10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

In southern Trinidad, however, there is much more at play than what is immediately discernible. While enjoying the family of Wattled Jacanas , a female Green Kingfisher flew in to an overhanging branch and sat there for several minutes. There are three Wattled Jacana chicks in this image, but they are designed to remain hidden.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? It is organized taxonomically, with families identified by first scientific and then popular name.

Trinidad 231

Trinidad Birds South America Research 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

I say unceremoniously – but I am using the human metric by which we decide what makes noise and what doesn’t. Did the Black-bellied Whistling Duck represent his family, “showing face” as we say here in the Caribbean? Without so much as a splash, it slipped into the water. A moment of silence for the departed.

Elephants 279

Elephants Ducks Humane Family 279

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.

Fish 264

Fish Family Eggs Humane 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Checklist for Belize lists 622 species in 76 families, of which 104 are rare or accidental and four introduced. Checklist lists 955 species in 86 families, with 152 rare/accidental species, three extirpated species, five introduced species, and nine endemics). Fantasy is the key word here. Doing this work takes time!

Costa Rica 244

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

There is something about a mature rainforest, for example, that cannot be replicated by any human. Humans have altered their habitat for hundreds of years, creating various new habitats that some aspects of nature have come to colonize. Even though they belong to the same family, many flycatchers have different habits.

Trinidad 256

Trinidad Family Abandon Abandoning 256

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2024

It was a Black-headed Parrot , a species that I had meagrely attempted to see in Trinidad once without success. A couple bends along the trail and it seemed as if we were out of human contact by a thousand miles. Fortunately, the parrot family is a raucous one, and before long I heard the rasping vocalisations of my intended targets.

Guyana 244

Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 244