10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2022

The exploration of triads within the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago has taken me through various families and species groups on this blog. On the smaller island of Tobago there are three species of woodpeckers and three species of woodcreepers – one of each is found on Tobago but not Trinidad. Golden-olive Woodpecker.

Woodpeckers 237

Woodpeckers Trinidad South America Hunting 237

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

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 257

Trinidad Litter 2020 Groups 257

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 260

Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 260

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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. Very soon, the other members of this unique family were on my radar. Streak-headed Woodcreeper. And what a massive bill to boot.

Trinidad 177

Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 177

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. If you’re into frogs, that is.

Trinidad 167

Trinidad Woodpeckers Bears Family 167

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. Trinidad Piping-Guan. What would it be like? So this is a strange, and very niche version of a trip report!

Trinidad 252

Trinidad Turkey Squirrels Species 252

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. Golden-crowned Warbler is one of the three resident warbler species on Trinidad. Bay-headed Tanagers. Turquoise Tanager. Violaceous Euphonias (yes there’s more than one bird here).

Trinidad 214

Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 214

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. The first post I ever prepared for this blog centred around a search for a vagrant Curlew Sandpiper here in my native Trinidad.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

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. I hadn’t noticed this until I began compiling my own book on the birds of T&T some years ago, and I thought it rather uncanny.

Trinidad 130

Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

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. Typical of the species.

Trinidad 200

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 200

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2013

More interesting to the non-birders were the Rufous-tailed Jacamar and Trinidad Motmots that we saw, though they did stay rather distant. It is also a great place to bring a family, even with relatively small children, to teach them about the rainforest. Trips Gilpin Trace Main Ridge Forest Reserve Trinidad and Tobago'

Trinidad 187

Trinidad Birds Venezuela Protection 187

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2012

I’m taking my kids down to NYC to get in touch with their Bronx roots and family. Only the luckiest of us see Oropendola nests when they look to the skies (Read about how you can make your own good luck by visiting Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad !) Can’t let them loose that urban edge, can I?

2012 158

2012 Trinidad Birds Family 158

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). For context, the IOC version 13.1

Costa Rica 210

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 210

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. A young male Swallow Tanager holding a bit of nesting material.

Raised 264

Raised Breeding South America Family 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Did the Black-bellied Whistling Duck represent his family, “showing face” as we say here in the Caribbean? 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. Pectoral Sandpiper (L) and White-rumped Sandpiper (R).

Elephants 268

Elephants Ducks Humane Family 268

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

It is not that close of a relative of the Northern Mockingbird , being in the same family, but a different genus. 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 178

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 178

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 236

Fish Family Eggs Humane 236

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

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. Seriously, go to Trinidad and Tobago right now and see the ibis. It was a great day loaded with great birds!

2013 172

2013 New York City New York Trinidad 172

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. Lone Common Black Hawk photo by Mike Bergin in Caroni Swamp, Trinidad (rum punch supplied by Caligo Ventures ).

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Chicago South America 2013 Illinois 241

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 210

Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 210

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. Double-toothed Kite The overlap in avifauna between Trinidad and Guyana is significant at one end and unavoidable at the other. Painted Parakeet As predicted, we were off to a solid start.

Guyana 206

Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 206

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. Spot-bellied Bobwhite bites the dust.

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 199

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. By this time, the rest of the group had arrived and we were busy counting Silver-beaked Tanagers darting across the roadway as well as a family group of Smooth-billed Anis.

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. Each of the three belongs to a separate genus within the family and as such occupies a different position within the forest. And for good reason. T&T has three resident species of manakins.

Trinidad 256

Trinidad Family America Species 256

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. Some habitat-specialists are overall less common but still dependable within the correct environment.

Trinidad 258

Trinidad South America Venezuela 2019 258

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Within families, the species are arranged less taxonomically and more in line with “design and space considerations,” (Introduction), and on the plates themselves, species are arranged to facilitate comparison. Text is on the left, plates are on the right. Both genus names and species names are listed.

America 213

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

The provision of housing and food is most gratifying, I have successfully spread this joy to one of my three neighbors, who now gleefully sends me pictures of the Cocoa Thrush family on his front porch, and Green Iguanas lounging in his avocado tree. Each year, I alert him to the arrival of our guest of honor – a female Yellow Warbler.

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 174

Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 174

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2019

Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire) and that border is known as the Bond’s line. Furthermore, there are six families confined to the Greater Antilles. One other Bond’s legacy lives within it, the very concept of the West Indies zoogeographical sub-region as we know it today.

Saint Kitts and Nevis 156

Saint Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Dominican Republic Cuba 156

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This totally crazy bird is the crème de la crème of the cracid family, and besides being endangered (population estimated at under 2,500), its habitat choice of cloudforests on the steep slopes of a few volcanoes and mountains in southern Mexico and south-western Guatemala makes it a tough bird to seek. Secondly, well just look at it.

2012 146

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 146