10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2017

Raptors of Mexico and Central America by William S. This is the first identification guide that I know of that covers Mexico (technically North America but rarely included in North American raptor guides) and Central America. Wheeler and William S. Clark and N. That’s a lot of visual information!

Mexico 162

Mexico America North America Falcons 162

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Now that we have returned to our adopted home of La Paz, Mexico, our bones are starting to thaw out from the trip to chilly Seattle. This small bit of arid land that has been set aside to display, and preserve the various species of cactus from this region is about a 45 minute drive from La Paz. Ahh, what a difference a week can make!

Mexico 100

Mexico Sanctuary Seattle Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

I truly do hope I am not tiring 10,000 Birds’ readers too much with my obsession with Michoacán’s ongoing drought, the disappearance of Lake Cuitzeo (Mexico’s 2nd largest lake, in normal years), and our own micro-endemic Black-polled Yellowthroat. But obsessed I am. And it brought friends.

Mexico 214

Mexico Investigation Science Experience 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

These arid hills, cloaked in a mosaic of deciduous scrub and desert vegetation, form a northern outpost for several Neotropical species while also harboring several key endemics and southwestern Nearctic species. The birds we observed were nesting right into the cliff face. Mexico is great for those who love biogeography!

Mexico 191

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 191

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2024

But once I get back home to Mexico, I will be climbing hills on livestock trails once again. Black-chinned Sparrow , a flagship species for this site. I say that I may someday be unable to climb hills all do heavy gardening, so I am going to do as much of these things right now as I possibly can.

Birds 199

Birds Livestock Sparrows Mexico 199

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2016

Despite that, I have it in my head to jot down a few of the interesting things about birding here in La Paz, Mexico. What is it that makes this area different from any other urban setting, which might play host to a nice selection of migrant and non-migrant species?

Mexico 132

Mexico Birds Pelicans Geese 132

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

Not so with our visit to Bosque de Apache NWR in southern New Mexico. My first ever Gamble’s Quail were feeding right next to the picnic area, and alongside the visitors center building, I spotted a thrasher. The second half of the week was spent near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. US species – 243.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Arizona 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Now, it is much easier for me to achieve first-time sightings of species in Europe than it is in Mexico, at this point of the game. So I might have assumed I would not see new species in the Palmones wetlands. The first gave me eight new species for Spain, of which four were lifers. Gee, I hope I got this one right.

Spain 177

Spain Mexico Europe North America 177

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2020

One of the ways I could describe the unique mix of birds I can see here in southwestern Mexico, would be to divide our species into five categories. The invasive species are few, but, unfortunately, very numerous. But there is a final group of species here, about which I have not written very much.

Mexico 192

Mexico Birds Honduras United States 192

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Cedar Waxwings have come back to central Mexico. Most years, there are no more than a few dozen reports of this species across the region. and Canada, Waxwings are clearly an irruptive species for Mexico. Which brings us to the species in this post’s title. And, gee, I do hope I am right.

Mexico 147

Mexico 2020 2012 Parrots 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Yet they also bring up questions, which I’m going to talk about right now before diving into the specifics of the guides themselves. An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed.

Costa Rica 212

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 212

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

These and several other species might end up being armchair ticks if and when we take a closer look at their evolutionary history. Taxa that could end up being split into one species occurring north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and one south of the isthmus. (2). Two subspecies of the same species that differ within Costa Rica. (4).

Costa Rica 210

Costa Rica Species South America America 210

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2022

Jonathan is originally from San Blas on Mexico’s west coast, a birder’s paradise I have yet to visit. Another thing we have in common is that Jonathan understands that eBird, with all of its virtues, is often not the best place to find such great birding sites in Mexico. That’s me on the right. Feast your eyes.

San Diego 249

San Diego Turtles Mexico Sparrows 249

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

Down here in central Mexico, the Canyon Towhee is a constant presence in open areas, including in my garden and around our church. The first was strange only on a personal level, as I had never before seen a juvenile of the species. The Spotted Towhee (Olive-backed) is a regular in pine-oak and pine forests. Our towhees are weird.

Mexico 206

Mexico North America 2015 Sparrows 206

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Our company is based in Guatemala but also offers tours in Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. We work closely with Mayan communities where local expert birders are permanently monitoring the forest to know the right time and place to spot our unique birds.

Guatemala 246

Guatemala El Salvador Belize Honduras 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Perhaps one of my reasons for going to the lake was that it guarantees more species in one day than any of my other sites. But I am also always eager to get a better handle on the migration dates for our wintering species, and April is a great month for that. But this Plover is a Snowy, and will stay right here.

Mexico 164

Mexico Breeding Ducks North America 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2019

The Yellowthroat group is an odd collection of bird species. The one migratory species, aptly named the Common Yellowthroat , can be seen almost anywhere in North America. Both are marsh-dwelling species. The first can be found from Mexico to Panama, while the second is endemic over a fairly large part of eastern Mexico.

Mexico 192

Mexico Bahamas South America Panama 192

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2021

We are too far into the year for many FOY sightings, but not quite far enough for most migratory species to make their return appearances. No surprise to that; these two species always initiate the migratory season here. This is not the first time el Temascal has surprised me with its combination of high and low species.

Louisiana 261

Louisiana 2000 Mexico Groups 261

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2021

That highest spot is in the middle of Mexico’s Cerro de Garnica National Park. My first visit there, in June of 2014, was short and apparently just good enough to make me want to go back again, with a mere 12 species seen. My visit the next month produced 20 species; but many of them were great ones!

2014 188

2014 California Mexico Rights 188

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2023

They were barely mentioned in The Voyage of the Beagle and not at all in On the Origin of Species. Maybe Moss is right, and birds have changed history. The book is a grab-bag of facts about the ten birds, mostly culled from other works. Millions of Chinese died in the ensuing famine.

Bald Eagle 154

Bald Eagle Montenegro Campaign Turkey 154

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2022

The stars of the bird world take many forms and fame is often related to location but some species, some cool groups of birds are accorded priority no matter when or where they are seen. The Olive-crowned Yellowthroat is one of Costa Rica’s resident wood-warbler species. Yes, you read that right. Violet Sabrewing.

Costa Rica 276

Costa Rica Nashville Tennessee Turtles 276

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

and Canada and winter in northeastern Mexico, while the sedentary wrens of central Mexico, Central America, and South America are now to be identified as Grass Wrens. That’s 100% Barn Owl butt, right there. The name Sedge Wren is to be used for the migratory wrens that summer in the U.S.

Barn Owls 257

Barn Owls Owls Mexico Leopards 257

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

Oh, all right, I’ll admit that you could stay at home and still enjoy your Yellow- and Black-crowned Night-Herons.). Fortunately for me, my adoptive land of Mexico is rich in, precisely, double-hyphenates. Except that all those are tropical jungle groups, found mostly on the other side of Mexico from where I live.

Sparrows 134

Sparrows Mexico United States Groups 134

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

It is also fascinating to see how similar Old World trogons look to their New World relatives, right down to the same flamboyant color patterns. Honesty requires that I confess to having seen none of these species. These species are visually very similar, with subtle differences in their tail patterns. Wikipedia has been used.).

Mexico 182

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Plus a few truly difficult species. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. But the Kentish Plover was sheltering its young under its body, and the Little Ringed Plover was incubating an egg — right in the middle of downtown Madrid! Mexico has a good number of greenish or rusty Woodpeckers. I live in Mexico!

Austria 146

Austria Spain 2019 Birds 146

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2019

And, alas, heat is one thing Mexico’s Pacific coast has in excess. Which explains why this birder, who lives only four hours from that coast, had only twice searched there for the region’s tropical and coastal species — both times on ministry trips I made without my wife. My wife hates heat. One of many.

Mexico 126

Mexico Alligators ALA 2019 126

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2021

Give certain, special trees the right conditions and they also take root in the shallow mud of estuaries and other coastal situations. The trees that occur, that thrive in such places are various species of mangroves and as is typical of so many other tropical microhabitats, mangrove forests have their own suite of birds.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Birds Protection Panama 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

In extreme wet-dry climates like the one we have in central Mexico, those first summer rains are absolutely magical. Which is why the past two weeks’ outings have been more about native plant propagation than finding new species. And, for only the second time this year, this excusion yielded no FOY species. (Of

Owls 165

Owls Investigation Mexico Collecting 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

In the early day, the light was just right. Later in the day, several difficult species decided to be less difficult. There were six species of wild ducks, along with the usual few released domestic ducks. Which is hard. So it was very pleasant when I went birding the other day and the angels of photography went with me.

Ducks 228

Ducks Fish Breeding Species 228

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2019

Back in November of 2017, I travelled to the tourist town of Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s west coast, to sing in a Christian event. Still, a birder’s gotta bird, so I made sure I would have one morning to check out someplace right there in town. Only the first specie would have been an easy catch closer to my home.

Mexico 115

Mexico Birds 2017 Pelicans 115

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2024

Work brings me regularly to Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, northern Mexico. The day was only minutes old and we already had 32 species on the day list. Our agave flower stalk had three species of hummingbird drinking nectar, dive-bombing and stabbing each other: Blue-throated Mountain-gem, Lucifer Hummingbird and Broad-tailed Hummingbird.

Parrots 157

Parrots Woodpeckers Industry Fast Food 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2021

And many of these species are also strikingly beautiful. Here are some of the wonderful birds of Mexico’s Hot Country: I’ll start with a bang: What could be better than a Russet-crowned Motmot ? (I It’s mating season, and the males are sporting some wild head feathers right now. But enough about me!

Mexico 172

Mexico Blackbirds Sparrows Owls 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

A life bird for me, and another species for my Audubon Florida Birdathon checklist. Don’t get me wrong – we had a blast comparing the birds in our yards, and it was a great reminder of all the species we can see right from our backdoors, but in 2021 I looked forward to a Birdathon that was a bit more mobile.

Florida 153

Florida 2020 Mexico Raised 153

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

This is an easy species for me to see in my region — any time BUT in summer. The winter-only nature of migratory species can cause other name problems, such as with the Indigo Bunting. This species used to be called the Rufous-sided Towhee, which was a perfectly functional name for our resident subspecies. Well, no more!

Mexico 113

Mexico America Species Birds 113

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

This is my best place to pick up species that inhabit, or visit, the border between the Hot Country thorn forest and highland pine-oak forest habitats. It wasn’t the most colorful species of the day. And how am I doing on my species race for the year? But its rump was somewhat bright, I suppose.

South America 192

South America Sparrows Mexico Bears 192

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

(Someday I will get up the nerve to write about the ten, yes, TEN Empidonax species I believe I have seen in my little corner of Mexico. But I am afraid to post my photos of these with IDs, since I am never quite sure I got them right.). I know of two field marks to use with this species. Thanks again, Fabián!

Mexico 138

Mexico Argentina Experience Experiments 138

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2019

But for the past 25 years, I have lived in Mexico’s state of Michoacán. The Tierra Caliente, or as biologists prefer to call it, the Río Balsas Basin, is a biological island that shares its very large number of endemic species with the more southern Oaxaca Valley. I don’t have to tell you which sparrow is which!

Mexico 114

Mexico Birds Nevada Sparrows 114