10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2017

While I know falcons mostly as grim reapers of pigeons, as a beer drinker, I also happily endorse any agricultural implement inspired by the raptor’s most fearsome anatomical feature, particularly when it’s put to good use in the barley mow. A Peregrine Falcon resting on its sickle-like talons, about to put the hammer down.

India 116

India Falcons Austin Farming 116

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

But the jawbone…that was from a bat! Oehlenschlager apologized that he couldn’t say the exact species of bat. It was either a big brown bat or a hoary bat. Oehlenschlager said that because two teeth were missing, he couldn’t give a positive id on the bat.

Bats 203

Bats Dissection Owls Minnesota 203

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

This is where Gila Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Chat meet Squirrel Cuckoo , Bat Falcon , and Black-throated Magpie-Jay. As the sun began to set, a flock of Mexican Parrotlets alighted in a tree with brilliant red bark, and we all noticed a Bat Falcon watching silently from a high perch above all the action down below.

Mexico 191

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 191

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans; Raptor Ridge, 5-Jan. Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus; Raptor Ridge, 5-Jan. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis; Curu, 4-Jan. Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus; Lakeside Catfish farms, 11-Jan. Pale-billed Woodpecker – Campephilus guatemalensis; Curu, 4-Jan.

Costa Rica 260

Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 260

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2017

In Costa Rica, even the super shy Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon is seen more often than the island pigeon with the snow-white cap. The Bat Falcon that joined us for breakfast. . Birds with white on them are much more likely to take the form of goodies like the Snowy Cotinga , or two species of tityras.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Bats Birds 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2019

Those were some interesting additions to a day of birding that also gave us more expected ones like Bat Falcon, Black-collared Hawk, Bare-crowned Antbird , and 125 other species. Despite rain during part of the day, the other teams also did very well and we ended up with a final overall tally of more than 270 species.

Costa Rica 243

Costa Rica Birds Owls Bats 243

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

TRIP LIST ( multiple lists ): White-faced Whistling-Duck, Egyptian Goose, Spur-winged Goose, Helmeted Guineafowl, Heuglin’s Francolin, Mourning Collared-Dove, Vinaceous Dove, Laughing Dove, Black-billed Wood-Dove, Denham’s Bustard, Eastern Plantain-eater, White-browed Coucal, Senegal Coucal, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, Dideric Cuckoo, Alpine (..)

Uganda 185

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 185

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2019

Bat Falcon! During spring migration, we were happy to see several of each of these eastern birds forage in fruiting trees across the street. They were joined by more exotic Piratic and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers.

Costa Rica 156

Costa Rica Barn Owls Birds Parrots 156

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2016

One website I found suggested a few others that may be true but I hadn’t encountered before, are young cranes actually called colts, or falcons eyas? They may be, but the names haven’t caught on. Conservationists pioneering translocation to a safe island managed to save the saddlback , but not the others.

New Zealand 104

New Zealand Parrots Rats Bats 104

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Regardless of whether you think field guide sequences should or should not reflect current evolutionary sequence, it’s comforting and easy to find falcons next to hawks, vireos next to warblers. It starts with water and wading birds and ending with meadowlark, blackbird, and bobolink.^ All plumage variations are clearly labelled.

Costa Rica 212

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 212

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2021

Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans; Tirimbina, 9-Jan. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis; Tirimbina, 9-Jan. Lineated Woodpecker – Dryocopus lineatus; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan. Crested Caracara – Caracara cheriway; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan. Yellow-headed Caracara – Milvago chimachima; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan.

Costa Rica 160

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Woodpeckers 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2017

Or, we might get super lucky and come across an antswarm attended by tinamous, antbirds, antpittas, and a forest-falcon. In the meantime, check the snags for Bat Falcon and watch for soaring Barred Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk , and maybe a hawk-eagle. A White Hawk that was not on the other side of the canyon.

Costa Rica 114

Costa Rica 2017 Birds West Virginia 114

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2022

Dragan has caught up from his adventures in Colombia and the life list has reached 4103.

Sparrows 230

Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots Owls 230

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2012

You see, everyone knows the bats, wolverines, spiders and cats get their turn as well known superheroes, but what about the birds? 5: Falcon Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, holds an important part in comics history as the first African-America superhero in mainstream comics.

DC 222

DC Phoenix Birds Falcons 222

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2012

Little Blue and Tricolored Herons , Snowy , Great , and Cattle Egrets , a Laughing Falcon , Black Vultures, Blue-winged Teal , a Wood Stork , a nesting tree of Montezuma Oropendulas , and Ruddy Ground-Doves were just some of the species we saw on our short train ride into the refuge.

Honduras 158

Honduras Wildlife Monkeys Transported 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

The next morning was our travel day, but we spent a couple of hours with Franklin again, tracking down a Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Striped-headed Sparrows, a pair of Bat Falcons, Laughing falcons, Dusky-caped Flycatchers, Panama Flycatcher, Striped Cuckoo, Rufous-napped Wrens , and a bird that was high on my target list, the Double-striped Thick-knee.

Costa Rica 113

Costa Rica Falcons Mexico Groups 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2021

As such, a parallel post will appear here simultaneously with the year list. As such, a parallel post will appear here simultaneously with the year list.

2020 221

2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2021

289 Barred Forest-Falcon – Micrastur ruficollis. 292 Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. 296 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 297 Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. 289 Barred Forest-Falcon – Micrastur ruficollis. 292 Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans.

Woodpeckers 181

Woodpeckers Sparrows Ducks Parrots 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Photographing the Short-tailed Nighthawks involved exercises firstly in tracking their rapid, erratic and incredibly bat-like flight, and secondly in processing the remaining images once 99.99% were deleted. Once I looked through proper glass however, all doubt was blown to smithereens – it was a Bat Falcon.

Trinidad 130

Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

Birds came fast during the first few hours, including a wide array of classic Neotropical species such as Keel-billed Toucan , Bat Falcon , Bright-rumped Attila , Buff-throated Saltator , and Boat-billed Flycatcher. The following morning, we explored an area of secondary growth and edge near a recently tilled field.

Honduras 213

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

Highlights here (while drinking the thrillingly strong coffee) include Channel-billed Toucan , Crested Oropendola , Turquoise Tanager , Bat Falcon , Barred Antshrike , Blue Dacnis , Green Honeycreeper , Gray-headed Dove , Yellow Oriole , and a suite of hot hummingbirds that deserve their own report.

Trinidad 245

Trinidad South America America Ecuador 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

279 Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus. 483 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 557 Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. 279 Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus. To ring the changes the list has been through the “newest first” filter.

Woodpeckers 202

Woodpeckers Sparrows Parrots Blackbirds 202

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The best bird was one lovely Common Chiffchaff that was very hard to locate in the thick crown of an old juniper tree, followed by one mysterious small falcon. Up the dirt track next to a hilltop church is not particularly productive at this time of year. It disappeared behind a tree in a split second, showing me only its back view.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2018

Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis; Sarapiqui, 1-Jan. Barred Forest-Falcon – Micrastur ruficollis; Arenal, 13-Jan. Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus; Sarapiqui, 7-Jan. Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans; Sarapiqui, 7-Jan.

Costa Rica 155

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Woodpeckers 155

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Jochen managed another amazing bird for his Best Bird of the Year but, once again, managed to miss a picture: This year’s choice fell on the splendid Bat Hawk that flew past me in the early morning light in southern Borneo. the scene where Jochen’s saw his BBOTY – a Bat Hawk. Greg doesn’t bird.

2014 187

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 187

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

The year list remains sluggish at 1489 , but the life list received a boost from the eBird taxonomy reshuffle and now includes 4076 species.

Woodpeckers 198

Woodpeckers Sparrows Blackbirds California 198

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

A Peregrine Falcon launches, ready and willing to utilize the relative invisibility afforded by twilight to bring a swift end to someone’s morning. Much smaller but no less deadly, a Bat Falcon dines on a bat in the mid-morning perched comfortably on a roadside stump. It almost looks as if the bird is underwater!

Trinidad 263

Trinidad Woodpeckers Bats Venezuela 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2021

Checklists came in from 7 countries (USA, UK, Serbia, China, Mexico, Costa Rica and Australia) and brought the year list for 2021 so far to 1143.

Sparrows 156

Sparrows Woodpeckers Blackbirds Ducks 156

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2019

Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans; Carara, 3-Jan. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis; Carara, 3-Jan. Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus; Villas San Ignacio, 7-Jan. Pale-billed Woodpecker – Campephilus guatemalensis; Carara, 3-Jan. Crested Caracara – Caracara cheriway; Carara, 3-Jan.

Costa Rica 113

Costa Rica 2019 Parrots Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

A female Snowy Cotinga , another canopy species, surprised us by swooping down low to feed on fruits at eye level while a Bat Falcon had breakfast on a snag, and a Wilson’s Snip e, a great find, burst into view from underfoot.

Costa Rica 120

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 120

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

We finally arrived at a high bend on the Omo River where a Karo village was perched. The Karo are a numerically small tribe that exist on what is known as “flood retreat cultivation”, tilling the fertile soils deposited by the annual flooding of the Omo River.

Ethiopia 240

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Game 240

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2023

Although the crake was a no-show (surprise, surprise), a Bat Falcon whizzed past. After getting off our boat, we decided to explore some nearby fields to see if we catch get any glimpse of a recently sighted Grey-breasted Crake. On our way out, we saw several Great Black Hawks patrolling the pastures.

Guyana 142

Guyana Trinidad Bats Falcons 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

Of course, various species of bats as well. In a couple weeks I’ll be keeping my ears alert for the flight calls of incoming shorebirds, they shall definitely be followed by a Peregrine Falcon. I’ve noted at least nine species of reptiles and amphibians, even our native opossum and squirrel.

Opossums 264

Opossums Barn Owls Hunting Reptiles 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

Bat Hawk – Macheiramphus alcinus. Barred Forest-Falcon – Micrastur ruficollis. Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus. Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. Lake Mburo NP.

2019 166

2019 Chile Texas Sanctuary 166

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

Collared Forest-Falcon – Micrastur semitorquatus. Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Prairie Falcon – Falco mexicanus. Mendon Ponds Park–Quaker Pond Trail. 01 Jul 2019. PN Carara–Sendero Quebrada Bonita. 14 Jul 2019. Jaco west rice fields.

2019 118

2019 Sparrows Woodpeckers Idaho 118

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Orange-breasted Falcon : Since there aren’t any specimens of this regal neotropical Falco from Costa Rica, we actually aren’t even sure if it used to live here. Hope for a vagrant comes in the form of an Orange-breasted Falcon sighting from west-central Panama.

Costa Rica 217

Costa Rica Species Panama Birds 217

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2020

137 Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. 141 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 142 Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. The year list stands at 1514 with the life list standing still at 4009. 1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna autumnalis. 2 Graylag Goose – Anser anser.

2020 158

2020 Costa Rica Blackbirds Sparrows 158