Sinaloa Crow

Scientific Name: Corvus Sinaloae

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: It occurs on the Pacific slope from southern Sonora south to Manzanillo. The crow inhabits coastal regions where it forages on the seashore, semi-desert, open woodlands, river banks and hills up to 300 metres or more. It is very common around coastal towns and villages.

Field Notes: The Sinaloa Crow (Corvus sinaloae) is a crow native to western Mexico. It has the same purple-glossed, silky, black plumage with a black bill, legs, and feet. The two species differ markedly in voice.

Personal Notes:

Mexican Yellow Grosbeak

Scientific Name: Pheucticus Chrysopeplus

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: The Yellow Grosbeak occurs on the Pacific slope of Mexico from central Sonora to northwestern Oaxaca, and in southern Chiapas and Guatemala. In Sonora it is migratory. It has been considered conspecific with P. tibialis of Central America and P. chrysogaster of South America. It occurs mostly in trees in forest, woodland, and edge, but generally not found in dense rain or cloud forest. Occasional vagrants have reached the United States, mostly in summer in Arizona, but it has also been reported from California, Colorado, New Mexico, and even Iowa.

Field Notes: The Yellow Grosbeak (or Mexican Yellow Grosbeak), Pheucticus chrysopeplus. The plumage has bold contrasts of yellow, white, and black or gray. Males' head and underparts are solid yellow—light lemon in most populations, "brilliant golden-orange" (Howell and Webb 1995) in P. c. aurantiacus of Chiapas and Guatemala. The back is black with yellow mottlings, the rump is yellow, and the upper tail coverts are black with white tips. The wings and tail are black with conspicuous white spots, patches, and wingbars. Females are similar but the upperparts are more olive, with dark streaks on the crown and back. Black is replaced by gray, and the white markings on the wings, especially the white base of the primaries, are smaller. Females are very similar in pattern to female Flame-colored Tanagers, but much bigger, especially as to the bill. Immatures resemble females overall.

Personal Notes:

Neotropic Cormorant

Scientific Name: Phalacrocorax brasilianus

Population Estimate: 2M

Range: Year-round throughout Mexico, Central and South America.

Field Notes: Like most cormorants, all black bird with hooked bill with a dull yellow on the base and throat. Eye is blue. Only a small overlap in range with the Double-crested Cormorant and in comparison the Neotropic Cormorant is smaller with relatively longer tail.

Personal Notes: We loved the bottom photo of the cormorant scratching his head!

Snowy Egret

Scientific Name: Egretta thula

Population Estimate: 400K to 1.4M

Range / Habitat: Year round in South America and coastal areas to the north. Summers they move up into the United States and in winter retreat into Mexico and Central America. Nearly always found near water.

Field Notes: Slight white heron with fine, wispy feathers and dark bill. The black legs with yellow feet are unmistakable. Great Egret is larger with yellow bill. Cattle Egret is stocky, in different habitat, with yellow bill and dark feet.

Personal Notes: We loved the top photo as the long-fine feathers got caught in the wind....

Orange-fronted Parakeet

Scientific Name: Aratinga canicularis

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: We were lucky to catch this pair in a perfect pose....

White-faced Ibis

Scientific Name: Plegadis chihi

Population Estimate: 1.2M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: White-faced Ibis is the bird on the right (bottom photo). Cattle egret on the left. Also seen in one of the most unlikely of places: Mesquite Spring in the middle of Death Valley. A single random ibis. 

Black-throated Magpie-jay

Scientific Name: Calocitta colliei

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Endemic to NW Mexico. Unmistakable. These birds look amazing in flight, as well, with their long tail waving behind them.

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Scientific Name: Nyctanassa violacea

Population Estimate: 76K-160K

Range / Habitat: Summer in eastern US, more commonly in the south. Year-round resident of costal Mexico and Central America down into parts of South America. Found in mangrove swamps, salt marshes, freshwater lakes, and other wetland areas.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, stocky heron with black face and bill, white cheek patch and yellowish crown stripe. Body grey and legs yellow. Black-crowned Night-heron all white underneath, including neck. Juvenile (lower photo) grey-brown with spots on wings and indistinct streaking on chest.

Personal Notes:

Roseate Spoonbill

Scientific Name: Platalea ajaja

Population Estimate: 100K to 250K

Range / Habitat: Prefers brackish costal marshes and lagoons, less frequently around fresh water. Ranges from both coasts of Mexico, though Central America, and down to central Argentina.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: We saw the top pair nesting at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Bare-throated Tiger-heron

Scientific Name: Tigrisoma mexicanum

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: Freshwater and mangrove habitats from both slopes of Mexico down through Central America.

Field Notes: Large, stocky, solitary heron with grey face, black cap, yellow throat, and intricately patterned neck and back. Juveniles have bolder pattern, more cinnamon coloring. Males have a booming roar.

Least Grebe

Scientific Name: Tachybaptus dominicus

Population Estimate: 14K to 140K

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Small, slaty grey grebe with prominent yellow eye. Seen in San Blas, Mexico. Also stumbled across a breeding pair with chick "on board" in CR.

Bat Falcon

Scientific Name: Falco rufigularis

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Unmistakable small falcon.

Golden-cheeked Woodpecker

Scientific Name: Melanerpes chrysogenys

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Medium-sized woodpecker endemic to Western Mexico. Like many other woodpecker species, the male has a red tuft on his head (top photo) whereas the female does not (bottom photo). You can see the golden cheek in the female as well.

Stripe-headed Sparrow

Scientific Name: Aimophila ruficauda

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Seeing "common" sparrows is so much more interesting in other countries....

Orchard Oriole

Scientific Name: Icterus spurius

Population Estimate: 4.3M

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Male is unmistakable as in the middle photo. Top photo shows male with either female or juvenile. The bottom photo is one of our favorites (though I'm not sure the bottom bird is an oriole) because of the composition.

Tricolored Heron

Scientific Name: Egretta tricolor

Population Estimate: 290K

Range / Habitat: Year-round in marine intertidal areas, mangrove swamps, inland wetlands of costal Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic coast of southeastern US, Pacific coast of Mexico, Caribbean islands, and northern coast of South America. Some birds will winter inland in central Mexico and Central America.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, slender heron. Distinctive purple neck and head, blue body, white belly. White plume on back of head during breeding season. Little Blue Heron similar color and size but lacks white belly. Great Blue Heron much larger.

Personal Notes: Seen as part of amazing birding along the Rio Cuale in Puerto Vallarta. Later seen as a "native" among several exotics at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

White-tailed Hawk

Scientific Name: Buteo albicaudatus

Population Estimate: 2M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Richard took this beautiful photo. We were fortunate to be up on a cliff and the hawk was gliding just above us en route to the valley below. Dark band across a white tail is distinctive, though in this individual it is not as pronounced as others.

Military Macaw

Scientific Name: Ara militaris

Population Estimate: 10K to 20K, Vulnerable

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: This amazing bird was at a local conservation area.

Boat-billed Heron

Scientific Name: Cochlearius cochlearius

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Nocturnal heron with remarkably large bill.

San Blas Jay

Scientific Name: Cyanocorax sanblasianus

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Endemic to western Mexico. Similar in appearance to other black and blue jays in Mexico (see Yucatan Jay), though distributions are essentially allopatric. Juveniles of this species have yellow beak.

Mexican Cacique

Scientific Name: Cacicus melanicterus

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Unmistakable, boisterous, birds that travel in flocks. Endemic to Pacific coast of Mexico. Males are darker, have more yellow on their wings, and have a floppy black crest.

Spotted Sandpiper

Scientific Name: Actitis macularia

Population Estimate: 150K, Least Concern status

Range: Summers throughout North America, excepting the southern US. Winters in southern coastal US through Mexico, Central and most of South America. Can be found anywhere near water. 

Field Notes: Medium-sized shore bird with proportionate, orange bill. Bobs tail constantly and teeters when flying. Brown up top and white underneath. White eye ring and eye stripe. Breeding plumage is with prominent dark belly spots as above. Non-breeding with all white breast. Solitary Sandpiper similar to non-breeding form but with dense white speckling on back and no white stripe above eye. Lesser Yellowlegs also similar to non-breeding form but with long, prominent yellow legs and crown speckled grey and white. 

Personal Notes: As stated on the Cornell website: "[a] great ambassador for the notoriously difficult-to-identify shorebirds." Indeed.

Northern Potoo

Scientific Name: Nyctibius jamaicensis

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: It is unbelievable that our guide found this bird. Several of us stared at this group of branches for several minutes before our eyes could discern a bird only a meter or two away. We observed this nocturnal bird for several minutes and only a slight movement of the throat with each breath indicated it was something other than a part of the tree.

Citreoline Trogon

Scientific Name: Trogon citreolus

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Characteristic tail flick was the only movement this bird made in 15+ minutes of viewing.

Townsend's Solitaire

Scientific Name: Myadestes townsendi

Population Estimate: 800K, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found year-round in the mountainous western United States. Its range will extend some to Canada and Alaska in the summer and to lower elevations and parts of Mexico in the winter.

Field Notes: Handsome grey, long-tailed songbird with rounded head, white eye ring and understated buffy wing bars. Can have some blue to its lower back, tail. Feeds on juniper berries.

Personal Notes: This bird used to fool us, but we're onto him now! Finally heard their beautiful song in Mount Helena Park. 

Herring Gull

Scientific Name: Larus smithsonianus

Population Estimate: 2.7M to 5.7M (for both American and European Herring Gull)

Location of Sighting: Lock & Dam #2, Hastings, MN

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: The most "gull-like" of the gulls. Medium-sized stock white-headed gull. The above is a 3rd cycle gull so still has somewhat indistinct grey back and black ring on the bill instead of the characteristic red spot of the adult. The Ring-billed Gull would have yellow legs and less of a neck. The Thayer's Gull would have a black eye.

Common Goldeneye

Scientific Name: Bucephala clangula

Population Estimate: 2.5M to 4.6M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds in lakes and rivers surrounded by coniferous forest throughout the subarctic. Winters mostly in coastal areas throughout the northern hemisphere, except in the US where it is found on inland waters.

Field Notes: Medium-sized diving ducks. Male white with black back and head, and circular white spot on face. Female with chocolate brown head and back, flanks and belly brown to white. Among the last birds to migrate south in the fall. Barrow's Goldeneye similar but with crescent-shaped cheek patch.

Personal Notes:

Blue-footed Booby

Scientific Name: Sula nebouxii

Population Estimate: 100K to 500K

Location of Sighting: Galapagos Islands

Date of Sighting: Approx 1995

Notes: Aptly named birds....

Magnificent Frigatebird

Scientific Name: Fregata magnificens

Population Estimate: 200K

Location of Sighting: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Readily identified by its imposing silhouette with long, forked tail. The first photo is a female = white throat and belly with black head. Second photo is a male = all black except for the red gular pouch whose loose skin was sometimes visible in flight. The third photo is a juvenile = white throat, belly and head. Richard had taken the bottom photo of mating / roosting birds, with the characteristic red inflated throat pouches, many years prior in the Galapagos. Females also seen roosting off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

Blue Jay

Scientific Name: Cyanocitta cristata

Population Estimate: 22M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in the eastern US and up into Canada in forest edges. They favor acorns and are frequently found near oaks.

Field Notes: Part of the crow family, this is a dramatic and conspicuous bird that is smaller than a crow but larger than a robin. Dramatic crest. The blue coloration is both unmistakable and even electric. Characteristic, high-pitched and far-traveling "jay" sound.

Personal Notes: One of our favorites, especially in winter.