10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2013

The male (seen below) has a black cap and, in Washington, Oregon, California, and Baja California, nearly all males have green backs. Eastward, frequency of individuals with black on auriculars, neck, and back increases; southward into Mexico, nearly all adult males have completely black upperparts 1.

California 165

California Species North America Oregon 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For most avian migrants heading south towards Mexico, Central and South America, crossing thru the Arizona desert areas can provide very few water, food and resting areas. If they are passing thru Pima County, and the Tucson area, Arivaca Lake is the last stop for water before crossing the US/Mexico border.

Mexico 132

Mexico Tucson Arizona Ducks 132

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2022

During the third quarter of 2022 (July, August, and September), the Collaborative submitted 212 checklists from 3 countries ( Australia , Costa Rica , Mexico , and the United States ). July: 81 checklists and 318 species. August: 54 checklists and 195 species. September: 82 checklists and 259 species.

San Diego 153

San Diego Costa Rica United States Cooking 153

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2024

In between now and then, I will spend a week and a half in California, in the land where birding may mean walking on paved paths, or even on a wooden boardwalk built through the middle of a salt marsh. But once I get back home to Mexico, I will be climbing hills on livestock trails once again. Going to the gym brings me no joy.

Birds 199

Birds Livestock Sparrows Mexico 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Now that we have returned to our adopted home of La Paz, Mexico, our bones are starting to thaw out from the trip to chilly Seattle. This small bit of arid land that has been set aside to display, and preserve the various species of cactus from this region is about a 45 minute drive from La Paz. Ahh, what a difference a week can make!

Mexico 100

Mexico Sanctuary Seattle Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2013

Southern California is loaded with parrots. Many escapes and introductions have taken place over the years and some species have found the warm, dry climate to their liking. Quite a few species are well-established and breeding from San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond. Skylarks in Brooklyn , anyone?

Parrots 218

Parrots California Los Angeles San Diego 218

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Some 50 species of salvias grow in Michoacán, according to one estimate. And I have personally observed 16 species of hummingbirds in the state. Like Salvia mexicana , this species is common in open areas close to (and in) Morelia itself; but it loves steep slopes, while S. I don’t know the latter’s species.

Mexico 223

Mexico California Morals Species 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2022

Well, it was a good run… I managed to write four weekly posts about the five days I spent in California last month. And if you must return to the same old, same old, it’s not bad if that same old can be central Mexico. I managed to see 38 species that day, a pretty average number for a summer outing in my area.

Mexico 147

Mexico California Squirrels Woodpeckers 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

Clapper Rails , as currently defined by the AOU, occur along the coasts of North and South America and Caribbean islands, and inland in southern California and Arizona. King Rails occur widely in eastern North America, in eastern and central Mexico, and in Cuba. The photo above, one of mine, shows a Clapper Rail in Louisiana.

Species 218

Species North America Cuba Louisiana 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2023

I, however, am still a California boy, in spite of not living in that state for four decades now, and I still keep track of the weather there. There seems to be two kinds of California weather these years: those with half the normal rain and historic wildfires, and those with 50% more rain than normal, and historic flooding.

Ducks 130

Ducks Mexico California Fish 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2021

That highest spot is in the middle of Mexico’s Cerro de Garnica National Park. My first visit there, in June of 2014, was short and apparently just good enough to make me want to go back again, with a mere 12 species seen. My visit the next month produced 20 species; but many of them were great ones!

2014 188

2014 California Mexico Rights 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

Any California-raised person knows that it just doesn’t rain in California in June. After all, in California in June, how much could it rain? It would have been a typical rainy California day for, say, the month of January, with steady drizzle punctuated by more substantial showers. Should I go anyway?

San Francisco 147

San Francisco San Jose California Battery 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2024

In fact, the overwhelming majority of federal land is in just 11 western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). BLM land is particularly important for conservation of the Greater Sage-Grouse and other sageland species.

Virgin Islands 208

Virgin Islands Alaska United States Endangered Species 208

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2022

Jonathan is originally from San Blas on Mexico’s west coast, a birder’s paradise I have yet to visit. Jonathan also works as a birding guide up in Baja California, if anyone is interested.). With so few birding “boots on the ground”, many of Mexico’s best spots are yet to be discovered.

San Diego 249

San Diego Turtles Mexico Sparrows 249

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2022

My recent brief trip to California made this strategy especially easy. First, California is two time zones further west, so I was able to get out the door at 8 a.m. We were going to get together with my niece on our last evening in California, but she cancelled. California is weird. San Mateo time).

San Francisco 147

San Francisco California Battery Ducks 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

When I was a young man growing up in Northern California, I thought I knew all about Juncos. Then I moved to central Mexico, where I discovered that Juncos are actually crazed psychopaths who are clearly plotting your death. Juncos in most of Mexico are of the Yellow-eyed Junco species.

Mexico 188

Mexico California Sparrows Owls 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2023

Pelee National Park – Ohio Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge – Texas These locations offer a variety of habitats including marshes, wetlands, forests, coastal areas, and deserts, attracting numerous bird species throughout the year. Please note that the availability of specific bird species may vary depending on the season.

United States 162

United States Michigan Texas Virginia 162

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

To the relief of Mexican birders everywhere, this species was split several years later into two species; the black-and-white eastern race is now Morelet’s Seedeater , and the more colorful western race is now the Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater. What I didn’t know was that this is a very special species.

Birds 165

Birds Mexico California Spain 165

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2021

As of mid-November 2021, the Collaborative had submitted more than 4,200 checklists (up from 1,700 in 2018) and has observed 691 species in the United States (up from 618). Thus, there are now seven states with 200+ observed species. The state with the largest increase was Arizona , with 139 species added.

United States 197

United States West Virginia Puerto Rico Minnesota 197

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

The most common one, Manila tamarind, is wildly inaccurate, since the tree is native to southwestern Mexico, not Manila, and its only connection to tamarind trees is that both are in different subfamilies of the huge legume family. I first met the tree in Baja California, where it is known as guamúchil (gwa-MOOCH-eel), so I will call it that.

2016 274

2016 2020 Mexico California 274

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2021

That is because this site’s height of 3,000 m (about 10,000 feet) offers me certain species that I can’t add to my year list anywhere else. They were a fairly common species from my childhood in California, but I had not expected them to turn up in central Mexico.

Mexico 162

Mexico California Species Groups 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2019

The Yellowthroat group is an odd collection of bird species. The one migratory species, aptly named the Common Yellowthroat , can be seen almost anywhere in North America. Both are marsh-dwelling species. The first can be found from Mexico to Panama, while the second is endemic over a fairly large part of eastern Mexico.

Mexico 192

Mexico Bahamas South America Panama 192

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

American White Pelicans spend their winter months along the Gulf states, California, parts of Arizona, and Mexico down into Central America. No matter how many times I see them, this particular species remains breathtaking. I’m talking, of course, about “my” flock of American White Pelicans.

Pelicans 227

Pelicans United States Canada Arizona 227

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2019

I am originally from California, so it is easy for me to deal with a geography defined by a low coastal mountain range, a central valley, and a much higher inland range (in California, the Sierra Nevada). But for the past 25 years, I have lived in Mexico’s state of Michoacán.

Mexico 114

Mexico Birds Nevada Sparrows 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2022

The week on the cusp between March and April was the first week in which failed to pick up any FOY species for the year 2022. This following week, in which I did take a longer trip, I again picked up four FOY species.). That might be why Mexico has one on its flag.

Blackbirds 182

Blackbirds Germany Sparrows Adoptable 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Plus a few truly difficult species. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. I do not have a life list for those birds I saw in my youth, 45 years ago, in California. Mexico has a good number of greenish or rusty Woodpeckers. So seeing this beautiful (though common) European species was a special treat.

Austria 146

Austria Spain 2019 Birds 146

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2019

Paul Lewis moved from California to Mexico 36 years ago. He lived first in Mexicali, and now in the historic city of Morelia–about halfway between Guadalajara and Mexico City–where he and his wife pastor a small church. Sorry, this photo is actually from the next state over (Lake Zempoala, Mexico state).

San Francisco 116

San Francisco Mexico Turkey California 116

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

I am in communication with birders all over Mexico, and almost everywhere, they have been reporting groups of Cedar Waxwings. Although they were a yearly sight during my youth in California, I had only seen them once in all my years birding in Mexico. Surprisingly, both were FOY (first-of-year) species.

Woodpeckers 189

Woodpeckers Nashville Mexico ALA 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. After an initial period when all species are new, the lifers begin to follow a pattern. Thus, I can pinpoint my first pelagic trip, as it added 13 new species. Birding trips to Florida , New Mexico , and Texas are obvious too.

Puerto Rico 146

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 146

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2015

Mexico is the best country in the world for jays. More species of jays can be found here than in any other country on earth. Sixteen resident species to be exact. This species is also called Dickey’s Jay in reference to Donald Dickey who had a life-long fascination with the birds of north-west Mexico.

Mexico 161

Mexico Ecuador Peru Science 161

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

I’ve taken tours out of Monterey Bay (with pelagic legend Debi Shearwater , now retired) and Half Moon Bay, California ; Newport, Oregon ; and Hatteras, North Carolina. Additionally, there are still a few regularly-occurring Pacific pelagic species that I have never seen. Then we headed back.

San Diego 147

San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 28, 2014

Hecho en Mexico. What better way to start the year than with a visit to Mexico? Many gringos make their way to Baja California Sur every year, although the majority are probably heading to Cabo San Lucas to party and test the human limit of tequila endurance. Destinations Baja California Sur I Am Birder Mexico'

California 219

California San Jose Birds Mexico 219

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2024

Last week, I returned to Morelia, Mexico, my home for the past 30 years, from twelve days in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I spent my childhood and teenage years. This considerable distance is why I am always surprised to see so many of the same species in both places. While in California on this trip, I saw 75 species.

San Francisco 137

San Francisco California Mexico Advocacy 137

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2017

These 12 images must be decided upon by November 1st, in order to get them to the printer in the US, printed, and then shipped back to me here in Mexico. California Quail. This process starts out with about 60 photos. Then the culling process begins. First cut, second cut, third cut, and then, the final. Least Grebe. Varied Bunting.

2017 124

2017 Culling 2016 Birds 124

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2017

Spring is in the air, and all around the Baja desert I am seeing a plethora of species, all looking for love, in what appears to the right places. A member of the small Ptiliogonatidae family of silky-flycatchers, of which there are only three other species besides our local Phainopepla , Phainopepl nitens.

Costa Rica 105

Costa Rica Panama Nevada Guatemala 105

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

My area of central Mexico has a true monsoon climate. I don’t consider my little garden to be a terribly birdy patch, although years of observation have resulted in my seeing 59 species there (64, if you count the White-throated Swifts , Black and Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks and Common Ravens that may fly high overhead).

Nashville 167

Nashville 2015 Mexico Turkey 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Heermann’s Gulls form large breeding colonies on arid islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from March through July. With the breeding colony concentrated on one small island this species is vulnerable to a catastrophic weather event. You know what one of my favorite things is about bird blogging?

San Francisco 158

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 158