10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

You truly cannot experience the Gray-barred Wren without hearing the raucous calls shared among group members of this highly-social species. White-striped Woodcreeper : Faraaz Abdool recently wrote about Trinidad and Tobago’s wonderful Woodcreepers , and this one is the Woodcreeper of western Mexico’s pine-oak forests.

Trinidad 187

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 187

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Animals obviously see death and experience it as we do, so the question is not one of if, but of how. As far as I am aware, these practices have always involved a member of the family group, the flock – at the very least a member of the same species. Or was it all dumb luck, the randomness of nature at play, pure coincidence?

Elephants 274

Elephants Ducks Humane Family 274

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Steve Howell has spent decades of experience in the field studying the birds of Belize, Costa Rica, and especially Mexico. The inside front covers are the start of four-page pictorial guides to bird families/groups and the pages where they can be found, a quick, easy entry to the identification process (see image above).

Costa Rica 222

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 222

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2020

Just under a fortnight ago, I saw a report on the local bird alert of a sighting of a group of approximately 20 Nacunda Nighthawks at a wetland not more than 20 minutes from where I live. Especially as we were at the time about to experience a rapidly advancing tropical storm.

Livestock 221

Livestock Ducks ALA illegal 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

This bunch of possible Costa Rican crypto birds can be grouped into four main categories: (1). Based on even more recent recordings, it seems that the birds in Costa Rica can probably be placed in the Mangrove Rail group. Two of those vocal groups are shown by birds in Costa Rica and neither of those are heard in South America.

Costa Rica 218

Costa Rica Species South America America 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2020

It was late December, 2012, and I slotted into a sizable group under the joint leadership of two highly respected birders. As prolific as the area was, the group was on the move. The group was significantly smaller, only myself and one other person. Trinidad Lancehead , or Fer-de-lance. “Tayra”, he whispered.

Trinidad 178

Trinidad Livestock 2015 Groups 178

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2020

Far less experience the two in a single morning. Fortunately, I live in Trinidad and Tobago – a twin-island nation that boasts the second highest density of bird species in the world. We later saw another group of 19, and finally a distant flock of 52. We checked a couple locations as the sun rose in the east.

Trinidad 237

Trinidad Pelicans Humane Fish 237

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2023

Those who are familiar with my ethos know quite well that I am very much for the experience as opposed to the payoff. Whether on Trinidad or Tobago, there are few places one can visit where the presence of the sea isn’t felt. This was the roost of a small group of Black-bellied Plovers ; I had observed these individuals before.

Trinidad 147

Trinidad Pelicans Groups Birds 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2022

I don’t know what the experience is like in other parts of the world – so do let me know – but at least here in T&T, some of the absolute best waterbirding can be done at sewage ponds. Some days following that, I linked up with a friend who took us into another set of sewage ponds on a distinctly sunnier morning.

Ducks 218

Ducks Groups Experience Experiments 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

I was just curious what the US birders dream about, so I posted a question in the ABA’s FB group: a) what are the most popular foreign destinations and b) where would you go with unlimited funds? Here are the results: 3 per cent of respondents (in no particular order): Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Tanzania, Madagascar. 21%: Costa Rica.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

’ So, we learn that the gulls in one grouping are all rare, and the gulls in another grouping are part of a “large, cosmopolitan group,” that must be identified through studying structure, upper-wing pattern, and head pattern. SPECIES ACCOUNTS–TEXT.

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2012

In June 2012, I had the great fortune to visit Trinidad and Tobago in a group that included birder and artist Matthew Dodder. But for non-artist birders as well, stopping to notice this feature in a bird enriches our birding experience whether we plan on drawing or not.

Laws 216

Laws Birds California Nevada 216