Welcome!

Welcome to our blog about Neotropical migrants in NE Belize. Below and in adjoining pages you will find details of observations and activities carried out under a one year project examining Neotropical migrants in north-east Belize that has now come to an end. The blog, for which any date can be accessed using the calendar, largely details daily capture totals from mist-netting carried out during ‘autumn’ and ‘spring’ migration in 2007 and 2008. In the other pages you will find more details about the project.

We hope you find this of interest!

Two more published papers!

We are happy to share two more scientific papers on Neotropical migrants in Belize, that came out in 2011 based on the results from this project:

Bayly, N.J. & Gómez, C. (2011) Comparison of autumn and spring migration strategies of Neotropical migratory landbirds in northeast Belize. Journal of field Ornithology 82(2): 117-131. Download PDF here.

Gómez, C., & N. J. Bayly (2011) Migration of Empidonax flycatchers through northeast Belize. Ornitología Neotropical 22 (3): 339-345. Download PDF here.

Wintering Migrants in NE Belize article published

We are happy to announce that the first scientific article from this project has recently been published in the Journal of Field Ornithology. The article presents information on habitat use of migratory birds during the ‘winter’ in northeast Belize.

The reference for the paper is:

Gómez, C. & Bayly, N.J. (2010). Habitat use, abundance and persistence of Neotropical migrant birds in a habitat matrix in northeast Belize. Journal of Field Ornithology 81(2): 237-251. Download PDF here.

News from Colombia

If you enjoyed the regular updates on captures and our work in Belize then you may be interested in visiting the blog for our latest work on migrants in northern Colombia. See http://avesmigratoriascolombia.wordpress.com

The site is primarily in spanish but it will have regular english updates and the tables of captures and observations are self-explanatory. So if you have ever wondered where Veery go after leaving Belize and how long it takes them to get there, take a look!

Yellowthroat recovered in Texas!

This week we received the exciting news that a Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas banded by ourselves in March 2008 was retrapped over 1400 km to the north in Texas in April of this year. This is the first migrant that we banded in Belize to be found elsewhere, lets hope there are more to come. The map below shows the two capture locations.

Final report available for download

The final report resulting from the activities of this project and submitted to the Belizean Forestry Department is now available for download – see the Results & Reports page or click on the link below. The same page will be updated with further results and publications as they are produced.

PDF – Final report

On the move in Belmopan

Activities under our Neotropical migrant project have ceased now but we continue to monitor migration during our last week in Belize. With the impact of Ike over, birds are on the move again now and yesterday saw a large movement of both Cliff and Barn Swallows, with the former apparently outnumbering the latter. Today in a small block of secondary scrub on the outskirts of Belmopan an excellent selection of migrants were on view, including a Blackburnian Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler and many Red-eyed Vireos.

End of Course

Today was the last day of the course and a disappointing one, as Ike continued to block the flow of migrants and threrefore captures were few. The same was true yesterday, although a couple of interesting migrants were trapped such as Veery and the first Least Flycatcher for the course. The totals below refer to birds trapped both on the 13th and 14th.

Willow Flycatcher

Empidonax traillii

1

Trails Flycatcher

Empidonax traillii/alnorum

1

Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus

1

Veery

Catharus fuscescens

1

Kentucky Warbler

Oporornis formosus

1

Yellow-breasted Chat

Icteria virens

3

Total

8

The brand new University of Belize banding group!

Ike stops the flow

After two days with lots of movement, the migrants dried up and just six new birds were trapped. This is most likely the affect of Hurricane Ike as it moves from east to west across the Gulf of Mexico and the winds over the Gulf change from northerly to southerly. Winds are expected to be strong and from the south over the Gulf again tonight, so migrants are likely to be thin on the ground again tomorrow, with just those birds that have already made it to the Yucatan on the move.

Ovenbird

Seiurus aurocapillus

1

Hooded Warbler

Wilsonia citrina

1

Yellow-breasted Chat

Icteria virens

4

Total

6

More Chats

Another busy morning produced 18 migrants of which 12 were Yellow-breasted Chats. The only Empidonax trapped had an unusual set of measurements and could not even be narrowed down to two species. We were joined today by William from BFREE in southern Belize, who is assisting with the training over the next three days.

Empidonax sp.

Empidonax sp.

1

Ovenbird

Seiurus aurocapillus

1

Kentucky Warbler

Oporornis formosus

2

Hooded Warbler

Wilsonia citrina

2

Yellow-breasted Chat

Icteria virens

12

Total

18