Western Tanager

Scientific Name: Piranga ludoviciana

Population Estimate: 8.9M

Range / Habitat: Summers in montane forest of western US and Canada. Winters throughout Mexico exclusive of Yucatan.

Field Notes: Breeding male (top photo) with red head, yellow belly and rump. Otherwise black with two yellow wing bars. Female or juvenile (bottom photo) drab olive yellow on head, rump, belly. Still with black back and two yellow wing bars.

Personal Notes: We first spotted the female outside our friend Patrick's window in Puerto Vallarta. We then spotted a male in classic plumage in the courtyard of the Grand American Hotel in Salt Lake City, UT. The top photo was taken en route to Rainbow Lake in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in Montana. The light was so bright that morning, the camera had a hard time with the color!

Yellow-eyed Junco

Scientific Name: Junco phaeonotus

Population Estimate: 20M

Range / Habitat: Year-round through the southwestern US and throughout Mexico. Preferred habitat is high altitude grassland, shrubland, and forest.

Field Notes: Distinctive plumage as above. Typical Junco behavior: found in groups foraging on the ground then will make a hasty retreat to higher perches. Distinctive fan-like tail in flight with white-flashes on the sides. There are similar-colored variations of Dark-eyed Junco, but the eye color is determinant. Also, per Sibley, the dark-eyed varieties hop on the ground whereas the yellow-eyed birds walk.

Personal Notes: We were more than happy to take a break from summiting Xinantecatl in central Mexico to observe these birds.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Scientific Name: Spizella pallida

Population Estimate: 23M

Range / Habitat: Summers in upper midwestern US and central Canada. Winters throughout Mexico. Found in a variety of habitats including grassland and shrubland, inland water areas.

Field Notes: Above bird in nonbreeding plumage. Sparrow with clear breast and distinct facial markings, particularly the "mustache" and lateral throat stripe. Chipping Sparrow in nonbreeding plumage has duskier chest, more prominent supercilium, darker lores.

Personal Notes: A "random sparrow on a cactus" photo Richard took on our walk out of Teotihuacan.

Western Bluebird

Scientific Name: Sialia mexicana

Population Estimate: 1.4M

Range / Habitat: A bird of open forests found in the American West and throughout Mexico.

Field Notes: Medium-sized songbird, small thrush. Male with bright blue on wings, tail and head. Chest and flanks rufous, belly white with some blue, as in lower photo. Female more subdued, as above. Eastern Bluebird with rufous throat, no rufous on shoulders or back, no blue on belly. Mountain Bluebird with same brilliant blue but no rufous. 

Personal Notes: A nice surprise for us in Central Mexico.

Hooded Warbler

Scientific Name: Wilsonia citrina

Population Estimate: 4M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in deciduous forests of eastern US. Winters in lowland moist forest from southeastern Mexico down through Central America.

Field Notes: Small songbird with yellow face and underparts. Back olive. White spots in tail. Male with black hood and bib as above. Wilson's Warbler, which can overlap in the winter, lacks black bib and white tail spots.

Personal Notes: Identified by voice by our guide initially, and later seen as above, outside the entrance to Barton Creek Cave in Belize.

Wood Stork

Scientific Name: Mycteria americana

Population Estimate: 38K - 130K

Range / Habitat: Freshwater, brackish and salt marshes, often wooded. Ranges from western Mexico and southeastern US down to western Ecuador and northern Argentina.

Field Notes: Head and neck naked. Black primaries and secondaries prominent in flight, but covered by white when standing as below. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes:

American Redstart

Scientific Name: Setophaga ruticilla

Population Estimate: 25M

Range / Habitat: Favors second growth forest. Summers in Canada, eastern US. Winters in southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America.

Field Notes: Unmistakable warbler. Male is black above, white below with orange armpits, wing bar, and edge to the tail. Female shown in middle picture and juvenile shown below, grey above, white below with yellow where the male has orange. Frequently fans tail and spreads wings.

Personal Notes: This bird entertained us for a long time on a garbage can in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Scientific Name: Cyanerpes cyaneus

Population Estimate: 5M-50M

Range / Habitat: Resident in low altitude forest edge and plantations in southern Mexico and Central America.

Field Notes: Small size for a tanager, slight decurved bill, yellow underneath, black eyestripe with white eyebrow. Male striking bright blue and black with bright red legs. Female with dark legs. Compared to other honeycreepers in this area, Green Honeycreeper lacks striping on chest. Similar to Shining Honeycreeper but in the absence of seeing the distinguishing red legs, the lower elevation makes this most likely a Red-legged Honeycreeper.

Personal Notes: Seen on the way to Tikal from Belize. Also seen in Muyil in the Yucatan Peninsula and again in costal CR.

Rose-throated Becard

Scientific Name: Pachyramphus aglaiae

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: Resident throughout Mexico and Central America in lowland forest.

Field Notes: Small, active passerines. Male (above) and female (below) are distinct from one another and distinctive from other species. Male with black head, back and wings, light grey breast, rose-colored throat. Female with black cap, brown wings and back, yellow breast.

Personal Notes: Identified by our guide in San Blas, Mexico. We had subsequent opportunity to see both male and female at Chaa Creek resort in Belize.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Scientific Name: Selasphorus Platycercus

Population Estimate: 4M

Range / Habitat: A bird of subalpine areas found year-round in the mountainous regions of central Mexico and summers in the Rockies.

Field Notes: Unfortunately, the above photo does not show the most distinctive features of this bird. In the right light the male has a rosy red chin with broad tail. The hum of the wings is also unique, quite loud. The photo does show the white line running from the chin to eye to neck. They also have which outer rectrices seen in flight. The Broad-tailed's range overlaps with the Black-chinned Hummingbird (which looks all black-headed), Calliope Hummingbird (very small hummingbird, males with unmistakable streaked rosy gorget), and Rufous Hummingbird (later migrant, males with rufous coloring).

Personal Notes: As with many hummingbirds, we have encountered the Broad-tailed away from feeders as well. They were just much harder to photograph in the "wild"!

Loggerhead Shrike

Scientific Name: Lanius ludovicianus

Population Estimate: 4.2M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round throughout the southern and western US, down into Mexico. Summers extending north into Canada. Preferred habitat is semi-open areas with access to dense trees and shrub.

Field Notes: Smallish solitary predator with grey head and back. Black mask and thick, hooked bill. Wings black with white patches. Long tail. Great Grey Shrike is larger with thinner face mask and pale lower bill, though its range is more northerly and rarely overlaps. Northern Mockingbird has small black eye stripe, no mask.

Personal Notes: This bird was a great sight, perched at the ruins of Teotihuacan north of Mexico City (not the above photo, by the way).

American Kestrel

Scientific Name: Falco sparverius

Population Estimate: 6M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: The American kestrel is widespread in open areas throughout the Americas, from central Alaska and Canada, south discontinuously through the United States and Central America, to most of South America, excluding Amazonia. It is also found throughout the West Indies. During the winter, those birds at the most northerly and southerly latitudes may migrate towards more temperate or tropical regions.

Field Notes: A small falcon, and the only kestrel found in the Americas. This colourful kestrel displays marked sexual dimorphism, and there is also considerable variation between individuals. Typically, the male has an orange back, flecked with black, a solid red tail with a wide, black tip, blue-grey wings and head cap, and black markings on the face and belly. The larger female, however, lacks the blue-grey markings and has barred, brown upperparts and streaked underparts.

Personal Notes: Kirby the Kestrel is still our favorite!

House Finch

Scientific Name: Carpodacus mexicanus

Population Estimate: 21M

Range / Habitat: Found year-round throughout most of US and Mexico. Favors shrubland; frequent visitor of feeders.

Field Notes: Widespread, melodic finch. Male with red to head, chest and rump but brown cheeks and heavy brown streaking of the flanks. Female is quite plain, no markings on head and faint streaking on breast. Purple Finch male has red extending to nape and back and no streaking on the flanks. Purple Finch female has a bold face pattern and darker streaking on chest. Cassin's Finch male has bright red crest and lacks brown flank streaking.

Personal Notes: We were struck by how boldly colored these birds were in Mexico (top photo) compared to what we had seen in Minnesota (bottom photos).

Western Cattle Egret

Scientific Name: Bubulcus ibis

Population Estimate: 3.8M to 7.6M

Range / Habitat: Found throughout most of the US, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Preferred habitat is in fields, near cattle. Rarely seen near the water.

Field Notes: Stocky white heron with sturdy yellow bill and dark legs. Readily distinguished from other white herons by habitat. Great Egret much larger with elongated neck. Snowy Egret slimmer with black bill and yellow feet.

Personal Notes:

Heermann's Gull

Scientific Name: Larus Heermanni

Population Estimate: 530K

Range / Habitat: Heermann’s gull breeds off the coast of Mexico and in the Gulf of California, particularly on Isla Rasa, where the population has a stronghold. Very occasionally it is seen breeding in San Francisco Bay. Non-breeders spend the breeding season at the wintering sites along the coasts of California and British Colombia.

Field Notes: The Heermann's Gull (Larus heermanni) is distinctive with a dark grey-brown back and wings, pale grey underside and rump, and white head, tips to the tail and wing feathers. The bill is bright red and sometimes tipped with black. The legs are black. Non-breeding adults have grey or brown streaks on the head and immature birds are dark brown all over, with a pale base to the red bill.

Personal Notes:

Black Vulture

Scientific Name: Coragyps atratus

Population Estimate: 20M

Range / Habitat: Year-round throughout southeastern and southern US, Mexico, Central America and nearly all of South America.

Field Notes: Large black bird with grey, weathered head. Vultures characterized by large size, wheeling glides, finger-like wing tips. Easy to distinguish from Turkey Vulture in flight as Black Vulture will flap wings more frequently, does not appear headless and has silvery patches at wingtips.

Personal Notes: Common vulture in Mexico though we also have seen in Florida. The bottom photo is of the vulture perched atop Chichen Itza, which was quite dramatic.

Thick-billed Kingbird

Scientific Name: Tyrannus Crassirostris

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: This bird breeds from southeastern Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and northern Sonora, (the Madrean sky islands), in the United States and Mexico, through western and western-coastal Mexico, south to western Guatemala.

Field Notes: The Thick-billed Kingbird (Tyrannus crassirostris) is a large bird in the Tyrannidae family, the tyrant flycatchers.Adults are dusky olive-brown on the upperparts with light underparts; they have a long dark brown or black tail. The underside is a dull white to pale yellow. They have a yellow patch on their crown, but is not visible very often.

Personal Notes:

Rufous-backed Robin

Scientific Name: Turdus Rufopalliatus

Population Estimate: Unknown but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat:  Its main range extends from southeastern Sonora to the southeastern corner of Oaxaca along the coast and in the Río Balsas drainage. The isolated populations in Mexico City and Oaxaca City are probably descended from escaped cage birds. A number of vagrants have reached the Mexican-border states of the United States, where they are often found in riparian woods.

Field Notes: The Rufous-backed Thrush (Turdus rufopalliatus) is a songbird of the thrush family. It is endemic to the Pacific slope of Mexico. It is named for the adult's rufous or olive-rufous upper back, which contrasts with the grayish head, nape, and rump. The chest and flanks are also rufous. The belly and undertail coverts are white; the throat is white with many black streaks. The bill and eye-ring are yellow. Females are typically somewhat duller-colored than males. Juveniles, like other juvenile Turdus thrushes, are spotted below; they are browner and have pale flecks above.

Personal Notes:

Cinnamon Hummingbird

Scientific Name: Amazilia Rutila

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Range / Habitat:  It is found from northwestern Mexico to Costa Rica. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest. Common in native Mexico to Central America.

Field Notes: The Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. Relatively large hummingbird that is mostly green above and rich cinnamon-orange below. Adult: Green cap and face. Dark eye and medium-length bright red, black-tipped bill. Green back and wing coverts. Green rump blending with cinnamon-rufous upper tail coverts. Dark wingtips. Bright cinnamon throat and underparts. White undertail coverts. Square tail. Dark cinnamon under and upper tail with black tips to tail-feathers. Juvenile: Paler than adult, with mostly dark upper mandible.

Personal Notes:

White-collared Seedeater

Scientific Name: Sporophila torqueola

Population Estimate: 20M

Range / Habitat: Grasslands, savannas, shrubland throughout Mexico down to Panama.

Field Notes: Small bird, males distinctive as above. Much geographic and individual variation in this species.

Personal Notes: The above plumage is characteristic of the torqueola group in western Mexico.