10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2021

Trinidad’s cloud forests typically aren’t birded much. Last weekend I accompanied a small group of intrepid birders to El Cerro del Aripo, the tallest peak on the island at about 940m. Our first birds for the trip were vocalizing Trinidad Euphonias and an inquisitive Rufous-breasted Hermit.

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Trinidad Groups Parrots Species 260

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2023

The southern forests of the island of Trinidad are home to the much-maligned Moruga Grasshopper. International organisations have provided “assistance” to the government of Trinidad & Tobago over the years to placate residents and aggrieved farmers. But little has been said about its ecological function.

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Trinidad Squirrels Investigation Bears 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2022

I’ve been leading a small but faithful group on Trinidad for several years to count birds within a livestock farm that is generally restricted to the public (you can read about some of those shenanigans here ); this was the first time I was to embark on a CBC on the smaller island of Tobago. Anyway, I digress. Mangrove Cuckoo.

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Falcons Trinidad Ducks Groups 229

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2023

This time, we are back in Trinidad and have relocated to a picturesque lodge in the very heart of the island. These large raptors are actually quite rare on Trinidad but seem to be breeding nearby as one of the sightings was of a juvenile. Yes, Red-bellied Macaws not only mate on the property, but nest here too!

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Trinidad Barn Owls Owls Reptiles 221

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. We had a small group of three or four repeatedly calling and posturing as they moved through the canopy.

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Trinidad Turkey Squirrels Species 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2019

What comes as a surprise, two of them have already positioned themselves as known birding destinations attracting a substantial number of birders: Trinidad and Tobago with the world-famous Asa Wright Nature Centre (cover photo), and The Gambia with experienced local guides, plus cheap packages for African beginners from Western Europe.

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Gambia Equatorial Guinea Species Rwanda 232

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2023

I began recording my bird sightings with photographs in late 2009, and since then I have seen (or at least heard) a fair proportion of species recorded within my home country of Trinidad & Tobago. It took me a while to find it and as soon as I laid eyes on the bird it flew off, never to be seen again.

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Birds Trinidad 2020 2012 259

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

The southwest peninsula of Trinidad is unfortunately rarely birded by visiting birders. Trogons, flycatchers and most conspicuous of the lot – a group of Channel-billed Toucans. Let’s just say that the journey from the capital city, Port of Spain, to the said peninsula could easily run into 2.5 hours one-way.

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Sea Turtles Bats Turtles Trinidad 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2023

In the latest instalment of the ongoing documentation of the curious recurrence of the number three in the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago, we arrive on the triad of Grassquits. For the uninitiated, while on a deep dive into Trinbagonian ornithology a few years ago I noticed groups of three popping up in multiple places.

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Trinidad Venezuela Brazil Groups 193

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).

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Trinidad Battery Industry Bats 207

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2013

The Trincity Sewage Ponds in Trinidad and Tobago are no exception. My visit to the best sewage ponds for birding on the island of Trinidad was on 19 July 2013. The (non-birding) group I was with was on our way to the Caroni Swamp when our guide suggested a quick stop at the Trincity Sewage Ponds so I could see a few cool birds.

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Trinidad New Jersey Nevada Illinois 171

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2012

The island paradise of Trinidad boasts three bands of mountains running east to west. The latter reason explains why I joined a group of North American birders in an early morning assault on the birds of the Northern Range. I blame Larry, who took pains to prepare us to not see Trinidad’s only non-motmot endemic.

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Trinidad Stud Turkey Shelters 162

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. Many years later, I heard of another group of Lesser Nighthawks that had converged on a nearby wetland.

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Trinidad Bats Falcons Groups 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2013

He is gregarious, knowledgeable, and eager to get you on the birds, which was a bit difficult for most of the people in my group, which consisted of six people, considering I was the only birder. More interesting to the non-birders were the Rufous-tailed Jacamar and Trinidad Motmots that we saw, though they did stay rather distant.

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Trinidad Birds Venezuela Protection 183

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2021

Last weekend we headed into the mountains of northern Trinidad – the concept of mountains is surely a relative one, although it is the highest conglomeration of hills in the country (and the northernmost outcrop of the Andes) the Northern Range never crosses 1,000m above sea level.

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Woodpeckers Trinidad Battery Hunting 236

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

While the rest of the group huddled around the scope and eagerly scanned the surrounding forest, we utilised a different tactic. Our final bird for this trip was a Common Black Hawk – a routine sighting for me in Trinidad but the largest and most impressive raptor we saw throughout the Lesser Antilles.

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Grenada Parrots Trinidad 2010 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2024

I was one of a small group of journalists, each of whom was presented with the latest Dialyt 10×40 inscribed with our initials. Soon afterwards I flew to Trinidad and Tobago to research for an article, and was hugely impressed with the small Swarovskis when I used them to watch tanagers and toucans in the rainforest.

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Austria Factory Branding Germany 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2012

If you haven’t been to Trinidad and Tobago, you’re missing out on a country that combines many of the best qualities of the Caribbean and South America. The Southern Lapwing’s crest is evident, but I’d never noticed its spurs until a cocky male tried to intimidate my group in the Tobago Rainforest Preserve.

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Venezuela South America Trinidad America 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

As I was driving out, I stopped to appreciate a small group of American Flamingos flying overhead. These all added to the overarching foreboding feeling of the moment – after all it was the 59th anniversary of the independence of Trinidad & Tobago. Having been unimpressed by my morning outing, I was in no celebratory mood.

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Birds Owls Litter Trinidad 231

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.

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Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 173

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2023

Some days ago I had the opportunity to explore the grossly underbirded southeastern corner of Trinidad. The Nariva Swamp is the largest wetland on Trinidad, giving to and taking from the relentless Atlantic Ocean on its eastern boundary. My humble advice is to never stop listening as there are often avian lurkers in the shadows.

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Trinidad Falcons Primates Monkeys 29

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

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). The Species Accounts follow the ‘modern guide’ format, with illustrations clearly labeled and arranged in species groupings.

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Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 203

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2022

It may seem like an unnecessarily recurring theme in my posts about birding within Trinidad & Tobago, but the more I write on the subject the more it becomes apparent that the number three must have some significance, somewhere. The three main peaks of the Trinity Hills are what gave it its name, and by extension the island of Trinidad.

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Trinidad Birds Tigers Groups 236

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2022

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. Elephants, peccaries, and corvids have all been documented processing the death of (as we put it) a loved one.

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Elephants Ducks Humane Family 264

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. Juvenile White-winged Swallow waiting to scream at any passing adult.

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Guyana Parrots Trinidad Woodpeckers 199

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.

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Costa Rica Species South America America 205

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2021

The very last Sunday of the decade heralded our final CBC – with group sizes limited to five persons. 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. In spite of its name, the Trinidad Euphonia is not endemic to Trinidad.

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Trinidad Livestock Groups Eagles 264

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. Some birders are more learners than listers, others more photographers than birders.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 196

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2022

A small group of Turquoise Tanagers fed on fruiting cecropia, albeit briefly. A member of the “trilling” (and thrilling) subspecies group of the Long-billed Gnatwren is present throughout Trinidad, and is yet another headache-inducing species.

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Trinidad Squirrels Birds Groups 229

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.

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Trinidad Livestock 2015 Groups 168

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. Even though I had seen these cryptic austral migrants before, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity that was this close to home.

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Livestock Ducks ALA illegal 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Add that to the fact that here in Trinidad & Tobago we’re still under a strict curfew – the earliest I’m allowed to leave home is 5am. I’ve waited a few weeks even to make this post, as members of this group of birds have historically been targeted throughout their range for their singing prowess.

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Trinidad Groups Species Blackbirds 328

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Trinidad Colorado is located just a few miles north of the Colorado – New Mexico border, and home to the Trinidad Reservoir. Jeanne and I parked the 5th wheel in the Trinidad Lake Campground, and found it to be perhaps the nicest campground we had ever been in. This all mixed in with a very nice bunch of birds.

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Colorado Texas Trinidad Albuquerque 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2020

Fortunately, I live in Trinidad and Tobago – a twin-island nation that boasts the second highest density of bird species in the world. Birders who are lucky enough to live near Trinidad’s west coast have been reporting up to two hundred American Flamingos from various locations along the coastline.

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Trinidad Pelicans Humane Fish 218

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2023

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. Bit by bit, the warm golden rays of the sun began to fall on the group of Black-bellied Plovers.

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Trinidad Pelicans Groups Birds 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2023

On the slow crawl into the farm, the first sighting was a small group of Green Ibis – a new species for me. Also an uncommonly seen bird in Guyana, there is only a single record of this species on Trinidad – and that bird was only seen once. Most notably of which was a pair of Blood-colored Woodpeckers.

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Farming Guyana Birds South America 210

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2020

And when I say bird migration I’m referring to a specific group of birds – shorebirds. Migration (in particular bird migration) is well underway, however.

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Trinidad South America Blackbirds Industry 173