10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2021

In the southeastern end of Trinidad, the Trinity Hills rises above the mostly flat interior of the island. This trio of hills stood out to a certain lost seaman over 500 years ago – who took it as a sign of the Holy Trinity and therefore coined the name La Isla de la Trinidad. The smallest of the three is the Little Hermit.

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Trinidad Family Species Birds 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Continuing here with the series on threes within the avian landscape of Trinidad and Tobago (in case you missed it, T&T has three each of trogons , antshrikes , spinetails , manakins , hermits , honeycreepers , and resident warblers ) we arrive at one of the more difficult species triads to encounter. Stripe-backed Bittern. Least Bittern.

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Trinidad Breeding Family Species 259

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

When out birding, I prefer completely wild habitat. I enjoy birding in cocoa estates especially – as they retain some of the highest percentage of native biodiversity (as compared to other altered habitats). Shade-grown crops have myriad advantages, and naturally, we’re here for the birds. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher.

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Trinidad Family Abandon Abandoning 228

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

In my last post here , I spoke of a rather odd trend permeating the birdlife here in Trinidad & Tobago. These endearing birds are almost always found in pairs or small family groups, and I often have difficulty deciding which bird to photograph as both males and females are equally beautiful.

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Trinidad Bears Family Groups 233

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. Golden-olive Woodpecker.

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Woodpeckers Trinidad South America Hunting 252

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2021

Pandemic life has taught me valuable lessons, many of which are in relation to birds. Usually I would be taking people in the field, showing them loads of birds and we’d be preoccupied with what is in front of us at the particular moment in time. The post An Emerging Trend appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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Trinidad Litter 2020 Groups 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2013

In the new world all meadowlarks and blackbirds, along with grackles, cowbirds, orioles, oropendulas, and some others, are members of the family Icteridae , the New World Blackbirds. If only naming birds were so simple! If you are in Trinidad and are a birder you should definitely make a stop. female Red-breasted Blackbird.

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Blackbirds Trinidad Costa Rica Nicaragua 167

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2024

I contemplated how the birds were able to achieve such acceleration after sleeping all night without an ounce of caffeine. Once the swifts ascended well above the canopy, they began to look like birds again. Meanwhile, the forest edge was awash with birds. The birds were for the most part playing hard to get, though.

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Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 223

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Getting familiar with birds is a process. As a child, poring through the pages of the Encyclopedia of Animal Life (I was gifted this 25 years before I appeared in Audubon magazine myself) birds gripped my attention. Not all the birds, of course, but many of the distinctive and conspicuous species. Streak-headed Woodcreeper.

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Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 190

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Chacachacare (pronounced shaka-shaka-reh ) is the westernmost of the Bocas islands off the northwestern tip of Trinidad. Accessible by boat only, it takes about half an hour to get there from mainland Trinidad. I must ashamedly admit that prior to this mission, I had never been birding on the island before.

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Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 185

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. Howell utilizes the IOC World Bird List (v.11.2, Why are these issues? © 2023 by Steve N.

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Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 227

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2021

For the fifth year in a row, I was assigned the prolific and well-known Aripo Livestock Station at the foothills of Trinidad’s Northern Range. Overzealous might be a word appropriate to describe me on a birding morning – arriving there well before sunrise. But birds (and the thoughts of birds) always prevail in my world.

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Trinidad Livestock Groups Eagles 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2022

The twin-island postcolonial paradise of Trinidad & Tobago celebrates its 60th anniversary of independence today, and as much as I am vehemently anti-nationalist I figured I’d draw some attention to this fact. I was on the fence about including it here, but it is a difficult bird to say no to.

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Trinidad Woodpeckers Bears Family 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

They are one of the most famous families of birds, and for good reason. Trinidad and Tobago has historically had seventeen species on record, sixteen on Trinidad and six on Tobago. This bird – likely a single bird – showed quite well at Yerette for a few days then presumably moved on to better things.

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Trinidad South America Venezuela 2019 263

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. This is an immature bird, as evidenced by the yellow wash on his underparts.

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Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

Birding in Trinidad and Tobago has been likened to an introductory chapter in the book of birding in the Neotropics. Smaller birds are a bit different, and today I decided to touch on the enigmatic and emblematic manakins. When more birds get together, activity intensifies. And for good reason.

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Trinidad Family America Species 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

Going birding is even more of a no-brainer now than before. Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. Violaceous Euphonias (yes there’s more than one bird here). Business as Usual appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 232

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

Shorebirds – or “shorbs” for the cuteness factor (as if that needed any enhancement) – remain one of the most fascinating families of birds for me. It seems like ages ago and almost a completely foreign concept, but once upon a time we used to travel for birding! There is still so much to learn!

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Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2013

When was the last time you birded in the oldest forest preserve in the western hemisphere? He is gregarious, knowledgeable, and eager to get you on the birds, which was a bit difficult for most of the people in my group, which consisted of six people, considering I was the only birder.

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Trinidad Birds Venezuela Protection 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

In 2013 I birded in two countries, submitted eBird checklists for seven U.S. At the beginning of the year I said the following about my goals for the year’s birding: I start 2013 with 297 birds on my Queens Life List , 500 birds on my ABA Life List , and 1,096 birds on my World Life List.

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2013 New York City New York Trinidad 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Yesterday morning was simply one of those incredibly eventful birding sessions, about which I may expound upon in parts within the coming weeks. From genuine rarities to undocumented polymorphism – the magic of birding was truly in full swing. A concrete wall halving one of the ponds was a popular rest spot for several birds.

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Elephants Ducks Humane Family 276

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2012

I’m taking my kids down to NYC to get in touch with their Bronx roots and family. Guess we’ll have to postpone our next epic birding adventure… How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

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2012 Trinidad Birds Family 159

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

However, no matter how one enjoys or takes in interest in the avian side of life, an official list of the birds for a given area is of vital importance. With the rise in birding tourism, bird lists for entire countries have also become increasingly important. Not every list has Great Tinamou on it.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2021

Perhaps his first attempt at raising a family – I’ll be checking on him in a few days! What I’m not looking forward to is the flurry of rare bird reports of elaenias. Some birds chose to sit quietly together, perhaps getting to know each other’s quirks and habits before settling down to raise a family.

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Raised Breeding South America Family 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Even when writing my book with all ardent efforts to remain unbiased; the section on Sandpipers & Allies was by far the longest – surpassing mega-families like Thraupidae and Tyrannidae. Typically birds of the coast, it was a bit odd to see several Willets in this location.

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Fish Family Eggs Humane 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

This has always been a wish of mine, since many of my favorite birds here stand out as much for their songs as for their appearance. And while the the gully-loving White-tipped Dove is a bird that is almost never seen, you had better know its ubiquitous song if you’re going to go birding in Michoacán. Thanks, Clare!

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Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2019

Or How a Serbian Suave Playboy Promoted Birding the Caribbean. Oh, the joys of slipping through the pages of a new book that has just arrived, the Birds of the West Indies by Kirwan, Levesque, Oberle and Sharpe. Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire) and that border is known as the Bond’s line. The year was 1941.

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Saint Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Dominican Republic Cuba 169

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).

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America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

Whether it is birding tourism or simply spreading awareness about biodiversity, it is always with the aim of getting us humanoids to treat nature a little (ideally, a lot) better. As a rule, any tree which sprung up at the fenceline was left alone – as it was highly likely it was planted there by bird droppings.

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Opossums Barn Owls Hunting Reptiles 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2013

Since sports (usually) take a back seat to birds around here, let’s start with Black Hawks. The Common Black Hawk earns its name by being common throughout at least part of its wide range, being black or very dark as adults, and being a hawk in the family Accipitridae. Immature birds are streaked brown and white.

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Chicago South America 2013 Illinois 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 and 2011 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

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2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155