male – Herman, Nebraska
Bird of the Day: Dickcissel
male – Herman, Nebraska
Author: Seth Inman
Bird of the Day: Tropical Kingbird
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: Eastern Bluebird
male (Atlanta, Georgia)
Bird of the Day: Laughing Falcon
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: Great Blue Heron
Atlanta, Georgia
Funky Nests 2017
a mother Costa’s Hummingbird on her nest at Villa del Faro in Baja California Sur. The rim of the nest is covered in her and/or her offspring’s droppings!
In the citizen science department of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Celebrate Urban Birds program (CUBs) holds several competitions a year revolving around a certain idea of bird celebration. We have covered the Funky Nests in Funky Places competition several times, and back when I worked for CUBs as a Cornell undergraduate student I wrote worked behind the scenes on the competition.
Now the contest is back, and ends on June 30th!
Bird of the Day: Pale-billed Woodpecker
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: Mallard ducklings
Atlanta, Georgia
Baja Desert Birds
As I approach my 100th checklist submitted to the Villa del Faro eBird hotspot, I’ve been putting together video compilations of footage taken over the last seven months here. The one in this post happens to be about birds, and most of them are, but I’ll also be sharing some whale breaches, ray jumps, and non-avian desert animal behavior. In the video below you can see two Greater Roadrunners (filmed months apart), a California Quail, and a Gray Thrasher (endemic to the Baja Peninsula) recorded at or ten minutes from Villa del Faro.
Make sure you have the volume up for the Greater Roadrunner section in particular, as the first individual engages in some interesting bill-clacks, and the second one was vocalizing in a low toot that I’ve only heard the one time so far, but seems to be a mating call.
Bird of the Day: American Coot
male – Estero San Jose del Cabo, BCS, Mexico
Bird of the Day: Groove-billed Ani
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: White-bellied Emerald
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: Rufous-naped Wren
Tacacori, Costa Rica
Bird of the Day: Gilded Flicker (Villa del Faro)
male – Baja California Sur, Mexico
Bird of the Day: American Pygmy-Kingfisher
Bijagua, Costa Rica
Bird of the Day: Loggerhead Shrike (Villa del Faro)
Baja California Sur, Mexico
Great Backyard Bird Count at Villa del Faro
a male Xantus’ Hummingbird, endemic to Baja California Sur, photographed during the GBBC
For last year’s GBBC, I was working in Costa Rica, in the Central Valley. This time around, I was on the job in Baja California Sur, Mexico, at Villa del Faro. Over the course of the four days that comprise the Great Backyard Bird Count, I was able to go out three mornings and one afternoon in search for birds.
By the last day, I had seen most of the usual suspects, although I was unable to spot a Pyrrhuloxia, one of my favorite species here in Baja, which is quite shy. In total, however, I saw 38 species around Villa del Faro, which has a hotspot with 76 species, so I saw exactly half the birds recorded here so far (and two of them were only just reported for the first time yesterday). Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Sooty-capped Chlorospingus
Barva Volcano, Costa Rica
Bird of the Day: Golden-hooded Tanager
Gallon Jug Estate, Belize
Bird of the Day: Orange-crowned Warbler
Baja California Sur, Mexico
Organikos 