A Birder's Guide to Belize
 

 Updates to A Birder's Guide to Belize

Page 245, under Contacts

Dorothy Beveridge has retired from guiding and she no longer feeds the Rufous-necked Wood-Rails, although the rails can still be found in the area October to May.

Species added to checklist

Lazuli Bunting - 2 March 1993 at Chan Chich, a female with a flock of Indigo Buntings.  Observed by Barry Zimmer, Dale Delaney, Allan Welby and others.  Belatedly, documentation was received for an additional species to the Belize checklist.  Since there is no photo or recording, it should be considered hypothetical at this time.

Bullock's Oriole - 24 March 1997 at Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.  Observed and documented by Steven Mlodinow on eBird after book publication.  No photo.

White-faced Ibis - 18-24 December 2012 at Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary.  Photographed by Kevin Karlson.  Viewed and reported on eBird by Mark Davis, Linda Warschauer, and Tom Cantwell.

Bicknell's Thrush NOT ADDED - 13-18 December 2012 and perhaps 28 December 2012.  Perhaps also one at Tikal 17 December 2012.  Reported in North American Birds, 67:2 (2013), pp. 354-5. "We received three well documented reports of Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush, all from mid- to late Dec., well after these sister species should have reached their wintering grounds in the West Indies (Bicknell's) and South America (Gray-cheeked). The first appeared at J&DB's feeder on Caye Caulker 13-18 Dec. Good quality photographs revealed several characters more indicative of Bicknell's than Gray-cheeked (fide Michael Patten). although these subtle phenotypic differences may be less than definitive based on our present knowledge. The second bird appeared at Tikal, Peten 17 Dec (Ethan Kistler, Eric Ripma, Chris West). Three observers of this bird are all familiar with Catharus thrushes in the U.S. and were able to compare it with nearby Swainson's Thrushes. The third, also in Belize, was closely studied at B.F.R.E.E. 28 Dec (ph. Desiree Naranjo), but only the Caye Caulker photographs show enough detail to allow speculation on the bird's taxonomic affinity."

Subsequent to this publication, experts Alvaro Jaramillo and Dan Brown stating that it was neither a Bicknell's nor a Gray-cheeked but a dark-morph Veery.

Connecticut Warbler - 9 May 2013 at Blancaneaux Lodge in Mountain Pine Ridge.  Observed by Roni Martinez.  Another species added without photo, but well documented by features and behavior.

Eastern Phoebe - between 7 and 10 November 2014 at Crooked Tree Village.  Seen by Glenn Crawford.

Greater Scaup - 17 November 2014 at Cattle Landing, Toledo District.  Photographed by Anna Fasoli and also observed by Alex Lamereaux.  Confirmation is pending review of photos by scaup experts. 

MacGillivray's Warbler - 19-21 May 2000 at South Water Caye, but not reported until January 2015 on eBird.  Photographed and described by Kirk Roth.

Violet-green Swallow - 10 November 2015 at Cattle Landing, Toledo District.  Observed by Lee Jones, Brian Sullivan, Israel Mai and photographed by Brian Sullivan.  Sexed as a female in first-fall preformative molt.

Bell's Vireo - 10 February 2016 at Dawson Creek off New River Lagoon, Orange Walk District.  Well described by Larry Schmahl and also identified by Mark Pretti.  Not singing, nor photographed.

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  Website created by Bert Frenz.  Last updated April 05, 2016.