10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

Birders follow different patterns of bird migration and their local activities and travel accordingly. It illustrates the bird richness per country. 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.

Equatorial Guinea 221

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 221

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

While in Belize back in August one of the outings we signed up for was a boat ride along the Sittee River, a mangrove-lined and placid river that flows into the Caribbean just south of Hopkins. But we pressed on, me with the hope of cool birds, Desi with the hope of crocodiles, and Daisy because she just likes being on boats.

Belize 113

Belize Tigers Birds Butcher 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2021

If the avian realm had self-conscious, talking ambassadors, “spokebirds”, which species would partake in birding conferences? The Accipiters and other bird predators would either have to be prohibited from attending or at least need to be kept separate from the rest of the tasty looking attendees. Tubenoses suck!”).

Costa Rica 259

Costa Rica Belize Guatemala Protest 259

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2022

The birding in Costa Rica is always golden but some days, you really do strike gold. Go birding in the humid, moss decorated forests of the Caribbean slope and the feathered nugget might take the form of a Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Focus on birds in the southern Pacific region and treasure might be a Turquoise Cotinga.

Costa Rica 262

Costa Rica Fish Belize Nicaragua 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

Something has always puzzled me in my years working in the bird feeding industry: why don’t we offer more fresh fruit to birds in our yards? Heck you can even find mixes with heavy fruit flavoring…but why don’t we offer fresh fruit scraps to birds on tray feeders instead? Is it a convenience issue?

Nigeria 252

Nigeria Birds Belize South America 252

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2017

Only, once I got there, I discovered that the coffee, while good, can’t compare to the birds. 1,712 species, 12% of which are endemics. Our group saw over 400 birds on our 15-day tour of the Pantanal, Cerrado and the Amazon (Cristalino Lodge). Oh my gosh! I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Brazil 174

Brazil Birds Los Angeles Tigers 174

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2017

I’ve been back from Belize for several days now and have fully recovered from the chiggers, the sunburn, the sand flies, the rum, and the exhaustion of international travel. (I It wasn’t that the birds that came to the tree were particularly rare or particularly close. This bird stumped me when it flew into the tree.

Belize 104

Belize Woodpeckers Species Family 104

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. In Belize I cruised above reefs few people had ever seen.

Uganda 165

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2016

You see, we don’t just go outside and randomly watch birds during a set day in December. But then we remember that special birding moment when we saw a wood-warbler freezing it out with the rest of us (and thus sacrificing itself for the count) when it should be chasing bugs in Belize. Gulls on the cold Niagara.

Costa Rica 235

Costa Rica 2016 Eagles Belize 235

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2018

A three-day weekend is not nearly long enough to really delve into all of the Yucatan Peninsula’s amazing endemics but I do hope to pick up a few and part of the criteria for the resort we chose had to do with if there was habitat that looked decent for birding. The concept is simple. Those Myiarchus flycatchers can be a real pain.

Mexico 113

Mexico Belize Honduras Science 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2017

Drag some other bird bodily out of a hollow tree and thrash the feathers off them? Once you get back to Belize, you can be yourselves. I get that good nest sites are at a premium, whether you’re in the market for a box along a bluebird trail in Iowa or a ledge overlooking pigeon-rich Central Park. Steal and eat their eggs?

Bald Eagle 101

Bald Eagle Belize Iowa Eggs 101

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) Ironically, this feathered figurehead is neither a bird of prey nor particular distinguished athletically.

St. Louis 196

St. Louis United States Belize Guatemala 196

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2017

We were looking for turtle tracks, but my eyes were drawn to the dozens and dozens of birds feeding and resting as the sun brightened the sky. Looking for turtle tracks (but also birds and shells). Allen is an awesome person to bird with. No, we didn’t find any new turtle tracks, but we did record 18 bird species.

South Carolina 100

South Carolina Turtles Costa Rica Belize 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2013

Not because you generally see many birds while diving, although the experience of seeing shearwaters flying underwater while cage diving, as I once did, was one I think most birders would enjoy. Diving has taken me to places like Belize, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Egypt, places that coincidentally are fun to bird. Kina, or Sea Urchin.

New Zealand 165

New Zealand Goats Vanuatu Fiji 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2017

There are birders who watch hawks and there are hawk watchers who bird. The guide presents 69 species and 1 subspecies, from “NEW WORLD VULTURES: Cathartiformes” to “OSPREY: Pandioninae” to “FAMILY: Accipitridae” (Kites, Hawks, Eagles, Hawk-Eagles), to “FALONIDS: Falconidae” (Falcons, Forest-Falcons, Caracaras, Kestrels, Merlin).

Mexico 184

Mexico America North America Falcons 184

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

The Poor Knights were internationally famous and often turned up in those inevitable lists of “top places to dive&# along with Cocos Island, Sipadan, the Great Barrier Reef, Truk Lagoon, Bikini Atoll and the Blue Hole in Belize. Also present off the wall were the large predatory Kingfish.

New Zealand 195

New Zealand Belize Vanuatu Fish 195

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. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

And, for all our complaints about brown and gray plumages, gulls can be beautiful birds (well, some more beautiful than others, and Heermann’s Gull is one of my favorites, with one N at the end or two). In a birding world that celebrates identification, there are surprisingly few articles and books on gull identification.**

North America 213

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 213

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

Then the fun really started… The eBird interface came back saying that a whopping 251 species needed clarification. For example, we all know that many species had their scientific names changed with lots of familiar genera swapped out. Then again, at 1 in the morning, who cares where Xunantunich in Belize is located.

Arizona 184

Arizona Belize Adoptable ALA 184

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

They are not flying cats nor birds with whiskers. Catbirds are a group of rather distantly related species all named for the fact that they make sounds that remind some of a cat meowing. The Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis is a common bird across most of North America, excepting the far west and northern Canada.

Papua New Guinea 204

Papua New Guinea Ethiopia Guinea Cats 204

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2013

The North Shore of Sydney is, as I’ve often observed, a great place to watch birds. I once visited Crooked Tree in Belize for a few days without hitting any of the great spots because I didn’t really know what I was doing. As soon as I entered the forest from the road the din of these birds was almost deafening.

Albatross 153

Albatross Rats Belize New Zealand 153

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2018

After a brief look at a map, my rough guesstimate is that the territory from Guatemala and Belize south to the Darien gap is roughly equal to New England, or Florida and the eastern parts of Georgia and the Carolinas north to the Virginia line. The Rufous-collared Robin is one of those birds.

Costa Rica 130

Costa Rica Guatemala Birds Nicaragua 130

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2018

Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama make up Central America. Obviously, many (nearly all) of those birds exist outside that relatively small geographic area, up in to North America and down into South America. Species draswings are on the left leaf while descriptions and range maps on the left.

Antigua and Barbuda 115

Antigua and Barbuda El Salvador America Costa Rica 115

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2018

When you compare the species richness not per country, but per square kilometre, that is when you get a more realistic picture, and then those tiny tropical countries rightfully stand out in the spotlights. Mongabay.com has done exactly that. And now you finally know where to travel next. nehrkorni spreading all the way to West Africa).

Rwanda 234

Rwanda Equatorial Guinea El Salvador Costa Rica 234

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2023

What a bountiful year it’s been for birding books! For more on best bird books of 2023, the ABA Podcast will have its annual discussion, including our own Donna Schulman, available for listening in early December. There are plenty more book reviews, as well, on the 10000 Birds blogsite.) Howell and Dale Dyer.

North America 263

North America Birds Europe America 263

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

9 beats, birded 9 countries this month; Belize , Guatamala , Costa Rica, UK, Iran, USA, Greece, Australia and Mexico. They submitted 144 checklists, noting 628 species adding 72 to the year’s running total bringing it to 1890. Those are the numbers, here come the birds; Alphabetic Taxonomic. Green Island.

2017 100

2017 Australia Sanctuary Woodpeckers 100