, it’s a cuckoo, one of the great families that rival owls and rails in my affection. Secondly, well just look at it.

2012 196

2012 Guatemala Birds Florida 196

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

I should add that the Big Owls taking over NYC social and even hard print media, dominating conversations with my nonbirder friends and family, are not the only owls in the five boroughs, but like a musical, the closer you are to Broadway, the closer you are to fame and fortune (and maybe even a higher quality rodent for dinner, who knows?).

New York City 251

New York City Fox Owls California Condor 251