10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2021

The Cinnamon-rumped Flowerpiercer is the only flower-piercing game in town if you live in North America. And yes, Mexico is part of North America, not Central or South America.) Its range extends as far as Nicaragua in Central America, where it is joined, in Costa Rica and Panama, by The Slaty Flowerpiercer.

Costa Rica 248

Costa Rica South America North America Venezuela 248

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2023

I even made one trip with the specific purpose of birding on Mexico’s much wetter eastern coast, visiting different sites along the very stretched-out state of Veracruz. That is because, like the skin of the gringos who visit Mexico’s beaches, the Palo de Gringo’s bark is red, and peels.

Mexico 166

Mexico Woodpeckers South America Species 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

Some odd additions more typical of South America’s avifauna included Elegant Euphonia , White-striped Woodcreeper (chickadees in the same forest as woodcreepers is just weird), and Green-striped Brush-Finch. Mexico is great for those who love biogeography!

Mexico 191

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2020

The Yellow-green Vireo is another of those rare birds that winter in South America but only travels north as far as Mexico to breed. Three years ago, when I had the privilege of showing one of my favorite sites to Mexico’s top birder couple, they noticed a Yellow-green Vireo in the brush and pointed it out to me.

Mexico 240

Mexico Lamb Nicaragua Sparrows 240

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. The name Sedge Wren is to be used for the migratory wrens that summer in the U.S. Did they show up for us?

Barn Owls 257

Barn Owls Owls Mexico Leopards 257

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

Wood-Wrens , birds of the family Henicorhina , are very small wrens of Central and South America that like to live very close to the ground, in dense forest underbrush or elfin forests. The only one that occurs in western Mexico, where I live, is the Gray-breasted Wood-Wren. I saw a few more Little Friends on this trip.

Mexico 190

Mexico South America Species America 190

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

Most of our readers are not likely to be able to ID this bird, because it only occurs in Mexico and Guatemala. The Olive-sided Flycatcher breeds in Canada and the western United States, and winters mostly in northern South America. Fortunately, I had managed a collection of very bad photos before the bird flew off.

Mexico 181

Mexico Guatemala South America United States 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2020

As I mentioned last week, social distancing is widespread but still voluntary here in Mexico, so there are no limitations on being able to get out and enjoy nature. Living in central Mexico, I’m not a big fan of random encounters with passersby. This has determined which places I visit, and which I avoid.

Mexico 169

Mexico South America United States Mammals 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2019

Another one, the Masked Yellowthroat , can be found in five unconnected resident territories over much of South America. The first can be found from Mexico to Panama, while the second is endemic over a fairly large part of eastern Mexico. Both are marsh-dwelling species. Too bad, you will have to go to Cabo San Lucas!)

Mexico 192

Mexico Bahamas South America Panama 192

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Baird’sSandpipers can only be seen here in August and September, as they stop on their way from the Arctic Circle to southern South America; they do not normally visit central Mexico on its way back north.

South America 223

South America Ducks 2020 Mexico 223

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

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. 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

MARCH 21, 2015

Taxa that could end up being split into one species occurring north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and one south of the isthmus. (2). A species that lives in both Costa Rica and South America but might be two separate species. (3). Check out recordings of Clapper Rail from North America and Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 210

Costa Rica Species South America America 210

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2023

For a few, only a few, species actually winter in Central and South America, and summer up here in Mexico. Several Empidonax flycatcher species also leave for the north… But I can’t get too sad about that. And there is some sweetness in these bittersweet months. They are our summer consolation prizes.

South America 168

South America Pigs Mexico Species 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2013

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. If there is one bird in Mexico that remains a mystery and is difficult to see it is the Sinaloa Martin. Birds Mexico rare birds Sinaloa Martin swallows' Sinaloa Martin Progne sinaloae.

South America 183

South America San Diego Mexico America 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

It was eventually accepted as a separate species after genetic studies also revealed large differences (over 8%) between birds from central Panama to northern South America and birds from western Panama north to Mexico. Check out the proposal and votes for this split at the AOS classification comittee site.

Costa Rica 194

Costa Rica Owls Panama Argentina 194

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

Most of this travel was in Mexico, but I also visited different regions of the U.S., Cuba (twice), South America (twice), Europe and Morocco (once) and Bali (once). These goods, purchased with Mexican silver, would then be transported overland through Mexico City, and shipped from Veracruz to Spain.

Birds 160

Birds 2006 Mexico Morocco 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2020

And Wilson’s Phalaropes are supposed to spend the winter in South America, but nobody told this group. Not exactly Big Day numbers, but… For one brief, shining day, eBird listed me as the #10 birder in all of Mexico. By March or April, I will undoubtedly be pushed off Mexico’s Top 100.

Mexico 141

Mexico South America Ducks Groups 141

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Oddly enough, it is the Western Bluebird that bears the taxonomic name of Sialia mexicana ; but in my experience, the Eastern Bluebird ( Sialia sialia ) is much more common in most of Mexico. While Michoacán doesn’t offer the spectacular tropical tanagers of Central and South America, those we have are also very colorful.

South America 192

South America Sparrows Mexico Bears 192

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2013

In Central and South America, they are part of the established ecosystem and play an important role, supporting the fauna of the region. A small patch at the bottom of the hill in Parque Nacional de Tlapan in Mexico City was very busy during a recent visit and drained the magenta from my printer.

South America 169

South America Mexico America Groups 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2020

There are so many wonderful birds in my corner of Mexico, for which I do not yet have good photographs. The Rufous-collared Sparrow is apparently a common bird in Central and South America, but in Mexico it only occurs in the southernmost state of Chiapas. Still, writing for 10,000 Birds has been an exercise in humility.

Mexico 167

Mexico Sparrows South America Collecting 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2018

And what does it tell us, other than the obvious “head for South America” or perhaps Indonesia? 601-800 sp: Canada, Costa Rica, Panama; Russia; Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa; Laos, New Guinea (PNG); Australia.

Equatorial Guinea 194

Equatorial Guinea Costa Rica Guyana Central African Republic 194

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2019

Some of those migrants don’t have far to go but the majority of species are winging their way in from Mexico, Central America, and South America. While our winter residents bulk up to head north, they are joined by other species coming from South America.

Costa Rica 137

Costa Rica South America Tennessee Philadelphia 137

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

Clapper Rails , as currently defined by the AOU, occur along the coasts of North and South America and Caribbean islands, and inland in southern California and Arizona. King Rails occur widely in eastern North America, in eastern and central Mexico, and in Cuba. King Rail and chick in Illinois cc-by Andy Reago.

Species 218

Species North America Cuba Louisiana 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2017

For as long as I have been living here in Mexico, I have truly enjoyed watching the Harris’s Hawks antics. harrisi can be found in southern Texas, Eastern Mexico and much of Central America. unicinctus is found exclusively in South America, and tends to be somewhat smaller bird that the North American subspecies.

Mexico 100

Mexico Game South America Rabbits 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2016

It is now something that the wood-rails themselves knew all along- there never was a Gray-necked Wood-Rail that lived from Mexico south to the Amazon. The Blue-crowned Motmot is now just that one in Mexico that does indeed have a full beautiful blue crown.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica 2016 South America Panama 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. Lesser Ground-Cuckoos occur along the Pacific slope from Mexico to Costa Rica in tropical lowland thorn and deciduous forest up to approximately 1800 meters.

San Diego 162

San Diego Mexico South America Costa Rica 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2019

it is in Michoacán , in the southwest of Mexico. Lamb, who surveyed the birds of western Mexico from 1932-1955, and whose lists have been posted on eBird in recent years. 1st Hudsonian Godwits in central Mexico. They breed in northernmost Canada and Alaska, and winter in Patagonia in southernmost South America.

Mexico 128

Mexico Birds 2013 Lamb 128

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2011

House Wrens are found from Canada to the southern end of South America which makes them the most widespread bird in the Western Hemisphere, though there are several potential or rejected splits. There is also a variety of races of House Wren in the Lesser Antilles that may end up as an additional or several additional species.

Mexico 202

Mexico South America North America Arizona 202

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

Seen Green Violetear in Mexico and Costa Rica? But, birds in eastern Mexico have even more blue and are now their own species so Lesson’s Motmot it is. Split from the Three-striped Warbler of South America, yet another species is added to the list of birds only found in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama.

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2017

This is a very well traveled bird, moving as far south as the southern tip of South America and Terra Del Fuego, and then back to the rocky tundra areas in Alaska and the Yukon to nest. Safe journeys, make lots of babies, and I will see you back here in Mexico in the fall.

South America 104

South America Alaska Mexico Breeding 104

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Burrowing Owls, whose range extends into Mexico, the United States, and South America, can live in varied habitats , including deserts and grasslands, golf courses and airports, agricultural fields and vacant lots.

Prairie Dogs 101

Prairie Dogs Tortoises Owls South America 101

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

While they are normally present in Northwest Florida during the summer, Summer Tanagers are supposed to spend the winter months in southern Mexico, Central, and South America. A gorgeous Summer Tanager appeared to stare back at me as I focused my sights, showcasing its red coloring clearly against the gray sky.

Florida 101

Florida South America 2018 Mexico 101

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2014

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. The Horned Guan is not just one of, if not THE standout birds of Mexico and Guatemala, but of the entire world. Trips Chiapas guans Horned Guan Mexico' Their second is here.

Guatemala 163

Guatemala Mexico San Diego South America 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. This video by Kathi Borgmann shows an army ant swarm in Mexico. One of our best was in the lowlands of Chiapas, Mexico. We have seen some fantastic ant swarms in the tropics.

San Diego 186

San Diego South America Costa Rica America 186

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Right now great flocks of wood-warblers are making their way north from the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America to breed across the United States and Canada.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2013

Birders and raptor observers in south Florida and the Florida Keys report only small number of Swallow-tailed Kites during migration time. Similar observation have been made in Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where up to 47,000 migrating Mississippi Kites are counted every season as they fly south.

Florida 232

Florida Cuba Colombia 2004 232

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2019

But in the fall (with plumage as in the photo on the left, above) they take an entirely different, and heroic, route, first to Massachusetts and then, after a rest, south over the Atlantic Ocean. The blackpoll, “a bird with a body just a little larger than your thumb,” doesn’t stop until South America. Eighty hours of flying.

Ohio 197

Ohio Bats Legislature Ducks 197