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 196

Trinidad Birds South America Research 196

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2021

Life behind a screen for this birding guide involves delving into the extensive list of birds of Trinidad & Tobago , answering questions about the birds and possible itineraries and so on. Members of the Parulidae family are typically known to be highly migratory but there are many New World Warblers which aren’t.

Trinidad 259

Trinidad Litter 2020 Groups 259

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

In southern Trinidad, however, there is much more at play than what is immediately discernible. While the P-a-P Wildfowl Trust’s main thrust is the breeding and release of five duck species, the habitat encourages a number of native wetland birds to inhabit and proliferate the area.

Trinidad 262

Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 262

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. It was on the island of Trinidad, at the Aripo Agricultural Research Station, where all of these photographs were taken. Blackbirds are blackbirds.

Blackbirds 166

Blackbirds Trinidad Costa Rica Nicaragua 166

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Not all the birds, of course, but many of the distinctive and conspicuous species. I got a picture and sent it to a birder friend of mine who unforgettably remarked “any woodcreeper is a good woodcreeper” A comment that stirred my interest in the family more than anything. And what a massive bill to boot.

Trinidad 181

Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 181

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.

Trinidad 172

Trinidad Woodpeckers Bears Family 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2022

Having spent all my life in Trinidad, it was the first time I would be stationed away from the island of my birth. Last month I took the boat back to Trinidad as I was booked to guide a trip there for a week and a half. The disparity in species could be stark, for example if one were to bird on different sides of the planet.

Trinidad 257

Trinidad Turkey Squirrels Species 257

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. Obliging species like Grey-headed Kingfisher , Long-crested Eagle , and even a pair of Greater Blue-eared Starlings ensured we didn’t get anywhere quickly.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2020

Many moons ago, when I used to work in the (supposedly) booming petrochemical industry in Trinidad, most of my time was actually spent birding. Although relatively common here they’re notoriously difficult to see well – a phenomenon clearly not unique to this species ! I was thrilled to see a Short-tailed Hawk fly in.

Trinidad 220

Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 220

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 216

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Typical of the species. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. The only harassment came from the resident Red-tailed Squirrel family – which seemed to be more curiosity than anything else, as their nest was just about two feet away.

Trinidad 205

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 205

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Over the course of the following hour or so we observed many different species *coincidentally* alight on the wall near to the body of the fallen yellowlegs. Did the Black-bellied Whistling Duck represent his family, “showing face” as we say here in the Caribbean? Pectoral Sandpiper (L) and White-rumped Sandpiper (R).

Elephants 271

Elephants Ducks Humane Family 271

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

As mentioned in many other posts on this blog, the avifauna of Trinidad & Tobago consists of several species and family groups occurring very interestingly, in threes. Short-tailed Nighthawk (above and below) Overall, this species seems to be poorly known, which is understandable given its habits. Well, kind of.

Trinidad 130

Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2021

Perhaps his first attempt at raising a family – I’ll be checking on him in a few days! Some birds chose to sit quietly together, perhaps getting to know each other’s quirks and habits before settling down to raise a family. Some species have already fledged their young and are in the process of feeding the juveniles.

Raised 264

Raised Breeding South America Family 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2013

And while we didn’t see or hear a ton of species (29 by my tally) there were some pretty darn good birds in that small total. More interesting to the non-birders were the Rufous-tailed Jacamar and Trinidad Motmots that we saw, though they did stay rather distant. We saw several feeding on strangler fig. She was very cooperative.

Trinidad 191

Trinidad Birds Venezuela Protection 191

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. Lesser Yellowlegs can easily be confused with the aforementioned species except when they are standing next to each other.

Fish 241

Fish Family Eggs Humane 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

(The White-tipped Dove is actually called, in Spanish, the Paloma Arroyera , or “Gully Dove” And sorry, I have yet to get a photo of this shy species. Like most of the species on this list, this tiny highland bird prefers to make its presence know by singing, rather than by being seen. You do want to see it.

Trinidad 182

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

states and thirty-seven counties, and added a whopping ninety-two species to my life list. I didn’t travel much this year, with a June family trip to California and Nevada and a four-day trip in July to Trinidad and Tobago being my only opportunities to get birds not in the northeastern United States. My life Gyrfalcon.

2013 174

2013 New York City New York Trinidad 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

Folks want to know what they can see, if it’s worth traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, if they should to to Ecuador for three days or three weeks, or if one should drive to Wisconsin to look for a vireo with white eyes or a blue head. The gray hawks weren’t the only north-south sister species that meet in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 200

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 200

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2013

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. gundlachii ), currently embargoed by the United States, is widely considered a distinct species. The Cuban Black Hawk ( B. The Mangrove Black Hawk ( B.

Chicago 244

Chicago South America 2013 Illinois 244

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2024

Familiar, but beautiful regardless: Blue-headed Parrot Another small parrot species landed on a tree in the distance. It was a Black-headed Parrot , a species that I had meagrely attempted to see in Trinidad once without success. Painted Parakeet As predicted, we were off to a solid start.

Guyana 211

Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 211

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

For the purpose of this post being of a reasonable length, I’m only going to touch on members of the Tyrannidae family of New World Flycatchers which can be found in the cocoa estates of Trinidad and Tobago. Even though they belong to the same family, many flycatchers have different habits. Yellow-breasted Flycatcher.

Trinidad 216

Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 216

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. For birders who have visited T&T in the past, the livestock station has always been a staple site for several key species that would be fairly difficult elsewhere.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Livestock Groups Eagles 264

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. While the 480-odd species recorded within T&T may outstrip our fellow Caribbean islands by leaps and bounds, it pales in comparison to the massive lists of mainland South and Central America. And for good reason.

Trinidad 258

Trinidad Family America Species 258

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. Oftentimes even the uncommon to scarce residents play nice, one can easily view fifteen species on a single visit to the twin island republic.

Trinidad 260

Trinidad South America Venezuela 2019 260

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement. And, then there are the more familiar birds–Wood-warblers, sandpipers, hawks–some species migrants, some species with a wide range. Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 213

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

With that logic those trees, if left to grow, should produce something of use to at least one or two species of birds. It’s been some years since I’ve seen any Short-tailed Hawks as the entire valley is now overrun with concrete – but I’m trying my best to create some sort of oasis for any species.

Opossums 264

Opossums Barn Owls Hunting Reptiles 264

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. Trinidad and Tobago has a wide array of different habitats, made possible by a unique rainfall distribution.

Trinidad 177

Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2019

Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire) and that border is known as the Bond’s line. Within its 400 pages, the Birds of the West Indies covers 712 species, 550 of them regularly occurring and 190 of those endemic to the region, many of them to single islands. If a species is monotypic, this is clearly stated.

Saint Kitts and Nevis 160

Saint Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Dominican Republic Cuba 160

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. 2012 has certainly been a bumper year for me with an estimated year list of around 3,000 species after extensive travels to South Africa, Ethiopia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Russian Far East, United Kingdom, Peru, Guatemala and Panama.

2012 149

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 149