10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Very few birds – or animals for that matter – would plunge head-first into the churning cauldrons of some of South America’s most treacherous rivers. Otun Quimbaya remains a very good place to view this highly enigmatic and entertaining species. Torrent Ducks are the thrill-seekers of the avian world.

Ducks 267

Ducks Colombia South America Squirrels 267

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2013

This photo could have been taken in Florida’s Treasure Coast during the winter months or in South America during the same period. And by similar, I mean the species and abundance of shorebirds and gulls. In Florida, there is a resident small gull, two species of large gulls, and one species of gull that is abundant.

Chile 224

Chile Peru South America Florida 224

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2020

The first, A Guide to the Birdsong of South America , was released in 2015 and helped raise nearly $15,000 for a pair of non-profit environmental organizations in South America; Aves Argentinas and the Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco in Ecuador.

Costa Rica 277

Costa Rica Nicaragua Cuba Mexico 277

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2014

Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the “Rufa” population of Red Knot ( Calidris canutus rufa ) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 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

OCTOBER 10, 2020

but there are other birds, many stopping to stay, many others moving to South America. At the moment, night excursions to Poas are limited by pandemic driving restrictions but I can still surmise about the species flying overhead. In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead. Cuckoos are up There. Scarlet Tanagers.

Costa Rica 279

Costa Rica South America Colombia Paraguay 279

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 224

South America San Diego Mexico America 224

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Trinidad and Tobago has historically had seventeen species on record, sixteen on Trinidad and six on Tobago. Oftentimes even the uncommon to scarce residents play nice, one can easily view fifteen species on a single visit to the twin island republic. Most of these are common residents and can be seen all year round.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad South America Venezuela 2019 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Greater Rheas, a species the Germans call Nandu, are very popular in Germany and frequently kept in zoos as well as private enclosures. The Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (equivalent to e.g. the AOU) only considers species as established after they’ve survived in the wild for more than 3 generations (amongst other criteria).

Germany 263

Germany 2000 South America Birds 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

Yet, I was not aware of any of Arjan’s big year updates in English, so I had no clue where he was or how many species he managed to see. After 3 months of South and Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia, Arjan’s count stood at 2,060 species. And I wanted to learn about his travels in detail.

Papua New Guinea 264

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname Brazil 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

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). I have now seen the species in eight different years. Of course, Paso Ancho is also a hotspot for many other beautiful species and endemics.

Mexico 246

Mexico South America 2020 America 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

As a hanger-on of my wife’s family I find myself this week in Aruba, one of the ABC islands just off the coast of northern South America. Is it it’s own species? While Caribbean has many great and wonderful birding islands, Aruba isn’t really one of them. Where others are lush, it’s dry.

South America 208

South America Netherlands America Sparrows 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

And what does it tell us, other than the obvious “head for South America” or perhaps Indonesia? It divides countries into categories, where the next category has 200 more species. Shown as a list, it looks like this: Less than 200 bird species: Antarctica; oceanic islands. 801-1000 sp. – 1201-1400 sp: Venezuela; China.

Equatorial Guinea 236

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Central African Republic Guyana 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2022

The exploration of triads within the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago has taken me through various families and species groups on this blog. On the smaller island of Tobago there are three species of woodpeckers and three species of woodcreepers – one of each is found on Tobago but not Trinidad. Red-crowned Woodpecker.

Woodpeckers 264

Woodpeckers Trinidad South America Hunting 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Decades of land transformation and hydrological changes resulted in the decline of the only species of apple snail native to Florida and the kite population followed suit. 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.

Florida 247

Florida South America Bolivia Eggs 247

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Twenty two species are distributed among six genera, depending on what happens to be extinct, and for the most part one grebe is like another. This makes Grebes vulnerable to climate change and the predation of invasive species. It is easy to see how Minks set lose in a welcoming habitat could eat an entire species.

2010 236

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 236

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2011

Not all bird species are equally spectacular. Male Sword-billed Hummingbird at Yanacocha Reserve The Sword-billed Hummingbird ( Ensifera ensifera ) is a South American hummingbird found at high elevations (1700-3600m) in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia.

Bolivia 250

Bolivia Venezuela South America America 250

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2014

New studies find that: when birds migrate from the Arctic to South America, fragments of mosses, fungi, and other “diaspores” hitch a ride (and a similar phenomenon may have spread acacia trees from Hawaii to an island in the Indian Ocean); caterpillars which feed on many different types of plants are more attractive meals for birds than caterpillars (..)

Israel 235

Israel Science Hawaii South America 235

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2014

What happens when you visit one of the best birdwatching sites in the region with the highest number of endemic bird species in the Americas in the world’s birdiest country? We spied 11 tanager species including the highly coveted Black-and-gold Tanager. Your mind gets blown. But the birds we did see were stellar!

Colombia 268

Colombia South America Birds America 268

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

There is another area of the Queens County CBC where a team will also likely see Monk Parakeets , Myipsitta monachus , but I am seriously determined to count that bird for my area, Coastal Flushing, a section of northeast Queens, New York, that includes Whitestone, home of one of the loudest invasive bird species in the U.S. And cell towers.

Chicago 243

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2013

Southwest all the way down through Central America to parts of South America and the Caribbean. gundlachii ), currently embargoed by the United States, is widely considered a distinct species. anthracinus subtilis ), on the other hand, was a formerly distinct species now absorbed back to the Common core.

Chicago 255

Chicago South America Illinois 2013 255

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

The Buller’s Mollymawk is an endemic breeder to New Zealand, although it ranges widely away from the islands to feed, and regularly goes to South America’s Humboldt Current to feed. As albies go they seem to be doing better than most species, and are only listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

Albatross 252

Albatross New Zealand South America Breeders 252

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

This species loves to sing while high up in pine trees. But I was delighted to see a Black-chinned Sparrow near the shore; this is only my eighth sighting of this species. With 60 mostly-high-quality species on my first visit, you bet I will! It’s a rare treat to see a Mexican Violetear low enough to give a good view.

2020 323

2020 Reptiles South America Birds 323

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially –especially when reviewing books like A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia or Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds.

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2013

Does the word define a species within country terms, regional terms etc? Is the term defined at the sub-species or full species level in terms of classification? The species must be listed as a separate, full species by both of the most widely used ornithological bird lists, Sibley/Monroe and Clements.

South Africa 247

South Africa Birds South America Feral Cats 247

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2012

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 213

New Jersey North America Chile South America 213

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2011

House Wrens are found from Canada to the southern end of South America which makes them the most widespread bird in the Western Hemisphere, though there are several potential or rejected splits. There is also a variety of races of House Wren in the Lesser Antilles that may end up as an additional or several additional species.

Mexico 245

Mexico South America Arizona North America 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2020

Birders normally care about species and make species lists, how do families fit into those? Adding more species brings a lot of excitement, as long as you bird your own country or a continent. 11,000 species require lots of money and a good portion of one’s life. That gamble is rigged, so the house always wins.

Family 299

Family Birds South America Breeding 299

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

More than 20 species are recognized, many look similar and to throw a bit more challenging flavored sauce into the Megascops mix, there might be a few more species awaiting description. One of the more recently, officially recognized screech-owl species is the Choco Screech-Owl.

Costa Rica 252

Costa Rica Owls Panama Argentina 252

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2012

Colombia is not only home to nearly 20% of all avian life on the planet but this birding mecca also accommodates an incredibly high percentage of highly sought after species. Nearly 80 species are endemic and found nowhere else in the world. But we just could not ignore the plentiful antpitta species too.

Colombia 262

Colombia Ecuador South America North America 262

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Gray Kingbird perched on a Gumbo Limbo Tree, another typical West Indian species native to South Florida. Although a reasonably common species in southern Florida, Gray Kingbird is especially abundant in the West Indies where even islanders not interested in birds are very familiar with this species.

Dominican Republic 253

Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Miami Florida 253

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2015

Growing up in South America, I distinctly recall the arrival of “the swallow with a deeply forked tail”. They fly from extreme northern North America to the southern tip of South America and are seldom seen perched during migration. I later learned about the Barn Swallow’s amazing annual migration.

South Dakota 183

South Dakota South America North America Wyoming 183

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 264

Mexico Nicaragua Lamb Sparrows 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2014

I was happy to read that the wood stork ( Mycteria Americana ), a bird near and dear to me, was down-sited from the status of endangered to threatened species. Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, birds in the U.S. Photo: U.S.

North Carolina 240

North Carolina Bald Eagle South Carolina Florida 240

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

from South America. Mitred Parakeets are native to southwestern South America. They are a temperate zone species, found at high elevations, so they are somewhat cold-adapted. Mitred Parakeets have been seen in New York since at least 1984, mostly in southwestern Nassau County and Queens.

New York City 246

New York City Los Angeles New York South America 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

The idea is that some finches from what is now Ecuador ended up on the Galapagos Islands, and subsequently diversified into a number of different forms … they speciated … filling various niches that on the mainland would have been filled by a number of different species. I’d like to outline what a couple of these things are.

Tortoises 243

Tortoises South America Panama Culling 243

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. All alcid species alive today can fly, but with difficulty.

Penguins 266

Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 266

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2021

In Costa Rica, with around 50 hummingbird species on the list, we have our fair share of minute feathered stars. I feel fortunate to see one or more of this species on a daily basis. Being smaller than the other species, it seems to sneak in and out of their territories. Cinnamon Hummingbird. Plain-capped Starthroat.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica South America Arizona Species 264