10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

As I mentioned last week, the world seems to have turned upside down lately, at least here in central Mexico. On Tuesday my closest birding buddies, and, of late, my regular companions, wanted to go down to Paso Ancho. After a devastatingly dry summer (our rainy season), now we are having a surprisingly wet winter (our dry season).

Birds 168

Birds Mexico Shelters Species 168

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. Our company is based in Guatemala but also offers tours in Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico.

Guatemala 256

Guatemala El Salvador Belize Honduras 256

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2015

Back in early March, Andrew Spencer asked me if I would like to go birding in western Mexico with him and another friend in May. Before I knew it, it was late May, and I was on the road in Colima, Mexico with Andrew Spencer and Nathan Pieplow on a birding adventure! I could not refuse. Time flew by.

Mexico 179

Mexico Birds Owls Sparrows 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

I truly do hope I am not tiring 10,000 Birds’ readers too much with my obsession with Michoacán’s ongoing drought, the disappearance of Lake Cuitzeo (Mexico’s 2nd largest lake, in normal years), and our own micro-endemic Black-polled Yellowthroat. But obsessed I am. A Marsh Wren was the first to greet me.

Mexico 229

Mexico Investigation Science Experience 229

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 201

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 201

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

After weeks of preparation (and not writing many 10,000 Bird posts), my wife and I are finally in Spain. And in between, you can stop at the Cazalla Soaring Bird Observatory ( Cazalla Observatorio de Aves Planeadoras ). Our trip to southern Spain is a work trip, so it was a week until I was able to get out and bird in form.

Spain 147

Spain Birds Mexico Eagles 147

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. So I was delighted when the Seminary grounds turned out to host at least 6 of these beautiful birds. We were happy to experience three birds of prey on this jaunt.

Barn Owls 222

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 222

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Birds of Belize by Steve N. Howell and Dale Dyer and Birds of Costa Rica by Dale Dyer and Steve N. Dale Dyer put in years working on his paintings for Birds of Central America , both in the field and in the museum. Two books, two authors, two countries bursting with neotropical avian diversity. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 227

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 227

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

It was apparently all the way back in 2012, when I was first getting back into birding after a 30 year hiatus, that I took a sad little picture, with my sad little camera, of a cute little bird that seemed to not show up anywhere at all in my field guide. My birding buddies from the forum/chat include quite a few more biologists.

Birds 173

Birds Mexico California Spain 173

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

When I got back into birding about six years ago, I would not have predicted the personal bonds a birder can form with certain species. While all birds bring us joy, and we certainly want to see as many as we can, some species just seem more… special. Or, perhaps, they hold a special place in our personal birding story.

Mexico 160

Mexico Birds South America Turkey 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

This is not a birding trip; we are trying to deal with many logistical life issues that have accumulated over the past several years. But will I bird? My only other experience with an Audubon Club field trip anywhere, on a cold October morning in the American Midwest, was frankly kind of a bust. Of course I will!

San Francisco 218

San Francisco California Woodpeckers Experience 218

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2020

I have commented before in my posts that most of our Warblers here in central Mexico never actually warble. But my experience suggests there is a fair amount of geographical overlap between the two ranges in my area. southwest, but it is a permanent resident in western Mexico and parts of Central America.

Mexico 348

Mexico Honduras South America America 348

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2024

There are a few spectacles in the birding community that are high energy, happen quickly, and is worth any effort to experience it. One such experience is a bird grounding event, sometimes called a fallout. However, if the wind blows in from the north, then these poor little birds have much more of a struggle.

Texas 221

Texas Alabama Alligators Nashville 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Now, it is much easier for me to achieve first-time sightings of species in Europe than it is in Mexico, at this point of the game. This bird may be “common”, but it is also stunning. The Lesser Kestrel was another bird I may have seen before, but without proof. But this time, I could.

Spain 188

Spain Mexico Europe North America 188

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

These friends do work similar to that which we do in Mexico, but in much more delicate circumstances. As it turns out, birding can also be slightly delicate in this country. And I have lots of experience with my long lens drawing attention. The Dead Sea wasn’t entirely dead, but the birds there flew by too briefly for IDs.

Jordan 147

Jordan Birds Turkey 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2020

North America is home to many amazing bird species, including several which require a special effort to see and appreciate. These birds also invite one to sites that are unique within the United States – the climate, vegetation, and landscapes all add context and heighten the experience of seeing one’s first Elegant Trogon or Painted Bunting.

America 264

America Arizona North America United States 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

That could be because Mexico’s lowland Tierra Caliente (Hot Country) has a Very Bad Reputation. State department travel warnings, Mexico as a whole has a bad reputation. I have lived in Mexico for almost 37 years, and in Michoacán for 25 years, and yet I have never witnessed a violent crime. Is it safe to bird in Mexico?

Mexico 166

Mexico Colombia Africa Experience 166

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Cedar Waxwings have come back to central Mexico. But in 2020 I personally saw thousands of Waxwings in a dozen or so sites, and every one of my birder friends across the country had a similar experience. Certain kinds of birds, such as finches and Snowy Owls , may go for years without travelling outside of their normal ranges.

Mexico 147

Mexico 2020 2012 Parrots 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Perhaps those people have never had to personally experience increasingly erratic climate patterns. And now, in my long-term home of Michoacán, Mexico, we have experienced a one-year drought unlike anything I have seen in my 30 years here. So when there is no Lake Cuitzeo on which to winter, where do all these birds go?

Ducks 130

Ducks Mexico California Fish 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

So I am writing these words on Tuesday night in my home in Mexico, rather than waking up in Paris prior to flying to Istanbul. My one sighting of the little-known Sinaloa Martin outside of summer had occurred on a 29th of February, and I hoped to repeat that experience. Three years of my experience shows that they most certainly do. (On

Species 164

Species Mexico Jordan Turkey 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

It was only a few years later when I discovered birding. Eventually, I discovered the joy of putting these two pastimes together, by making gardens that are attractive to birds. But there are almost no ways to buy bird-friendly native plants down here in Mexico, so I’m still doing it on the cheap.

Mexico 243

Mexico Collecting ALA Sparrows 243

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 204

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 204

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

Will bird tour agencies, guides, eco-lodges survive? Will the threatened species make it through if there are no birding tourists to make those birds and their habitats valuable to local people just the way they are (as opposed to tropical timber)? What will be left of birding tourism? Colombia 1959 bird species 2.

Uganda 257

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

I was wishing I had a birding buddy with me as a mixed flock overwhelmed my abilities. Suddenly, a large bird, which seemed to have a bright yellow breast and black head, flew overhead to a point behind multiple branches. And then the bird was gone. There are many reasons to take bird photos. They may even fear you.

Mexico 193

Mexico Guatemala South America United States 193

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

In fact, I was already embarrassed two months ago, when the pandemic and at-home duties had forced me to write about the same michoacano birds for a couple of years running. (It’s It’s a good thing that I can access some 300+ michoacano birds! New places, new birds! ” Of course, I birded every moment I could.

Turkey 162

Turkey Spain Mexico Agenda 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2020

If you read my last post, you will know that my last three weekly outings were not overly productive, as far as birds are concerned. But any birder can tell you that a bad day birding is better than a good day almost anywhere else. For me, that has a lot to do with all the beautiful places I get to be, while looking for birds.

Turkey 263

Turkey Birds Elephants Eggs 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2023

July is the month when some of Mexico’s best birders (and I don’t use that term lightly) ask me to take them to the tiny town of Paso Ancho, in the hopes of seeing the ever-so-scarce and little-studied Sinaloa Martin. And what was our first bird seen after getting out of the car? Well, it is July again. Seeing one?

Mexico 155

Mexico Oregon Squirrels Science 155

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2020

Back in 2013, as I was gradually getting back into birding, I found myself trying to ID a tiny bird that had visited my garden. (It Adorable birds, but that’s another story.) Last week, I went birding with Jonathan, one of my chat friends. This Chat winters along the coast of Mexico and throughout Central America.

Mexico 252

Mexico United States 2019 America 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

And I love making my little garden (some 1400 square feet) more attractive to birds. But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. In recent years, I have moved much more in the direction of plants that attract birds.

Birds 159

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 159

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2021

Perhaps the most iconic birds for me here are the Steller’s Jays that immediately greeted me the very first time I first reached the park. They were a fairly common species from my childhood in California, but I had not expected them to turn up in central Mexico. I could swear it was following me.

Mexico 167

Mexico California Species Groups 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2019

This year, on the 21st of December, 2019, Michoacán had its second Christmas Bird Count. Back when I rediscovered birding, about seven years ago, there didn’t seem to be anyone doing serious birding in my corner of Mexico. And… we have an annual Christmas Bird Count! But here we are in 2019.

2019 151

2019 Birds Blackbirds Sparrows 151

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. But you will not see it.

Mexico 144

Mexico Argentina Experience Experiments 144

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

You know how you plan your regular Monday birding outing in spite of a category 2 hurricane making landfall on the coast, 135 miles away, because the rain bands are supposed to finish impacting your area at around 7:00 a.m.? And then the hurricane stalls, and the rain continues until noon, but you go birding anyway? Which I did.

Blackbirds 235

Blackbirds Shelters Ducks Mexico 235

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2019

And yet, the non-birder’s eyes started glazing over at the mere mention of the bird’s call. Rather, I am speaking of what a certain group of birds must experience every day. Of course, birds that are rare, new, or especially beautiful are beloved by most birders.

Mexico 142

Mexico Horses Species Groups 142

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2023

Most years, a day in January of serious birding around Lake Cuitzeo can give me around 85 species. So up north I go, always hoping for a good harvest of year birds. This past January, however, my experience was even better. As a result, we managed to see an even 100 bird species in one day — a record for both of us.

Blackbirds 147

Blackbirds 2020 Ducks Mexico 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2024

Work brings me regularly to Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, northern Mexico. And if you like birding, it’s a good place to spend time before or after meetings and explore. And if you like birding, it’s a good place to spend time before or after meetings and explore. It was David’s first time birding.

Parrots 167

Parrots Woodpeckers Industry Fast Food 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

They also remind me why I love birding in Michoacán. I would love to know how the order spread across these regions, since that spread must have involved either crossing oceans or the frigid regions that these birds avoid. Both are large, stocky birds, with a large head and long, squared-off tail. Those are good numbers.

Mexico 194

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 194