Bubba's Birding Blog for Birdwatching in Belize

Lamanai For The Birds

2011-02-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

Lamanai, for the Birds
Lamanai is a Maya word meaning “submerged crocodile”, but also the name of the third largest, and possibly the most interesting archeological site in Belize. Located in the Orange Walk District, the Lamanai temple complex sits atop the western bluff of the New River Lagoon and is surrounded by pristine rainforest. This Pre-Classic site had its origins 3,500 years ago and experienced the longest period of occupation and development of any other Maya archeological site in Belize.

The journey to Lamanai is as interesting as Lamanai itself. Tour operators on Ambergris Caye sell this day trip as an eco-adventure and for the aware “birder” it may be the most productive of rare and unusual sightings Belize has to offer.

The trip leaves the dock in San Pedro for the New River Lagoon at approximately 7:30 a.m. and passes through a number of diverse avian habitats along the way. The boat first crosses through mangrove channels at the southern tip of Ambergris Cays offering opportunities for sighting Belted Kingfishers, Great White Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, Black-Necked Stilts, as well as the common occurrence of Brown Pelicans, Frigates, Cormorants, Ospreys, Plovers, Pipers and Terns.

The boat then exits the mangrove on Ambergris’ west side and crosses the southern end of the Bahia de Chetumal. Early Spanish frontiersmen accessed Lamanai via the Bay of Chetumal from Corozal traveling up the New River to a large bluff. The bluff is adorned with very impressive Maya temples that date from 1500 B.C. until the arrival of the Franciscan Friars in 1650.

Our crossing to the shortcut takes approximately 45 minutes and ends entering the Belize mainland at the mouth of the Northern River in the Northern Rover Lagoon. Elbert spotted a Green Heron fishing the shallows of a small island lagoon, the only island that was supporting tall coconut trees. The Northern River runs through tropical swamp where the fresh water of the river mixes with the tidal salt water, so that salt levels fluctuate. Characteristic in this area are Red Mangroves (Rhizophora harrisoni), with spreading silt roots. The flowering orchids, vermilions and epiphytes they support are the chief source of nectar for the Mangrove Hummingbird. In this swamp, Mangrove Vireos, Mangrove Warblers, Flycatchers and Snail Kites permanently reside, and many water birds rest, forage and nest.

This leg of the trip ends on the firm earth and dark soil at the edge of the swamp in the village of Bomba, where you are transferred from boat to bus for the trip along the Old Northern Highway. During the 50-minute trip to the New River you will pass through savanna. Elbert and I spotted three Jabiru Storks in the marsh grasses along the way as well as a flock of White Ibis and a variety of Hawks, Vultures and Egrets.

We boarded a different boat on the New Northern River near Tower Hill. The New Northern River between Tower Hill and Lamanai runs through Riverine/Gallery Forest and is a habitat for Limpkins, Kites, Bitterns, Rails and a variety of Herons, such as the Tri-colored and the Chestnut-bellied. A common site along the river is the female Northern Jacana trotting along its lily pads foraging for water bugs and small frogs or fish.

The journey ends at the base of the bluff and the edge of the rainforest on the New River Lagoon at Lamanai. Our group was introduced to a very will informed Belizean Archeological Tour Guide who led us through a field museum first and then on a jungle walk – up, down and around several Maya temples set under the rainforest canopy.

He began our trip by pointing our a Keel Billed Toucan in the trees above where we did our introductions.

He identified flora and fauna of the forest along the way, stopping at a tree of Howler and Spider Monkeys and pointing out the need to not stand directly under them. He also gave notice to the Wood Creepers, Yellow-headed Parrots, a Groove-billed Ani, a Keel-billed Toucan and a Slaty-tailed Trogon. We had a wonderful lunch on a picnic table under the shade of a giant Bullet tree at the edge of the river before returning.

Yes, definitely. Lamanai, for the birds.
Lamani Tour is $155.usd plus a $5. park fee call 226 2405 or elbertgreer@yahoo.com

Mata Lagoon this morn

2010-10-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

‘Birds don’t fly South for the Winter’

2010-10-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

SANPEDRO SUN BELIZE CENTRAL AMERICA VOL.
Birds of Ambergris Caye
“Birds can fly where they want to, when they want to, or so it seems to us,”
Migration
‘Birds don’t fly South for the Winter’
It’s September, and from now until late April Bubba and I will be enjoying an unusual variety of migratory
Avifauna visiting Ambergris Caye and its Bacalar Chico Reserve. The northern part of the planet has begun
to lean away from the sun. Invisible plotable lines of temperature gradients called ‘isotherms’ move further
south on the weather maps and all life on earth pays them heed.
The Bacalar Chico Reserve on the north end of Ambergris is a 60 square mile terrestrial reserve and
serves as a refuge for migratory birds. About 225 species of long distance migrants occur in Mexico and
Northern Central America. Observers have long theorized that migrants use mountain ranges, rivers, and
coastlines for guidance. Scientific research suggests that some birds may also set their courses by the sun, by
the patterns of stars, even by the lines of force in the Earth’s magnetic field, perhaps in combination with
gravity. Scientists don’t know exactly how the migrating birds find their way over long distances, but they are
discovering that birds tune into an astonishing variety of sensory cues that may be used for navigation.
Bubba believes Birds use specific migratory paths that consist of rivers, lakes, and various other food
sources like a dotted line of rest stops. These paths are called flyways. The Atlantic flyway leads migratory
birds from as far north as Greenland down Florida’s eastern coast across the Caribbean into Cuba, Haiti,
and Dominica.
The Mississippi flyway leads birds from Alaska and middle Canada down the Mississippi River Valley
to the Gulf of Mexico where it divides, leading some to Cuba and some to the Yucatan.
It is the Central and Pacific flyways that lead the majority of migratory birds to Ambergris Caye. The
bottleneck effect of the flyways narrowing at the base of the Yucatan cause a concentration of migratory
Avifauna looking for shelter, food, and water. The Bacalar Chico Reserve seems to be a logical place to stop
for this, and creates a birdwatching spot second to none.
I said to my resident expert, “Birds in the North use this cooling as a signal to begin their annual
migration southward. Bubba gave me a look that made me feel I had said something wrong. With a little
bit of an annoyed tone he said, “birds don’t fly south for the winter, Canadians do. The birds fly North for
the summer and I bet you think that’s the same thing!”
“Yes, and the way I look at it that’s called ‘the same difference.”
Bubba sighed and said,” If you look at this properly, you’ll discover something you didn’t know about
migration. Birds we see in Belize, (Neotropicals) have been moving north slowly each season and retreating
a little less south since the end of the ice age.
The American continent was very different during this frozen era. Most living things where compacted
into areas near the equator.
The ancestors of neotropical migrants originated in Amazonia (an area believed to be 15 million years
old, known today as Brazil). Areas north of this were not at that time in the earth’s history temperate
enough to reside in. Amazionia was then and today the greatest expression of life on the planet. One third
of the world’s birds still live there. As the ice age ended, areas to the north of Amazonia were habitable
during summer months and provided refuge from competition for food and shelter in this over-populated
area. But in winter months migrants were forced to retreat. Each year as the ice receded, more northern
territory became available as refuge during summer months and migration distances increased. As some
found the decreasing winter months tolerable they became residents in places like Belize. Canadians go
home in spring and birds migrate north. Does that seem like a ‘same difference’ still? I said you where
going to learn something new.”
San Pedro tour operators are now offering day trips into the Bacalar Chico area September also marks
the beginning of the slow season for tourism this might be just the time for Bubba and I to explore the
Island we are living on.

The Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila) Ambergris Caye

2010-08-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Roseate Spoonbill in Flight

2009-11-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

Cayo Pajaro's White Ibis and Ibis chick in nest

2009-11-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

The White Ibis on Bird Island

2009-11-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Photo by K.Verdeck

BIRDS OF AMBERGRIS CAYE
The White Ibis
The " Bird of the Week" has a way of picking itself, as did this bird of the week, for instance.
I was cruising through the lagoon river and a white bird flew over that seemed to be carrying a twig in its bill. I watched it, hoping it would reveal a nest in the mangrove hollow, when I noticed it wasn't carrying a twig at all; it was just the proud owner of the longest, most odd-shaped nose (bill), I've seen since Jimmy Durante. Another in the order of Ciconiiformes from the family of Threskiorenithidae is this 'white ibis'. Flying above, it can be distinguished from an egret by its outstretched neck and black wing tips that look like five black fingers on each wing, of course, if you're close enough, a long slender decurved bill. One bird book calls it sickle-shaped; it reminds me of a Hermit Hummingbird's bill, only big. The ibis uses it as a specialized tool for eating animals from the lagoon's shallow bottom.
I watched it walk for a few minutes. It steps forward a step and extends its neck forward with each step, cocks its head to point one eye downward, then quickly puts its special bill to work. I had hoped to hear the soft, grunting noise I read that they make while eating and hunting, but I disturbed it by getting to close, and it made its alarm noise instead, and flew off. It nests inside the mangrove tree for protection, not on top but in the middle. The mangrove grows like bars around its nests that prevent things like me from even getting close. I've only seen six white ibis on this island; three flying along the coast at Basil Jones, one in San Pedro lagoon, one at the Costa Del Maya lagoon.

Kisskadee

2009-10-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Pitangus sulphuratus

Belizean Wood Stork

2009-08-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

You can observe a lot just by watching

2009-07-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

‘You can observe a lot just by watching!’

Yoga Bera, a famous old baseball player once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching”. If you
have been observing birdwatchers you’ve realized over the last 10 years it has become a billion dollar
industry, according to Tourism Consultants, Bird watching is the second fastest growing outdoor activity
on the planet.
In the past every community had a family with a birdwatcher in it, but they where usually kept in
a closet and never talked about in public, and forget the stereotype of elderly birders wearing white
socks under sandals, eating bag lunches and taking bus rides to national parks.
Baby boomers flooding the hobby tend to fly to faraway ecotourist destinations stay in expensive
hotels and treat themselves to gourmet meals and boat excursions. US Parks and Wildlife reports, 95,000
birdwatchers spent more than 39 million usd in just one state in North America, formally only known for
its agriculture.
Birding is a jackpot for a country savvy enough to see it. US, Canadian and European travel retailers
are busy devising ecotourism vacation packages for upper income vacation travelers.
Birders bring cash to unlikely spots. The smaller villages in Belize need tourist to survive the dynamitic
economic change our country has embraced. Belize Tourism leaders have been savvy enough to market the varied Belizean habitats.
A good example is how the Orange Walk community known primarily in the past for its sugar cane
industry and orange harvests has found new resources in tourism through the new river birding tours to
the rainforest at Lamani.
Crooked Tree Village once only known only for the Cashew nuts it produced now has tourist pass
through spending their money in hotels, restaurants and gift shops, while taking boating tours to see the
many species of waterfoul in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary.
Birdwatchers have skyrocked these communities economy. Tour operators in San Pedro (a former poor
fishing village) on Ambergris Caye, market a day trip as an eco-adventure for the aware “birder”.

While visiting Belize along with your days watching of Avian delights you may also observe a wonder of many wonders, the versatile Belizean people who have successfully made the vocational transition into the new economy of their country.

Bubba's New Birdwatching in Belize Book

2009-07-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Bubba's Birdwatching Book site

Harpy Eagle Belize

2009-07-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

Laguna Seca

2009-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Lagana La Seca

2009-06-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

2009-06-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Slide Show

Kate at Barn in Gallon Jug

2009-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

Bubba on Subspecies

2008-07-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Birds of Ambergris Caye
“Birds can fly where they want to, when they want to, or so it seems to us,”
Bubba on Subspecies
While passing a quiet afternoon in my hammock with Bubba fishing from the dock, the low roar of
the reef was all the sound to be heard. I thought I would entertain myself by asking him something about
the birds. Just to start a conversation, I asked, “Why do you spend so much time studying the birds?” He
responded with “It helps me understand humans!”
“Maybe I should restate my question. Why do people study birds?”
He replied, “It helps them understand themselves.”
“Well I guess I can see how behaviors can be similar and parallels can be drawn but all that classification
stuff seems unrelated.
“No, you’re wrong! All that classification ‘stuff ’ as you call it has more value in understanding ourselves
than behavior parallels. I’ll give you a profound example. From what I’ve learned from taxonomy I have
an understanding of what’s happening in Kosovo between the Serbs and Albanians, and how that could
never happen to us in Belize.”
“I’m going to call you to task on that one Bubba; that’s a little farfetched for me to believe!”
“I’ll show you, but first let me explain taxonomy and how classification began. The word is derived
from Greek, taxis(‘arrangement’) and nomos(‘law’). In the 1800’s a Swedish taxonomist, Carolus Linnaeus,
invented a system of classifying living things into divisions. The first division was plant or animal; he called
it the ‘Kingdom’. Then there was a ‘Class’ dividing creatures such as reptiles and mammals from birds. Then
came ‘Orders’ separating, heron from sparrows, and finally ‘genus’ and then ‘species’. The species was to
be the smallest division; example: people are Homo sapiens and sugar maple trees are Acer saccharum and
Dogs like me are Canis familiaris, etc. A subdivision of species was called a race or ‘Subspecies’. Remember
in 1737 Darwin’s theory of evolution was still a long time away. Did you know that Darwin was pressured to
quickly release his famous book ‘The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’ because of concerns
he might be scooped by one of his colleagues and originally had it titled, ‘The Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life’?
Linnaeus was only attempting a convenient way of categorizing the elements of the natural world. He
defined race as, ‘an interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from
other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal
taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.’ A good example would be the Great Blue Heron and the
Great White Heron. The famous birder, Rodger Troy Peterson described the Great White Heron as the white
race of the Great Blue Heron. Linnaeus published his theories and his standard of divisions under which
for centuries the world used and believed. The demise of his theories validly came with assumptions he
made about race behavior. He declared that humanity fell into just four races and described characteristics
of each that are considered humorous in today’s societies, or most of today’s societies I should say, at least
controversial in both technical and nontechnical usage, and in some cases they may well be considered
offensive. Within Homo sapiens he proposed four taxa of a lower rank (subspecies). These categories where,
Americanus, Asiaticus, Africanus, and Europeanus. They were based on place of origin at first, and later
skin color. Linnaeus wrote each Human race had certain characteristics that were endemic to individuals
belonging to it. Native Americans were reddish, stubborn, and angered easily. Africans were black, relaxed
and negligent. Asians were sallow, avaricious, and easily distracted. Europeans were white, gentle, and inventive. Linnaeus’s races were clearly skewed in favor of Europeans. Over time, this classification led to
a racial hierarchy, The term ‘Racist’ was born right here and Europeans were at the top. Members of many
European countries used the classification scheme to validate their conquering or subjugation of members
of the other races. In particular this invented concept of race was used to enforce the inhumane institution
of slavery, particularly in the new world European colonies.
Our conversation seemed to be going just one way and getting a little dry so I asked, “Bubba how does
a race get started in a species?”
“Ironically the most classic explanation uses birds as an example. Darwins theory goes like this. There
is a swamp where a species of birds live, eating crustaceans from the bottom of the water. Something in
nature causes the water to get a little deeper and those birds with a little shorter legs are forced to move
elsewhere to survive. This effectively removes them from the gene pool leaving only those longer legged
birds, reinforcing even longer legs. In time the water rises again and again the shorties of the long legged
group have to leave, strengthening the long legged gene even further, eventually resulting in a distinctly
different bird of the same species.”
“Bubba, are you saying this is true with humans also?”
“Brother Elbert, I’m saying it’s as obvious to me as the nose on your face! Have you ever wondered
why it’s so long and skinny? Your ancestors more than likely evolved in a cold dry climate where having a
long skinny nose moistened and warmed the air before you breathed it in giving you a respiratory health
advantage to survive lots of colds and pneumonias over a broader shorter one used in moist warm climates.
This would evoke The Darwinian Imperative that I’ve been describing to you.”
“What about skin color?”
“That’s easy. It’s simply a protective reaction from harsh sun or no reaction from little sun.”
Bubba pulled in his line and replaced the sardine something had stolen from the hook. A Brown Pelican
standing on the dock cocked his yellow head to eye him closely hoping Bubba might get sloppy with the
bait.
“OK Bubba, that all sounds very logical but I haven’t forgotten you said you could explain the war in
Europe and how Belize couldn’t have those kinds of problems from what you know about birds.”
“Well, let’s go back to those short legged birds that had to move from the swamp. Let’s say for the
sake of example, the new shallower swamp they moved to contained shrimp. The birds eat shrimp which
can make astaxanthin from the simpler carotenoids contained in the algae on which they feed. In bottom
feeding birds these pigments dissolve in fats and are deposited in the growing feathers making them pink.
Imagine then, that some act of nature causes the two swamps to become one big swamp mixing the two,
now very distinctly different flocks of the same species in a common feeding ground, one with extra long
legs and gray, the other short with pink feathers. They might not recognize one another as the same species
and fight to defend their feeding ground, mistakenly from their own kind.”
“Bubba you do amaze me! But what about Belize and how it could never happen here?”
“Well, in Belize we have Spanish, Mestizos, Creoles, Garifuna, Mayan, Mennonites, Arabs, East Indian,
British, Mopan, Ketchi and Yucatec all living in a 6000 square mile area. And for hundreds of years we
have been mixing like a box of crayons in the Caribbean sun, creating no majority and no minority. Who’s
going to throw a stone at whom?”
Suddenly Bubba’s fishing pole bent violently with a strike. After a short fight he reeled a large fish onto
the dock.
“What’s that Bubba?”
He replied, “Epinephelus, Mycteroperca of the superclass Pisces, in the family of Sea Bass, commonly
known as a Black Grouper.”
I said, “Bubba, your taking this classification stuff all too serious, let’s clean him and eat!”

Turkey Vulture

2008-05-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Photo By Ianthes
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
I went down to the beach this morning to find Bubba lying on his back with his eyes closed looking very dead. I walked up to him slowly and sad, thinking of all the birdwatching adventures we had been through in these last ten years. I had just begun to sob when he suddenly opened one eye, looked at the vultures circling over him and explained in a low voice that I was spoiling his ploy to get a close look at the Ambergris Turkey Vulture from the order of Cathartidae. Not moving and still speaking from his post mortem posture he explained that Vultures of Ambergris hunt actively, quartering the savanna like a harrier. Searching for small aquatic animals. When the dry season strands fish in shrinking ponds or savanna flats these nomadic birds will be visiting the island in masses. Bubba was successful in arousing the curiosity of several, luring them close enough to see their dark eyes and naked red skin heads. They have a white bill. The red color of its head is accented by a blood red nape band giving this bird an eerie macab appearance. I'm constantly amazed with Bubba's resourcefulness and totally appreciative of our close look at another magnificent island bird.

Royal Tern Sterna maxima

2008-03-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

If you sail or motor up to one of San Pedro's many docks, you're greeted by a group of comical-looking white birds with zany black hairdos and long orange noses called Royal Terns.
During the day the terns stand in flocks on the ends of the docks in town, facing the wind very uniformly and when the trade wind blows from the north-east, all the terns turn to the left. And when the breeze comes from the South-east, the terns all turn to the right. Our island and reef run predominately North and South, so if you're sitting in one of San Pedro's many bars overlooking the reef, you're seeing another end of the Royal Tern.
The family is Laridae and includes all gulls and terns with about 80 species. Long, large wings and a good fishing bill make this tern one of Ambergris' successful fishing birds, and it even wears webbed feet for a little swimming if it has to.
Terns are excellent flyers and able to fish well offshore. They breed in monogamous pairs, always nest in colonies and build a crude nest on the ground or grasses deep in the Savannah's protection. Our island is home for hundreds. They have a high-pitched voice of "Keerr, kree, tsirr" like a sea gull.
In my reading I find birders seem to disagree about one point or another consistently. The Royal Tern is no exception. One book says, "The Royal Tern is a thief and steals fish from frigates and other birds," the next book will say, " The Royal Tern's fish are stolen by frigates." The only way to really find out is to see for myself, so I went down to Cholo's Bar & Pool Hall at the beach and made myself comfortable in a stool overlooking the docks where 200 or more terns, gulls and frigates seem to be having their afternoon meal of sardines and scraps from the fisherman cleaning the catch on the dock. A frigate swooped down and scooped up some fish parts from the surface of the water and another accosted him in mid-air causing him to drop the object of their confrontation, only to fall another few feet and get caught in the air by a tern when suddenly another tern collided head on in a cat fight with Tern#1 only to lose everyone's desired prize into the water below. Surprised by this free-for-all and still uncertain who steals from whom, I turned to one of our knowledgeable local guides having a beer on the stool next to me and asked, "Who steals from who? The tern or the frigate?
He replied, " Well you should know, gringo. You're the one who writes about birds."

The Little Blue Heron of Ambergris Caye

2008-02-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

The Little Blue Heron is a conniiform and by name alone we know this long legged, wading bird is a masterful fisherman. Its specialized neck with twenty-two vertebra allows it to thrust forward rapidly to impale prey in the water before it. Like all fishing, when to fish is as important as where.
The Little Blue Heron has a powder blue to gray body and glossy purple neck. Its bill is yellow and tipped with black. Its legs and feet are a yellowish green. He can be seen walking along the shoreline's shallow waters, fishing almost everywhere on the island.
It nests in the protection of the mangrove on the lagoon side of the island and builds a crude platform of sticks atop with the sky as a roof. Until this heron is about one year old it is snow white but can be distinguished from the white egret by its bill and leg colors.

San Pedro Sun

2008-01-26T14:05:00.000-08:00

SANPEDRO SUN BELIZE CENTRAL AMERICA VOL.
BIRDS OF AMBERGRIS CAYE
“From Outrage to Action”
Bubba got this unusual title for this week’s story from an old document in my mother’s attic. It told of an ornithologist who had taken a stroll through Manhattan in 1886 and counted 542 exotic birds ------ all of them stuffed and mounted on top women’s hats.
In 1896 this account, and many like it, incited Mrs. Augustus Hemenway to collect a list of names from her “BOSTON BLUE BOOK.” The list of names was of the women most likely to wear feathers, plumes, and even whole birds on their heads.
Within a few weeks, circulars had been mailed asking Boston’s most fashionable ladies to join a society for the protection of these fashionable animals.
By 1899, this action on the part of Mrs. Hemenway had fueled alliances between concerned socialites, sportsmen and ornithologist who met and agreed, ”To discourage the buying and wearing, for ornamental purposes, of the feathers of any wild birds except ducks and game birds; and to otherwise further the protection of native birds”. Mrs. Hemenway’s letter-writing caused a movement that grew into an organization that has 7 million members and over the years has expanded their concerns to protection of eggs, nests and habitat, resulting in thousands of inland and coastal sanctuaries with strict laws to protect them.
Today in Belize this same group is largely responsible for the creation of our countries many reserves. Their work is seen in a stately heron stalking its next meal outside your window, in a flock of terns diving to catch small fish that swim just below our clean waters surface and majestic pelicans gliding effortlessly above San Pedro.
The strength for this organization for 100 years has come from the same source, “Someone has to decide to take some action and write a few letters!”
I’m not sure Bubba truly understood the message of this story , all afternoon he’s been designing ladies hats made entirely of cat fur.
Anyone wishing to write letters should contact either or both of these offices:
The Belize Audubon Society,
12 Fort St.,
Belize City, Belize
The Department of Environment,
Chief Environmental Officer,
1012 Ambergris Avenue,
Belmopan, Belize.

SANPEDRO SUN BELIZE CENTRAL AMERICA VOL.
BIRDS OF AMBERGRIS CAYE

Osprey on Ambergris Caye Belize

2008-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

While trying to decide on the bird of the week I read about a candidate on the island called an osprey. Tired of researching and trying to choose, I got in my boat and headed north on the island. In passing Tres Cocos I saw from a distance one bird among the many silhouettes over the shore, laboriously flapping its wings in a hover. Fast flaps of long wings designed to glide caught my eye, and as I got closer I saw its neck bent at a right angle to its body, focusing on some aquatic prey about 100 feet below in the water. Just as I felt my boat's closeness to the bird's target area might make it abort and fly away, it suddenly plummeted, raising talons and throwing wings back. This rocketing fisherman snatched dinner in a big splash. The Bonefish wiggled and fought as the osprey recovered from the water and became airborne again. Then as if was annoyed by the fish's struggle the bird lowered its sharp beak and stopped the movement of the fish with a strategic shot to the fish's head. With the slippery fish grasped in its long curved claws it flew away.
Decision made!
Ornithologists categorize birds into families, such as the spotted owl, screech owl and horned owl. All have several things in common and belong to a family called Strigidae with 120 members. The blue-tailed hummingbird, the violet-crowned hummingbird and the rufous-tailed all belong to a family called Trochilidae with 320 members. The decision on which family you belong to is made on common traits like flattened faces, forward looking eyes or hooked bills, a lot like human traits. The osprey is said, by some, to be a one of a kind, single member its own unique family called Pandionidae, because of specialized joints in its feet and curved razor talons used for fishing. It seems there is some disagreement in the world of birders over its family tree, whether it's hawks, eagle, falcon or vulture is probably not on the osprey's mind. The osprey is very territorial and claims a few square miles for its hunting and fishing grounds. That's why it appears each cocal up and down the island seems to be home for one pair. Osprey nest in a bulky stick nest placed high in tree tops or platforms of man-made structures like water towers and roof peaks. It uses the same nest year after year.
Sometimes when the water is cloudy from bad weather and the fishing is bad, the osprey will resort to eating snakes and lizards. Its voice is a distinctive, sharp, high pitched and easily recognized, "Keeip".

The White Race of the Blue Heron

2007-12-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

photo ambergriscaye.com

BIRDS OF AMBERGRIS CAYE
The American Great Egret
Species are defined as populations, the members of which are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
The American Great Egret is what Peterson described as, "the white race of blue heron", or in other words a subspecies of the Great Blue Heron. Local guides just say ‘White Heron’ and that seems like a good name. I wanted to see the bird's feet to know more about its positive ID, there are actually 11 tall white birds that can be mistaken for the Great American Egret in Belize. That could have been what Bubba was wondering also when he jumped from the boat. The startled heron flew a few flaps, about five, and then glided down to the sea grass beds again to resume fishing. Black feet to match the legs! That, combined with the yellow bill is a positive ID for this bird.
During my short look, I saw a three foot tall heron; it was solid white except for where its orange, pointed bill connected with its head and the color seem to extend towards the eye. The eye was yellow in its iris and the bird stood on black legs and feet. Its neck had the heron's "S" shape and was more than twice the length of its body.
David Sibley’s Bird Behavior Guide says, ’It nests atop the mangrove just like its cousin, the Great Blue Heron, where two or three blue-green eggs are laid.’ November is the nesting season for them as well; it uses the same fishing ground and techniques.
Birds tend to sleep at those times of the day when they cannot feed, thus not only do day feeding birds sleep at night and nocturnal birds during the day, but birds such as waders sleep when the tide is high. High and low tide changes about an hour each day so at certain times of the month, the hot middle of the day is good bird watching, if it's low tide. Normally early morning and late afternoon are the best.

Gray-Necked Wood-Rail

2007-12-20T11:36:00.001-08:00

Gray-Necked Wood-Rail
In the order of Gruiformes and the family of Rallidae is the species Aramides cajanea or the Grey-Necked Wood-Rail.
Bubba and I were strolling along a path through the mangrove on our way to visit the golden nymph of the river when this remarkable bird crossed our path. I was impressed with Bubba's restraint in not chasing it.
The rail stood about 16 inches tall and looked like a colorful marsh chicken. As you might imagine its neck is gray, yellowish green bill and red eyes. Its rump is black with an oddly turned up tail that wags when it trots.
The legs are red, long and bare feet that have three long toes forward and one rear toe that is raised and doesn't appear in its footprint.
Its walk seemed very similar to the domestic chicken, strutting its head forward with each step. It only scurried a short distance at the sight of us until it was protected by the thick mangrove, where it slowed, then stopped to look at us as well. I would like to hear its description of what we look like.
Most rails are flightless birds, as are most of its order, however, some have the ability to fly feebly for short hops to taller perches or from running, flapping, take-offs can glide short distances, usually with legs dangling.
In a predator free environment that some islands provide, flightlessness evolves quickly in most species.
Later when predators such as cats dogs and man are introduced to the island the Ralliade are exterminated quickly. Archeologist discover bones with some regularity of recently exterminated species on islands where rails were previously unknown. The order contains 28 species known to have fallen to extinction. Most of which became extinct in the period since the beginning of the European exploration of the Americas ( post 1492) and are only know by their bones and travelers accounts. This is more evidence of Bubbas theory about your species soon being endangered if you taste good.
Most Rail are secretive and difficult to observe: consequently our knowledge of their behavior is limited. “Rare” is how Peterson describes its sightings. It nests on platforms of Twiggs just above the water line at waters edge of marsh in mangrove thickets. A very safe place unless a swimming snake or renegade developer with a bulldozer comes along.
The Wood-Rails lay 4 to 5 eggs that are whitish to buffy white, spotted with brown and greys.
I’ve seen many Grey-Necked in the lagoons around Maskall and along the banks of the Northern river. H. Lee Jones in his very popular book titled ‘Birds of Belize’ lists the status in Belize of the Grey-Necked as ‘once on Ambergris Caye, however Bubba and I see them regularly on the Northern parts of the islands back lagoons.

Pajaro Gato Negro

2007-02-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Black Catbird This species is endemic to the Yucatan and costal islands of Belize

(meaning they are found nowhere else on Earth)

Pajaro Gato Negro
By Bubba
Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird of the United States to be a Turkey.
The Eagle was not unique and he thought the Turkey would have been the best choice.
I feel this way about the Black-Cat Bird and Belize.
This species is endemic to the Yucatan and coastal islands of Belize.
Several years ago I met this young woman named Annick doing her thesis on the Black Cat bird, she had lots of questions and latter I found she had published. As thesis go it’s a log one but I’ve copied little pieces of it below that I thought might interest you.

University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Institut of Zoology
Ecology of the Black Catbird, Melanoptila glabrirostris,
at Shipstern Nature Reserve (Belize),
and distribution in Yucatan.
The Black Catbird, from the Mimidae family, is endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula and is
listed as « near threatened » on the IUCN red list. It inhabits the scrubby woodland and the forest edge of some areas of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. In Belize, the bird is mainly found on the cayes (islands) and more rarely on the mainland. It is threatened by tourism development, hurricanes and conversion to coconut plantations, causing habitat
fragmentation and loss.
2. Ambergris Caye
Common to fairly common resident from Eastern Q. Roo to Ambergris Caye (Howell &
Webb, 1995).
Common on Ambergris Caye (Jones and Vallely, 2001).
Because of San Pedro town and San Pablo resort community development, the remaining
southern small population faces increasing pressure due to additional loss of habitat and
may be extirpated from southern Ambergris Caye by the end of the present decade
(Miller& Miller, 1991).
The Black Catbird belongs to the birds frequently seen from the “people perch” of the
private bird sanctuary of the Caribbean Villas. This sanctuary is located in the narrow but
rich littoral forest region south of San Pedro.
(www.caribbeanvillashotel.com/birds/cvbirds.html).
For Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve, northern Ambergris Caye see 8.2.5.
Expected status
One could consider the status of Bacalar Chico’s Black Catbirds has being common to very common. Ambergris Caye’s population being threatened by tourist development, Bacalar Chico National Park could serve as a refuge for this species.
Expected status
Uncommon to rare ?
On islands (Caye Caulker and Bacalar Chico), Black Catbirds are nesting and foraging in
the same habitat, the low coastal forest. Both vegetation structure (for building nests) and
composition (fruiting trees) are found in this habitat.

Want to read more ?
http://www.shipstern.org/documents/showFile.asp?ID=1846.