10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2019

With birds bedecked in their breeding best and filling the air with song, this is migration at its loveliest. Threatened by loss of habitat both on breeding as well as wintering grounds, a few species have even become endangered or at least on a perilous track towards that worrisome designation.

Costa Rica 183

Costa Rica Species Belize New Jersey 183

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2014

Let’s say you’re a bird wrapping up your breeding season in the north of Scotland—where do your thoughts turn when winter beckons? the Caribbean islands, and Ecuador and Peru. The researchers theorize that these birds might not be strays from the Scandinavian Phalarope population, but instead perhaps originally from North America.

Iceland 188

Iceland South America Ecuador Stray 188

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. Ecuador (1590 / 1641). It makes me think what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Why am I here? And where all those birds are? Map by BirdLife International. Uganda (987 / 1083).

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

Like a shy stepchild, it’s always eclipsed by the wonders of Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, etc. The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. Plate 97: Andean and partly Andean antshrikes, illustrated by Oscar Tintaya.

Bolivia 174

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2015

Currently endemic to a single valley system in the Andes of Ecuador, this species escaped detection from researchers for thirty years until the rediscovery of a few pairs in November 1998 by Dr. Neils Krabbe. In November 2010, I backpacked for fifty days via the reasonably good bus system in Ecuador.

Ecuador 198

Ecuador California Condor Blackbirds Parrots 198

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

Some remained stored for decades before a researcher would pick them up and inquired about these poorly documented specimens. A Guan was collected in 1876 in a mangrove forest near the border between Peru and Ecuador. This flock is composed of about 54 birds including nine breeding pair.

Collecting 269

Collecting Peru Neglecting Hunting 269

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

Who can forget Mike and Corey’s stories about Maria, the Giant Antpitta at Refugio Paz de Las Aves, Ecuador, or James Currie ‘s quest to see the Scaled Antpitta at Tandayapa Lodge? Many of these accounts include unpublished information from Greeney’s own research.

Research 142

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 142