Chasing the Black Rosy-finch
Adventure Planning When you talk to a birder who has seen a Black Rosy-Finch you’ll likely hear a story about a nomadic winter bird at a feeding station in a mountainous area (often with other rosy-finch species). Indeed that is … Continued
A Zillion Miles of Birding: Days 7-11
Here is a continuation of the grand adventure that Matías is having in southern Argentina. If you missed the earlier blog entries, please look here for Days 1-3 and Days 4-6. Day 7 From the town of Camarones I drove south … Continued
A Zillion Miles of Birding: Days 4-6
Here is a continuation of the grand adventure that Matías is having in southern Argentina. If you missed the first blog entry, please look here (Days 1-3). November 22, 2019 – Day 4 For the morning of the 4th day I … Continued
A Zillion Miles of Birding: Days 1-3
I first met Matías Torreguitar in May 2018 at about 5:50AM in the bustling Buenos Aires airport. My wife and I had just landed, and Matías had graciously agreed to meet us at this very early hour. With a broad … Continued
Whistling in the Tropics
It’s a familiar feeling for those who love birds. That extra gravitational tug that a truly special species can create. It’s a force that results in a slightly unreasonable cycle of planning, dreaming, strategizing, hoping, and still more dreaming. One … Continued
2018 Taxonomy Updates
Several years ago, we at BirdsInFocus.com made an internal commitment to synchronize our website’s taxonomy with the annually updated eBird/Clements Checklist. This has allowed us to stay as current as possible, for every bird species in the world, on the nomenclature now used by … Continued
Caribbean Bird Relief
In September 2017 Hurricane Irma and Maria brought incredible destruction to numerous islands across the Caribbean. Many people awoke after these storms to a new reality of damaged or destroyed homes and natural habitats that were barely recognizable. With trees stripped … Continued
Endemic Birds of St. Lucia
St. Lucia just might be paradise. Situated in the eastern Caribbean, this small island — just 10% of the size of Miami-Dade County — enjoys a tropical climate that is moderated year-round by pleasant northeast trade winds. Volcanic in origin, St. … Continued
A Plover Named Erwin
Sometimes you just stumble into a great story through photography. That was the case back on February 16, 2014 when I traveled to the west coast of Florida to one of my favorite shorebird photography spots. Bunche Beach is well … Continued
Long-whiskered Owlet and Peruvian Endemics
Long-whiskered Owlet Xenoglaux loweryi The Long-whiskered Owlet is one of South America’s most elusive birds. It is strange, tiny, nocturnal, shy and endangered; sounds like the perfect bird to search for! In 1976, ornithologists from Louisiana State University were surveying … Continued