Additional online

content exclusively
for members
Additional
online content
for everyone
Contents
vol. 56 | no. 3 | june 2024

• cover photo: The Orange-tufted

Spiderhunter, Peter Kaestner’s

■ A Guide to a Great State
a review by Meg Scherch Peterson
38 Deep Listening
in Buenos Aires
10,000th world bird, will forever hold Getting to know the Great
■ Extinction in the Anthropocene
a special place in birding lore. Read a Kiskadee and Monk Parakeet
a review by John Kricher
Birding interview with Peter, beginning Julia Tchira
on p. 18. Photo by © Allan Barredo. Extended online content for
members only: aba.org/magazine
Online book reviews! Read the 42 Toponymy,
Migration, and
reviews, discuss the reviews, buy
Pigeon Peas
Columns
the books: aba.org/book-reviews
Making etymological
connections between

67 Rebecca’s Bird birds of the Caribbean

4 About the
Contributors
Book Bulletin
The Latest Book & Media News
and U.S. East Coast
Georgia Silvera Seamans

8 Spectacles
Summer Spectacles
68 Featured Photo
This warbler is a hybrid, but what 48 The Woman
Painting the
Getting the most from kind of hybrid? Read finder James Skies of Mexico
your summer Birding Lees’s analysis of this rare find, The reintroduction of Scarlet
Frank Izaguirre beginning on p. 60. Macaws in Veracruz
Jesús Antonio

10 Primary Thoughts
Investing in the Future Features “Chucho” Moo Yam

Raising the next generation

of birders and conservationists
Wayne Klockner
22 Finding and
Photographing
Bird Nests in
14 Celebrations
ABA Members’ Milestones
Southeast Arizona
Using botany to your advantage,
and Other Birding Joys and other tips and tricks
compiled by Ioana Seritan Mike Henry

18 A Birding Interview
Breaking the 10,000-bird
32 Codebreakers
Swainson’s Warbler
barrier and beyond Tips for finding and
with Peter Kaestner photographing this secretive skulker
Gene Koziara

60 Featured Photo
The Dundas Valley Hybrid Warbler
A rare encounter with an American
Redstart x Magnolia Warbler hybrid
James Lees
• Birding wonders never cease
62
in Southeast Arizona: specialty
Book & Media Reviews birds, thrilling vagrants, overall
Analysis & Appreciation diversity. But birders may be
of the Birding Literature overlooking the region for the joy
edited by Rebecca Minardi of searching for and photograph-
■ A Memoir of Injustice ing nesting desert birds, like these
and the Beauty of Birds Crested Caracaras. Read Tucson-
a review by April D. Campbell based photographer Mike Henry’s

■ The Political Hatching of tips on how to find desert bird

the Migratory Bird Treaty nests, beginning on p. 22. Photo
a review by M. Ralph Browning by © Mike Henry.

june 2024 aba.org/magazine 1

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About Birding Magazine ■ Birding is the members’ magazine of the American Birding Association
(ABA), published eight times per year. Six regular issues appear bimonthly, and two special themed issues appear
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Instructions for Contributors ■ Birding welcomes inquiries and submittals from all members of the
birding community. We solicit content on anything having to do with wild birds and their habitats, and we partic-
ularly favor contributions that focus on North America, the joy of birding, and nature study in the digital era. Bird-
ing covets contributions from voices and perspectives that have been historically underrepresented in science and
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the ABA membership. Browse Birding Online (aba.org/magazine) to view recent content. Then contact Editors Ted
Floyd (tfloyd@aba.org) and Frank Izaguirre (fizaguirre@aba.org) with an idea or proposal, and we’ll go from there.

2 birding june 2024

 Birding is published by the American Birding
Association, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that
inspires all people to enjoy and protect wild birds.
The American Birding Association, Inc. is the premier
organization representing the North American birding
community. The ABA supports birders of all levels
through publications, digital content, young birder
programs, educational workshops, camps, trips,
partnerships, and networks. While building a grander
birding community, a source of joy, companionship, and
nature appreciation for thousands, the ABA is also
building a powerful constituency for bird conservation.

CHAIR • Chris Sloan

DIRECTORS
George Armistead • David Bates • David Bell
Sara Pruneda-Beesley • Julie Davis • Karyl Gabriel
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wayne Klockner
FINANCE
Deb Barnett
OPERATIONS
Kelly Smith
DEVELOPMENT
Carl Bendorf
MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNICATIONS
Maggie FitzGibbon, Membership & Communications
David Hartley, Membership & IT

Supporting local guides and conservation through nature travel Greg Neise, Website
LeAnn Pilger, Membership
PROGRAMS
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PUBLICATIONS
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PAST BOARD CHAIRS

Julie Davis (2019–2024)
Scott Fraser (2017–2019)
Louis Morrell (2010–2017)

Birding Tours Dick Ashford (2009–2010)

Tom Pincelli (2007–2009)

Wildlife Tours
Bettie R. Harriman (2006–2007)
Richard H. Payne (1999–2006)
Allan R. Keith (1997–1999)

Photo Tours Daniel T. Williams, Jr. (1993–1997)

Allan R. Keith (1989–1993)
Lawrence G. Balch (1983–1989)
Joseph W. Taylor (1979–1983)
Arnold Small (1976–1979)
naturalselectionstours.com • info@naturalselectionstours.com G. Stuart Keith (1973–1976)
G. Stuart Keith (1970 pro tem)

4 birding june 2024

contributors
About the Contributors
• During a 36-year
diplomatic career
in the U.S. Foreign
Service with postings
around the world,
Peter Kaestner
racked up an international life list of
bird species longer than any other hu-
man being. In Feb. 2024, he became the
first person to reach 10,000 birds on
his life list. Now retired, he works as
a Rockjumper tour leader, helps gov-
ernments and organizations promote
bird tourism and conserve critical bird
habitat, and serves as an ambassador for
American Bird Conservancy.
• Mike Henry grew up in the Midwest,
but became an avid birder after moving
to Tucson, Arizona, in 1998. He has been
photographing and
documenting Sonoran
Desert birds since
2018, and he has had
his work published in
the National Audubon
Society’s photography contest and Tuc-
son Audubon’s Vermilion Flycatcher.
• Julia Tchira is an Argentinian
composer, violinist, and educator. She
graduated with a degree in composition
with electroacoustic media from the
National University
of Quilmes. Her com-
positions are linked
to sound ecology, and
she uses bird songs in
her music. She loves
nature and actively promotes the exer-
cise of conscious listening.
• Gene Koziara, a semi-retired physi-
cian, lives in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.
He developed a passion for bird photog-
raphy after observing a Pileated Wood-
pecker. Discovering nearby Kennesaw
Mountain as an Important Bird Area, he
became interested in warblers and pho-
tographing all their plumages. More of
6 birding june 2024
his work can be found
on his Flickr site under
Geno K.: flickr.com/
people/genekdr/. He
conducts seasonal war-
bler photography trips
with WarblerWhisperer LLC.
• Georgia Silvera Seamans is the
founder of Local Nature Lab, a nature
education and biodiversity monitor-
ing nonprofit. She is an
adjunct professor in the
field of environmental
studies and teaches at
New York University
and The New School.
She likes to drink tea while thinking
about nature in cities.
• From the Mayan community of Po-
much in the state of Campeche, Mexico,
Jesús Antonio “Chucho” Moo Yam
is a wildlife videographer, tour leader,
ornithologist, and the
ABA’s Latin America
Correspondent. He
created the first bird
field guide for his home
region when he was 18
years old. He now leads photographic
expeditions and workshops in Mexico,
Colombia, and Ecuador.
• James Lees, originally from Eng-
land, now lives in Ontario, Canada, and
has worked with birds and conserva-
tion for 25 years. James has guided over
35 birding tours
around the world
for Naturetrek and
Eagle-Eye Tours.
Currently James is
the conservation
manager for the Hamilton Conserva-
tion Authority, looking after the Dundas
Valley Conservation Area.
• April D. Campbell, M.D., grew up in
rural Connecticut surrounded by wild-
ness. Her love of birds was inspired by
the whirling Barn Swallows that nested
in the family’s heritage barn. Upon re-
tirement, she founded
BIPOC Birders of Mich-
igan, an organization
devoted to introducing
marginalized communi-
ties to the joys of nature. She resides in
Ann Arbor with her wife, three cats, and
a very stubborn dachshund.
• M. Ralph Browning is a retiree
of the 1885 Biological Survey at the
Division of Birds in the Smithsonian
National Museum of
Natural History. While
caretaking the collec-
tion with others, he
pursued taxonomic
issues, with a focus on
species occurring in the Pacific North-
west. Living in Oregon with his friend
and life partner of over seven decades,
he continues to write about birds.
• Meg Scherch Peterson has been
an avid birder for 40 years. She is
active in conser-
vation organiza-
tions and has
authored nu-
merous articles
on wildlife and environmental issues.
Her website (megscherchpeterson.com)
highlights excerpts from her memoir,
Bird Woman Bird.
• John Kricher taught ecology and
ornithology at Wheaton College, Mas-
sachusetts, for 48 years. He is a Fellow
in the American Ornithological Society,
as well as Past President
of the Wilson Ornitho-
logical Society and the
Association of Field
Ornithologists. He au-
thored the acclaimed New Neotropical
Companion, Peterson Reference Guide to
Bird Behavior, and other works.
 travel

Travel with the ABA!

Bird of the Year Tour Borneo
Minnesota 27 August–
13–17 June 2024 6 September 2024
Price per person:
Price per person: $2,950
$7,350–$9,050
Single supplement: $550
Single supplement:
Join our 2024 Bird of the Year
tour in Sax-Zim Bog, Northern
$514–$720
Minnesota. In the warmth of The Sabah province of Malaysian Borneo holds some of Asia’s
summer, the Bog bursts with life, most famous birding sites, including the Danum Valley and the
as it is a breeding ground for many songbirds, including our fabled Mount Kinabalu. From lowland and montane rainforests to
Bird of the Year: Golden-winged Warbler! Each morning we mangrove swamps and wetlands, Borneo hosts a captivating mix
will be greeted by a symphony of birdsong from Blackburnian, of typical Southeast Asian birds, several rare species, and Bornean
Connecticut, Black-and-white, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, endemics. As if this weren’t enough, it is also one of the best places
and many other warblers. Cover artist Natasza Fontaine will in Asia to enjoy rainforest mammals, including amazing creatures
be joining us, too, for some fun and interactive art workshops such as Orangutan, Bornean Gibbon, and Leopard Cat! Join the
during the tour. Don’t miss out on this exciting birds and art tour ABA and Rockjumper for an awesome, exotic blend of fabulous
to one of the prettiest wilderness areas in the United States. birds, mammals, and amazing scenery!

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Single supplement: $750 From the heights of Pico Duarte to the depths of Lago
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Central and northwestern
Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds—nurtures a wide
Argentina offer spectacular
variety of habitats such as cloud forests, mangrove swamps,
landscapes: Chaco woodlands,
pine woodlands, and thorn forests, that are home to a whop-
salt flats, Yungas cloud forest,
ping 35 endemics. Among
semi-arid valleys, High Andes, and
these are Palmchat, Hispan-
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iolan Trogon, Bay-breasted
to many endemic and localized
Cuckoo, Broad- and Narrow-
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billed todies, and Eastern
Black-legged Seriema, Tucuman
and Western chat-tanagers.
Parrot, Olive-crowned Crescentchest, and Salinas Monjita, making
Join the ABA and EcoTour
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the Andes—as well as superb Malbec wines!
ics to migratory marvels.

For more details and to register,

go to : aba.org/travel call : 800.850.2473 email : kdomen@aba.org
spectacles

Summer
ized and rewarding skill. And of course,
baby birds are very cute when you
find them, and it can feel so satisfying
when you make out the contours of a

Spectacles
well-hidden nest.
In addition to all the excellent bird-
ing opportunities summer offers, it’s
one of the best times of year for enjoy-
ing other aspects of natural history.
After a morning full of birding and
nest-searching, sunny late mornings
Getting the most from your summer Birding are a great time to search meadows
and any area with blooming flowers
for interesting insects. Many birders

A
s I write this, birders across the Summer birding presents an excel- focus on butterflies or dragonflies, but
ABA Area are preparing for the lent opportunity to make interesting don’t ignore flies in the order Diptera—
exaltation of spring birding, discoveries, improve skills, and gen- they are incredibly cool and varied. At
but those same birders won’t read these erally just enjoy the night, there is limit-
words until the spectacle is just about bird breeding season, less opportunity to
over. Once the thrill of spring migration when birds are liter- enjoy the spectacular
winds down, some birders tend to feel ally making more diversity of moths
a bit deflated, like the best of the year’s birds. While par- and other nocturnal
birding is now passed and fall migra- ticipating in official insects like mant-
tion is still a long way off. surveys and routes isflies and anything
and other formal op- in the order Ephem-

B ut is it really so? The first con-

solation after spring birding has
quieted is typically breeding birds and
portunities is often
a great option, don’t
forget about the sim-
related surveys, and for good reason. ple joy of searching
for breeding species
in your local patches
or other nearby
Frank Izaguirre hotspots, checking if
there’s anything new
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
or missing. The act of
fizaguirre@aba.org searching for nests is
also its own special-
• Frank Izaguirre edits three
yearly issues of Birding maga-
zine. “Spectacles” is his own
column for discussing birding
themes and sharing birding
stories directly with readers.
Photo by © Frank Izaguirre.
eroptera. This is all
without mentioning
herps, botany, slime
molds—the list goes
on and on.
Within the realm
of birding, remember
that late migrants
are often still pass-
ing through flyways
as late as early June,
including exciting

• Sandwiched between the thrill of

spring and fall migration, summer birding
presents many exciting opportunities
for birders to explore and discover,
like seeking out challenging breeding
birds such as the Swainson’s Warbler.
Learn tips from warbler whisperer Gene
Koziara on finding and photographing
this often difficult-to-view species in the
Codebreakers column, beginning on p. 32.
Photo courtesy of Gene Koziara.

8 birding june 2024

 spectacles

More Birds.

arizonabirdingguides.com
and uncommon species like Con-
necticut Warbler, and some birds leave
their nests as early as the beginning of
July, so the window between the end Better Photos.
of spring migration and fall migra-
tion can be as short as just one month,
barely any time to enjoy the myriad
Your List.
opportunities for summer birding
and other natural history pursuits.
Early fall migration is also an under-
documented phenomenon that gives
birders a chance to find many species
that often slink away before birders
are even really paying attention to fall
migration. Add to this that it’s a good
time to study and learn about molt. The
summer birding period, with all its joys
and opportunities, begins and ends all
too quickly.

M any of the articles in this June

issue of Birding are about culti-
vating careful awareness of the birds
around us, both close to home and far
away, from the most easily accessible
to the trickiest of shy guys. I hope the
wisdom in this issue will help inspire
your own summer birding plans,
wherever they may play out.
I put great effort toward making
Birding the best possible resource for
ABA members and birders everywhere,
and I appreciate your support of the
ABA and our programs. I hope you love
this issue of Birding, and that, perhaps,
it may even be your favorite issue. I
want each Birding to be better than the
previous, so that every ABA member
feels that the latest Birding is even more
indispensable than the last. As always,
please feel free to communicate with
me directly about how you feel I can
make Birding the best birding resource
for you. I wish you tremendous success
as you pursue and enjoy all the spec-
tacles of summer birding and beyond.

Let’s find some good birds,

Frank Izaguirre
Editor, Birding

june 2024 aba.org/magazine 9

primary thoughts
Investing in
the Future
Raising the next generation of
birders and conservationists
M
y pre-teen beginnings as
a birder were intense: The
thrill of discovery drove me
into the field almost every day at dawn,
even on schooldays. Fortunately, the
woods, fields, and streams of central
New Jersey were just beyond the back
door, and I took full advantage of them.
Wandering those suburban wilds, I was
Wayne Klockner
Ocean City, Maryland
wklockner@aba.org
10 b i r d i n g june 2024
floored by every new bird I found and
can still remember my first Eastern
Towhee, Black-and-white Warbler, and
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. But those be-
ginnings were not without some frus-
tration. I was completely on my own.
B eing hampered by an incomplete
field guide and woefully subopti-
mal optics was challenging, but those
shortcomings were soon alleviated by
sympathetic parents, nonbirders them-
selves. What was missing was a peer,
let alone a birding mentor, to energize
my birding experience and accelerate
my learning to identify birds. For my
first few years of birding, I was content
to teach myself, given the absence of
any connection with an experienced
birder or local bird club with guided
walks. Fortunately, my new-found love
of birds and birding overcame any oc-
casional frustration. And finally, my
mother introduced me to a birding
colleague from work, and so began my
introduction to the small but dedicated
central New Jersey birding community.
I improved as a birder faster when I
could benefit from others’ experience
and advice.
As I learn more about the ABA’s
programs and services for the birding
community, I’m most excited by the
Young Birder Camps and Young Birder
of the Year Mentoring Program. If only
I could have participated in those when
I was getting started! These programs
offer youth not only exceptional oppor-
tunities to enhance their birding skills,
but also the chance to meet others of
similar age and level of commitment to
birds and birding. There’s real power in
bringing young people together over a
shared passion.
I witnessed this dynamic firsthand
earlier this year when I traveled to
San Diego to attend the launch of the
ABA’s newest Young Birder Camp,
Camp Surfbird, in partnership with
San Diego Audubon. The camp brought
together boys and girls for
a long weekend of birding,
learning, storytelling, and
mingling with attendees at
the San Diego Bird Festival. I
joined the group on their last
afternoon for some birding
at the mouth of the San Di-
ego River after their pelagic
trip. We shared excitement
• Participants in the ABA’s
newest Young Birder
Camp, Camp Surfbird,
interacted with Christian
Cooper (front row, third
from left), who keynoted
the San Diego Bird Festival
in Feb. 2024. Photo cour-
tesy of Wayne Klockner.
 primary thoughts

More Birds.

louisianabirdingguides.com
Better Photos.
Your List.

• ABA Executive Director Wayne

Klockner hopes to expand the ABA’s
Young Birder of the Year Mentoring
Program and continue the ABA tradition
of raising the next generation of leaders
in the birding and conservation fields.
Photo courtesy of Wayne Klockner.

over the multitude of birds on the flats

and in the river, including American
White Pelicans, Long-billed Curlews,
and hundreds of ducks. What struck me
was the birders’ infectious enthusiasm
and the overt love of nature they shared
with each other. I was watching the
next generation of community conser-
vationists arise.

S o now, an ask for your consider-

ation: Please give to our Nesting
Season Appeal, which generates criti-
cally important resources for all of the
ABA’s programs, such as the ABA’s
Young Birder Camps. We could use your
help as we nurture the next generation
of birders through our birding camps,
mentorship program, and scholarships,
and we hope to expand these to reach
more young birders. Such an invest-
ment in the future of birds and birding
is among the most important we can
make. Thank you!

Good birding,

Wayne Klockner
ABA Executive Director

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 11
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A Bird Photographer’s
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celebrations

Celebrations
riverine sites in northeastern Tanzania,
along the Ruvu, Wami, and Rufiji river
basins.

ABA Members’ Milestones and Other Birding Joys

I n late 2023, Elisa Fernandes-McDade
of Pleasant Hill, California, saw a
white Acorn Woodpecker while she
was walking her dog at Bishop Ranch
Celebrate your birding experiences with the ABA community! Share stories Open Space Regional Preserve in San
and sightings from North America and beyond by sending an email to Bird- Ramon, California. On Wed., Jan. 3,
ing Associate Editor Ioana Seritan (iseritan@aba.org). Submissions should 2024, she went back with her mom to
be 50–150 words long, written in the third person; please include the location relocate and photograph the wood-
and date for your celebration, and please indicate your place of residence. pecker, and they found it in a live oak
Traditional numerical milestones (100 species at your local patch, 300 species
in your state or province, 500 species in the ABA Area, etc.) are very welcome,
but we also prize celebrations of any other sort: special sightings, cool dis-
coveries, birthday birds, powerful experiences, nutty anecdotes, and more. If
you celebrated birds and birding, we at Birding magazine want to hear about
it—and so does the rest of the ABA membership.
—Ioana Seritan, Associate Editor

compiled by lists, birds found virtually on Google

Maps, sightings of ABA Birds of the
Ioana Seritan Year, and more. Every story has been a
gift. Thank you for five years of “Cel-
El Cerrito, California ebrations,” and here’s to many more.

iseritan@aba.org
O n Mon., Feb. 13, 2023, longstand-
ing Australian member of the
ABA, Chris Doughty of Melbourne,
Australia, observed a small breeding

I n Apr. 2024, this column marked an

achievement of its own: It has been
five years since “Milestones” spread its
wings and fledged into “Celebrations,”
as it was first renamed in the Apr. 2019
issue of Birding. We changed the name
to encompass the diverse array of mo-
ments that ABA members find worth
celebrating. We have always loved, and
continue to love, the milestone species
that bring you from 499 to 500 ABA
Area birds, or 2,999 to 3,000 world
birds. However, we all know that bird-
ing sparks pride and joy through all
kinds of experiences, not just those
special hundreds and thousands. Over
the years, the moments you celebrated
have included birthday lifers, birds you
saw with your grandchildren, thou-
sands of ticks across dozens of check-
colony of Ruvu Weavers along the edge
of a freshwater lake in Morogoro, Tan-
zania. The weaver was Chris’s 1,800th
species of bird in Africa. The Ruvu
Weaver was first described by Karel
Hartlaub in 1891 and was thought to be
a race of the widespread African Gold-
en Weaver. However, genetic analysis
conducted in 2020 confirmed that the
Ruvu Weaver is a full and distinct spe-
cies. It is only known from a handful of
• Elisa Fernandes-McDade and her
mom went looking for one leucistic
Acorn Woodpecker—and found
two! As Elisa notes, the contrast
of their white bodies and red caps
is strikingly beautiful. Photos
by © Elisa Fernandes-McDade.

14 b i r d i n g june 2024

Help us celebrate the ABA
2024 Bird of the Year, the
Golden-winged Warbler!
Share your stories and
sightings, with or without
accompanying photo-
graphs, in this column.
Your Golden-winged War-
bler Celebrations needn’t
be numerical milestones,
although we certainly
welcome those, too.
— Ioana Seritan
Associate Editor
10 minutes into the walk. The bird
went around the trunk and out of sight.
While Elisa waited for another look, her
mom said, “I think there are two.” She
said, “No way.” Elisa whipped out her
binoculars and, sure enough, there was
another leucistic individual pecking at
a branch in the same tree. Luckily, the
pair crept close enough together to get
celebrations
into one shot. Elisa notes, “We found bringing his eBird life list from 398 to
it interesting that the leucism only 423. He reached #400 with a group
affected the melanin in their feath- of Gray Go-away-birds, spotted in a
ers, meanwhile the carotenoids in the tree in Pilanesberg National Park and
crown appeared unaffected. The strik- Game Reserve. Other lifers included
ing, red-on-white contrast was beauti- Secretarybird, Southern Cordonbleu,
ful. I hope they pass on their unique Green-backed Camaroptera, and Red-
colors!” billed Quelea.
X avier Gitre of Blacksburg, Virginia,
was visiting family in Austin,
Texas, when he and his father decided
inset:• Xavier Gitre had to wade
barefoot into the Rio Grande
to take a one-day excursion to South to catch sight of his 600th lifer,
Texas to celebrate his 16th birthday a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron.
early. Thanks to Santa Margarita Ranch Photo by © Xavier Gitre.
tour guides Ryan Rodriguez and Justin
LeClaire, Xavier hit his 2023 goal of
bottom left: •Xavier Gitre enjoys
his 16th birthday present: a one-
reaching 600 lifers on Wed., Dec. 27,
day excursion to South Texas.
when he saw the Bare-throated Tiger-
Photo courtesy of © Xavier Gitre.
Heron. Xavier says, “It was definitely
memorable—as soon as Ryan pointed
at the bird from behind an island, we
popped off our shoes and socks and
waded ankle-deep in the Rio Grande
until the bird was visible. That truly
redefined the ‘sweet 16’!”
S amuel Hodge of Marstons Mills,
Massachusetts, went on a South
African safari on Wed., Jan. 17, 2024,
before participating in an honor band
festival in Johannesburg. Along with
seeing cool mammals like elephants,
giraffes, hippos, and rhinos, Samuel
saw tons of birds. He got 25 lifers,
june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 15
celebrations

W hen John Lennon of Columbus, Ohio,

realized he was approaching 700 ABA
Continental species, he updated his list with
the latest ABA Checklist. After losing and
picking up a few species through updates, he
was at 697. During a trip to McAllen, Texas,
from Wed., Jan. 31, to Thurs., Feb. 8, 2024, he
saw Golden-crowned Warbler, Fan-tailed
Warbler, and Gray-collared Becard, bring-
ing him to 700. He celebrated with a quick
trip to Corpus Christi, and lunch with the
Cattle Tyrant (perhaps not countable) at the
Executive Surf Club, then stopped by Resaca
de la Palma State Park on the way home, and
the Roadside Hawk was right where it was
supposed to be, for #701. John enjoyed the
camaraderie of the other birders, all chas-
ing the same birds, helping each other, and
sharing experiences and travels. John says,
“The bird watching tribe is an exceptionally
friendly tribe of very nice people. All you
need to join is a pair of binocs or camera and
a love of birds.”

M ichael “Mike” John Steger, an ABA

member for 44 years and a lifelong
birder, passed away on Sat., Dec. 23, 2023, at
the age of 96. Mike was raised in Redgranite,
Wisconsin, where his birding interest began
as a Boy Scout. Mike was a follower of Aldo
Leopold’s writings and ethics, and an advo-
cate for upland bird and wilderness conser-
vation. He was birding key North American
hotspots well into his 90s, which included
a trip to Nome, Alaska, in 2019. His North
American life list exceeded 600 species. His
600th species was a Lapland Longspur found
on Vandenberg Air (now Space) Force Base,
near San Luis Obispo, California. Mike passed
away peacefully in his home in Lompoc, Cali-
fornia. He was born on Mon., Feb. 7, 1927.

top:• Samuel Hodge saw tons of cool

mammals and birds during his South African
safari, including this acrobatic Southern
Masked-Weaver. Photo by © Samuel Hodge.

bottom: •
During a trip to South Africa in
Jan. 2024, Samuel Hodge saw a group of
Gray Go-away-birds in Pilanesberg National
Park and Game Reserve, bringing him to 400
world birds. Photo by © Samuel Hodge.

16 b i r d i n g june 2024
 celebrations

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 17
birding interview

A Birding Interview with living and working overseas, rather than

by studying them while based in the U.S.

Peter Kaestner
I had a good friend in Fort Lauderdale
suggest that my life would be richer if I
had a career different from birds, and he
was right. I cannot imagine how things
could have worked out better. Represent-
ing the U.S. overseas and helping Ameri-
Peter Kaestner has seen more birds than anyone. For 36 years, as a diplomat in the
can citizens abroad were extraordinary
U.S. Foreign Service, he took postings all over the world—from Papua New Guinea honors, and moving to new countries
to Afghanistan, Colombia, India, the Solomon Islands, Brazil, Guatemala, Namibia, and learning new languages every couple
and Germany—and kept birding, birding, birding. In 1986, Kaestner became the first of years was intellectually stimulating.
person to have seen at least one representative of each of the world’s bird families. Living in a foreign country also allowed
While living in Colombia, he discovered a new species, the Cundinamarca Antpitta, me to become a local expert and get some
which is scientifically named Grallaria kaestneri in his honor. In Feb. 2024, Kaestner of the harder birds. As a result, I ended
set a mind-blowing record, reaching 10,000 on his life list with the sighting of an up with 8,600 birds by the time I retired
Orange-tufted Spiderhunter in the Philippines. from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2016.
In this action-packed Birding interview, Kaestner tracks his course from hyper-
competitive young birder to super-spirited diplomatic birder to uber-focused in- Birding: In the 1970s and 1980s, how
ternational birder, and gives thanks to the birding community, his wife, and a cat did you approach birding in unexplored
named Kirtland. corners of the world without even ba-
—Noah Strycker, Associate Editor sic information or resources like field
guides?
PK: It wasn’t easy. In addition to the lack

B
irding: Now that the me-
dia attention has died
down, what do you savor
most about crossing the
10,000-species threshold?
Peter Kaestner: As I am writing this
on Mar. 21, I feel that I am in an Andy-
Warhol-inspired 15-minutes-of-fame
Groundhog Day. The requests for inter-
views have not let up. For heaven’s sake,
birding made the friggin’ front page of The
New York Times! While my head is still
spinning, I made an important realiza-
tion. I am pleased to have played a role in
showcasing birding to millions of people.
The sentiment that I savor most is
gratitude. First, I am indebted to my
wife, Kimberly, for supporting my pas-
sion. Her insistence that I immediately
return to Asia was key to achieving my
goal. She cannot imagine the depth of
my love for her. Second, I am thankful
for my oldest brother, Hank, who men-
tored me as a young boy and who has
stood as a standard bearer for success in
our family ever since.
But my gratitude extends to the entire
birding community, to the countless
birders, ornithologists, and others who
of field guides, there were very few lo-
helped me along my journey. Thank cal birders. There were some classic
you all. I could never have done it alone: books that provided information, such
Birding is truly a team sport. as A Guide to the Birds of South America
by Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee, and
Birding: Who or what put this fire in Rand and Gilliard’s Handbook of New
your belly? Guinea Birds. I purchased an authorized
PK: In the summer of 1955, my brother, facsimile copy of Rand and Gilliard before
Hank, with whom I share a lot of DNA,
saw a Vermilion Flycatcher in Mexico
City. That bird sparked his lifetime pas- •Peter Kaestner has been birding the
sion, and, by extension, mine. (I was born world nearly all his life. He has seen
in 1953.) In a hyper-competitive family more bird species than any other hu-
with six all-American athletes, goals and man. Photo by © Kimberly Kaestner.
achievement were always a part of our
upbringing. I recall competing to identify
new car models in the fall as we drove to
church. Snap-identification of birds was
routine. Not only did you need to be cor-
rect, but you also had to be first. Because
of the eight-year difference in our ages,
Hank was my mentor as I grew into a
birder. Birds are such an integral part of
my being that there was just no way that
I would not have become a birder.
Birding: After graduating from Cornell
University with a biology degree, why
pursue foreign service?
PK: I figured I would see more birds by

18 b i r d i n g june 2024
 birding interview

ant. One way I found locations of poorly PK: I will definitely bird differently
known birds was to research the type in the future. While I was a diplomat,
locality where the species was discov- finding new birds sometimes just
ered using scientific publications. meant a weekend road trip. I even saw
a lifer in Cairo from the hospital room
Birding: How far would you go to see a of an American injured in a terrorist
bird? Do you ever get weary of the chase? bombing! Now that I am retired, find-
PK: One of the most difficult birds I’ve ing birds is more challenging, especially
seen was the Blue-bearded Helmetcrest, because most of my wants-list birds
a bird restricted to a remote part of the live in Southeast Asia. I am not in-
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in north- dependently wealthy, so my sprint to
ern Colombia. The quest involved 24 10,000 is not financially sustainable.
hours of climbing from about 5,000 feet As a Rockjumper tour leader, I do
to 14,000 feet and back over three and travel regularly, which helps a lot.
a half days. Diego Calderón, Colombia’s Also, my brother, Hank, and I try to go
• In a hyper-competitive family, Peter super guide, took me up. birding somewhere every year, and
Kaestner’s lifelong passion for birds
was sparked by his older brother,
While I’ve been to the ends of the Earth his generosity greatly reduces my
to see birds, I’ve done few long-distance expenses.
Hank. The two of them, shown here
circa 1963, still try to go birding some-
twitches. In 2020, I traveled from Bal-
where together every year. Photo
timore to southeast Arizona when an Birding: Which taxonomic list do you
Eared Quetzal showed up. After dipping prefer—the IOC World Bird List, the Cle-
courtesy of Peter Kaestner.
the first time, I returned to Arizona two
months later and finally got a poor view,
moving to Port Moresby in 1982. One thanks to lots of good information from • Peter Kaestner is grateful for an
very helpful source was Alden and Good- the birding community in Portal. Not understanding wife. Kimberly Kaest-
ers’s Finding Birds Around the World, only was the quetzal a lifer, but it also ner only once nixed a birding trip—on
which had general locality information completed the trogon family for me. the morning of their July 1987 wed-
for hundreds of birding destinations. I have never tired of birding, and hope ding—and was happy to accompany
I also benefited from the generosity of and pray I never do. her husband to Mio, Michigan, to see a
international birders and ornithologists. Kirtland’s Warbler in 1994, years after
For example, in 1981 Ben King gave me Birding: Will you go birding differently she’d ticked one there at her bachelor-
a copy of a still-unpublished manu- now that you’ve reached 10,000? ette party. Photo by © Peter Kaestner.
script of the birds of India, and I found
my last bird family (Conopophagidae in
Oct. 1986) using information from Rob-
ert Ridgley. In 1982, I had the great for-
tune to meet Brian Finch, an outstand-
ing field birder, in Port Moresby, Papua
New Guinea, where, for three years, we
had many amazing adventures. Brian
also shared photographs of the plates
of a yet-to-be-published field guide to
the birds of New Guinea he was writing
with Bruce Beehler.
One strategy was to focus on local en-
demics, and then pick up the more wide-
spread birds along the way. For example,
while on a business trip to Chengdu,
China, in 1987, I went to Mount Omei on
the weekend to look for its endemic lio-
cichla. In addition to the liocichla, I saw a
couple of localized parrotbills and many
other birds on the mountain, including a
spectacular male Lady Amherst’s Pheas-

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 19
 birding interview
left: •
Guiding organized bird tours is
hard work, but the interviewee enjoys
sharing his knowledge and experiences
with others—including members of this
Bird Bonanzas tour to eastern Zaire
(now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
in Aug. 1978. Photo by © John Gerhart.
right: •
In Feb. 2024, Peter Kaestner
became the first person to cross the
10,000-species threshold when he saw
(and photographed) an Orange-tufted
Spiderhunter in the Philippines.
Photo by © William Suerte.
ments Checklist of Birds of the World, or
something else? Does it matter?
PK: First, it does matter to have agreed-
upon lists. Not that long ago, world
birders reported totals using whatever
personal taxonomy they wanted. Bird
tour leaders often pointed out potential
splits—and, in the old days, clients just
added those birds to their life lists. These
days, most big listers use either IOC or
eBird/Clements. I prefer IOC because it
contains more species. At this writing,
I have 162 more birds on the IOC list
(10,012) than eBird (9,850).
There is important news on this front.
The International Ornithologists’ Union
(IOU) has established a working group to
create a global checklist of birds. This ef-
fort involves the major world checklists
(except the Howard and Moore Complete
20 b i r d i n g june 2024
Checklist of the Birds of the World) and
should produce a harmonized list that
will eliminate the differences between
IOC and eBird lists. Australian orni-
thologist Les Christidis, who chairs the
IOU working group, estimates that the
list will be finished in early 2025.
Birding: What are your wildest bird-
ing experiences in places that few ABA
members visit?
PK: I have had so many adventures,
some of which put my life (and those
of others) in jeopardy, that I could fill a
book. One of the most death-defying
was a trip to Kolombangara Island in
1984, where I got lost for two days,
sleeping in a forest full of venomous
centipedes. I nearly fell down a 10-me-
ter waterfall, and tobogganed down a
steep, muddy slope on my belly. I was
eventually able to find my way out of the
forest before being located by two dozen
trackers who had been flown to the is-
land—averting a diplomatic incident.
Birding: Along with your diplomatic
duties, have you tried to promote con-
servation in the places where you’ve
worked?
PK: As a diplomat, I was constrained. For
instance, I was elected the Chairperson
of the Namibia Bird Club, but my am-
bassador would not allow me to serve in
that capacity, citing possible conflict of
interest! I did work in the mid-1990s in
an office of the U.S. State Department’s
Bureau of Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs,
which tackled terrestrial conservation
issues like the Convention on Inter-
national Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands, and the Con-
vention on Biological Diversity. I helped
renegotiate the U.S.–Canada Migratory
Bird Treaty, which has been very suc-
cessful. Since I’ve retired, I’ve worked
pro bono with the Colombian govern-
ment to promote bird tourism, helped a
local Colombian nonprofit organization
protect critical habitat in the eastern
Andes, and become an ambassador for
American Bird Conservancy.
Birding: A cat named Kirtland? How did
that happen?
PK: I have been truly blessed to have
a very understanding wife. The only
time Kimberly nixed a birding trip was
the morning of our July 1987 wedding,
when she thought a pre-dawn twitch
to northern Michigan with my brother,
Hank, would not be a good idea. It just
happened that Kimberly had visited
Mio, Michigan, for her bachelorette par-
ty and had seen the Kirtland’s Warbler.
When we arrived in Bogotá in 1988, we
adopted a cat and named him Kirtland so
the kitty would be a constant reminder

• The Cundinamarca Antpitta, a new
species the interviewee discovered
while living and working in Colombia,
is named for him—Grallaria kaestneri.
Photo by © Peter Kaestner.
that Kimberly had gripped me off! By the
way, I did see the warbler in 1994.
Birding: Birding in a new spot, do you
take a group tour, go with a local guide,
or head out on your own?
PK: It all depends on what part of my
life you are looking at. For most of my
life, I birded on my own, especially
when I was living in places like Zaire
(now Democratic Republic of the Con-
go), the Solomon Islands, India, Gua-
temala, Egypt, Colombia, Afghanistan,
and Brazil. After my retirement in 2016,
I’ve birded more and more on organized
tours. They are more efficient and take
much less preparation and logistical
organization. As a part-time tour leader
for Rockjumper, I spend a lot of time on
organized tours. One of the main rea-
sons why I am a guide (which is very
hard work!) is to share my knowledge
and experiences with others. I love the
social aspect of birding.
Birding: What destinations outside the
ABA Area do you recommend for birders
building their life lists?
PK: First off, you need to go to Colombia.
With the world’s biggest country list
(over 1,900 species), excellent birding
infrastructure, and world-class guides,
you cannot go wrong. I would start at
Santa Marta, hit the three Andes ranges,
and then do Mitú. A mega-tour could
yield almost 1,000 species in a month.
While in the Andes, Ecuador would be
another great stop, with super birding
in the eastern foothills and the Mindo
area. Costa Rica also offers a good intro-
duction to Neotropical birding, as it has
great birding infrastructure, but it only
has about half the birds of Colombia.
Your next stop would be Africa.
Birding is generally easy due to open
savanna habitats and excellent tourism
infrastructure created for wildlife view-
ing. Namibia is my favorite African des-
tination. The nearby Republic of South
Africa adds loads of endemics.
A third must-visit place for a budding
world lister is Australia. Any country
that derides cockatoos for being so com-
mon that they constitute a nuisance is a
great place to go birding.
My last suggestion would be India.
Excellent birding, a vibrant conservation
community, and an amazing culture all
argue for the subcontinent.
Birding: Are we in the Golden Age of
international birding?
PK: Absolutely. With an explosion of
information and amazing tools, birding
has never been easier—or more popular!
june 2024
birding interview
In addition, the number of species is
increasing, mainly through taxonomic
revisions. Finally, with the expansion
of the popularity of birding and the
development of eco-tourism infra-
structure around the world, local birders
and guides are excellent, and they are
contributing to bird knowledge through
portals like eBird.
There are challenges, of course,
including bird trapping, habitat loss,
invasive species, and climate change.
On the other hand, birders are more and
more environmentally conscious, and
organizations like BirdLife International
and American Bird Conservancy are
making progress internationally. Many
local nonprofit groups are making a dif-
ference on their own turf. International
birding travelers can help increase the
value of birds to the stewards of the
landscapes. I am optimistic that together
we will find ways to protect our planet
and its most interesting inhabitants for
future generations.
• As a diplomat with postings around
the globe, the interviewee led a sat-
isfying life representing the U.S. and
helping American citizens abroad—and
saw tons of birds. Here he inspects
U.S. government improvements to the
Hairatan Bridge connecting Afghani-
stan to Uzbekistan in Mar. 2014.
Photo courtesy of Peter Kaestner.
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 21
finding desert bird nests

Using botany to your advantage,

and other tips and tricks

T
here are many disciplines
within bird photography.
Some photographers welcome
the challenge of birds in flight
while others attempt to harness light,
experiment with composition, or use
an interesting subject. One of the most
fascinating aspects of birding and bird
photography is observing behavior at
or near nesting sites, and some pho-
tographers specialize in this pursuit.
Within the realm of bird nest pho-
tography, birders may not realize the
wealth of fantastic photo opportunities
nesting desert birds provide. In this
article, I provide tips and insights on

Text and photos by

Mike Henry

Tucson, Arizona

mikeandmoaz@gmail.com

22 b i r d i n g june 2024
 finding desert bird nests

• A Brown-crested Flycatcher emerges from its nest

cavity inside a giant saguaro to remove a fecal sac, the
mucous membrane that surrounds the feces from one
of its offspring. These Myiarchus flycatchers migrate
north in the warmer months, often nesting inside
saguaros. Camera settings: 1/2000, f/8, ISO 1600.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 23
finding desert bird nests
how birders can find, enjoy, and photo-
graph the magnificent world of nesting
desert birds.
S outheast Arizona attracts bird-
ers from every corner of the ABA
Area for its rarities and local special-
ties. The unique climate and vegetation
also make for attractive perches for
the desert’s more common species. The
Sonoran Desert can be an unforgiving
environment with scorching daytime
temperatures, venomous creatures,
• This Broad-billed Hummingbird is one
of about 17 hummingbirds that can be
found in southeast Arizona. The author
photographed this nest about 10 feet
from a footpath inside a Tucson park.
See the tiny mesquite leaves and spider
webs that make up the structure. Shot
at 750mm and cropped.
24 b i r d i n g june 2024
and flora protected by sharp spines just
waiting to attach themselves to unsus-
pecting visitors. But it’s also one of the
best places to observe and photograph
nesting behavior in the ABA Area.
Remember to always observe the
ABA Code of Birding Ethics, so as not
to disturb birds while they’re tend-
ing to their young. The excitement of
discovering an active nesting site can
make the temptation to observe closely
almost irresistible, but please keep a
safe distance. If you notice the birds
altering their behavior, you’re too close.
One of the benefits of an active nest is
the reliable, repeated behavior. If you
miss your shot, be patient: There’s a
good chance you can capture it the next
time.
While there are deciduous trees in
the desert, many bird species choose
cacti for their homes. Saguaros and
chollas offer birds natural protection
from predators as well as temporary
relief from the baking sun. For the
photographer, they also offer excellent
opportunities to capture memorable
moments.
I moved to the desert in 1998 and
became interested in birding soon after.
While sitting in a restaurant one day,
I was mesmerized by a Curve-billed
Thrasher sweeping through the soil and
was instantly hooked. A chance en-
counter with a client provided me with
a second-hand Nikon D5100 camera
about five years ago, and I haven’t
looked back.
Practicing bird photography has
made me a student of behavior. The
best gear money can buy is useless un-
less you know where to look and how
to maximize the predictability of active
birds. Observe their movements: which
direction they favor, where they’re
foraging, and where they often return
 finding desert bird nests

before reentering the nest. With some

patience, you can probably capture one
of the adults returning with a morsel,
or even “taking out the trash” in the
form of a fecal sac. Mornings in the
desert can be a very busy place, full of
noises and motion. My most memorable
encounters required patience and dis-
cipline to remain in the same spot while
waiting for the subject to return.
Remember that even just a trip to a
local park can yield great results. Many
of the images shown here are from my
favorite patch, a stone’s throw from the
city limits of Tucson.

E arly morning is usually the optimal

time to both observe and photo-
graph, as birds are most active just after
sunrise. Try to keep the sun behind you
and your lens; I often scout for good op-
portunities, noting which direction the
nest entrance is facing in relation to the
best light. You’ll want to utilize a shut-
ter speed fast enough to freeze your
subject, but not so fast that your ISO
creates a grainy image. Modern mir-
rorless cameras allow you to shoot at a
fairly high ISO, but be mindful of your
camera’s settings. Don’t be afraid to
experiment. The light quickly becomes
harsh beyond the first hour after sun-
rise, even more so in the desert.
Because the desert air is relatively
free of the tiny floating particles and
droplets called aerosols, the Sonoran

top: •
Pyrrhuloxias, or “desert
cardinals,” build a cup-shaped nest.
The author found this one by watch-
ing a pair of birds return to the same
palo verde tree: Note the green bark.
See where the seam of the bird’s bill is
curved, which differs from the straight
seam (and orange-colored bill) of the
closely related Northern Cardinal.

bottom: •
A Cactus Wren stops at one
of its “waypoints” on a cholla cactus.
These gregarious, resourceful birds
can take nesting material from anoth-
er bird’s nest and use it on their own.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 25
finding desert bird nests
Desert skies are deep blue in color. The
juxtaposition of these brilliant blue
skies, the unforgiving nature of cacti,
and the soft colors and textures of birds
can furnish stunning results for bird
photographers.
The giant saguaro is an icon of the
desert Southwest. A cactus can of-
fer not only interesting textures and
composition for photography, but also
often a dramatic perch. Saguaros re-
quire decades to reach maturity and
have adapted to the harsh environment,
and they house a plethora of bird spe-
cies: Gila Woodpeckers, Gilded Flick-
ers, Western Screech-Owls, and many
others are regular residents. These are
likely the easiest nests to spot, as ma-
ture saguaros are usually littered with
nest cavity holes. A unique subspecies
of Purple Martin, Progne subis hesperia,
migrates to the desert every summer to
raise their young in saguaro cavities.
Most birders east of the Mississippi
River are familiar with these conspicu-
ous swallows, but seeing them in and
26 b i r d i n g june 2024
clockwise from top:
• Cactus Wren nests feature an opening on
the side rather than being cup-shaped. The
author got this shot by waiting for the af-
ternoon light to illuminate the mouth of the
nest. The adult bird returned about every
five to 10 minutes to feed its offspring.
• A male Gila Woodpecker pops his head
outside the nest cavity inside a cardon cac-
tus (Pachycereus pringlei). Although related
to saguaros, cardon cacti are not native to
the Tucson area, and are usually only found
in northwestern Mexico. This cactus was in a
Tucson neighborhood.
• Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers are a specialty
that migrates north from Mexico in the sum-
mer months. They are boisterous and con-
spicuous, which makes them hard to miss,
especially during nesting season. The author
found this active nesting cavity, carved in-
side a telephone pole near Madera Canyon.
The location was not lit well, and the author
used a slow shutter speed and Lightroom in
post-processing. Camera settings: 1/320,
f/5.6, ISO 220.
 finding desert bird nests

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 27
finding desert bird nests

around saguaros gives birders

an exciting new perspective on
this dramatic species. The Tuc-
son Audubon Society is current-
ly studying the movements and
migration of these fascinating
birds, as little is known about their
wintering grounds. Brown-crested
Flycatchers also return to the des-
ert during the hottest months, us-
ing saguaros for their nests.
Many assume the Greater Road-
runner is the state bird of Arizona.
However, it’s the Cactus Wren,
which typically prefers cholla cac-
tus as a nesting site. Cactus Wrens
are common and noisy, and their
behavior is often comical. Their nests
are easy to spot, usually less than 10
feet above the ground, shaped like a
football lying on its side. These might be
the busiest birds in the desert, tirelessly
tending to their homes, often building
“dummy” nests while the female is incu-
bating eggs. You don’t necessarily have
to speak wren to understand their loud
chattering and boisterous behavior.
Chollas are also a favorite of the Curve-
billed Thrasher. The familiar whit-wheet
call makes them easy to find, along with
their penchant for perching atop cacti and
naked branches. Their nests are a tradi-
tional “cup” shape usually placed in the
fork of a cholla cactus. The birds can often
be heard and seen singing their reedy,
varied song close to their nests. Thrashers
are mimics; their repertoire can rival that
of a mockingbird. Hearing a Curve-billed
Thrasher rifling through its rolodex of
tunes while the desert sun rises is an un-
forgettable experience.
Remember to protect yourself from
the sun and heat; I recommend wear-
ing a protective hat, a long-sleeved shirt,
full-length pants, and appropriate shoes
or boots. I wear hiking shoes, which give
traction and prevent most sharp cactus
spines from penetrating into my feet. I’ve
accidentally brought cholla bits home, as
they attach themselves to everything. Stay
hydrated, and, if you’re going alone, tell
someone where you’re headed. Because
the desert is so open, you can also watch

28 b i r d i n g june 2024

• A male Purple Martin and its chick hang out inside
a saguaro nest. This subspecies of Purple Martin
travels north to nest and raise their young during the
monsoons in the Sonoran Desert. The author found
this location adjacent to a busy two-lane road.
june 2024
finding desert bird nests
birds as they’re building and tending to
their nests. They’ll often disappear into the
scrub while searching for twigs, feathers,
and other items, only to reappear moments
later, resting on the same perch before fer-
rying the material home. The best images
tell a story without needing a caption.
N ot all birds nest on cacti. Mesquite
bushes and palo verde trees are
commonly used by desert birds such as
Lucy’s Warblers, Pyrrhuloxia, Vermilion
Flycatchers, and even hummingbirds.
These can be challenging and rewarding
places to photograph nests, so they require
a bit more planning and discretion. While
these nests aren’t typically out in the open,
like those of thrashers and wrens, you
can find a nesting site by simply scan-
ning the areas around you. Birds such as
Northern Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxia tend
to travel in pairs, especially during nesting
season. You can follow their movements
and sometimes discover their home base.
Hummingbird nests are Lilliputian in size
but are often “hiding in plain sight.” Once
you know what to look for, it gets much
easier to spot them. Hummingbirds build
nests to match their size, but they can be
discovered by watching bird behavior. A
busy female will spend hours feeding her
young and frequently use the same perch,
usually somewhere near the nest. Hum-
mers can also choose precarious loca-
tions, such as a string of Christmas lights,
to build their tiny nests.
Phainopeplas are the only silky fly-
catcher commonly found in the Lower
48 states and are plentiful in southeast
Arizona. They prefer to nest in desert
mistletoe, so you may not have line-of-
sight access to the actual nest. They
are gregarious and tend to stay close
to their mate. They’re colloquially
known as “goth birds” because of
their shiny black appearance and
striking red eyes. A male Phaino-
pepla in good light makes for a
memorable, dramatic image.
If you have access to higher el-
evation areas, like Madera Canyon
or the Santa Catalina Mountains,
you can look for Elegant Trogons,
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 29
finding desert bird nests

30 b i r d i n g june 2024
 finding desert bird nests

clockwise from bottom left, opposite page:

• The author framed this shot hoping to

fit everything inside the image. This Cac-
tus Wren is moving some feathers from
its nest situated in a chain fruit cholla
(Cylindropuntia fulgida). The pink blossom
indicates this was taken in early summer,
and the lighter eye color shows this is a
juvenile bird.

• A Curve-billed Thrasher returns to

the nest to feed its offspring. This image
shows the precarious locations in which
thrashers build their nests to protect their
families. The site was a challenge for the
author, as the light wasn’t illuminating the
subject well, but he wanted to freeze the
action. Modern mirrorless cameras allow
for a higher ISO without introducing grain.
Camera settings: 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 4000.

• Male Vermilion Flycatchers are a flash of

bright red in the Sonoran Desert. This nest
was observed after the author watched
the male posting up on a nearby branch,
gliding to the ground for insects, then re-
turning to the nest. The uneven light and
the height of the nest were challenging,
but the author was rewarded with a us-
able image showing the transfer.

• Big birds, like this Crested Caracara, can

nest in saguaros, too! The nesting season
of many Sonoran Desert birds like caraca-
ras is in full swing by mid-March.

Acorn Woodpeckers, and a short list of spe-

cialty owls. Many of these birds, including
Whiskered Screech-Owl, prefer sycamore
trees for nesting, often near streams and
washes. If you’re lucky enough to find a
roosting owl, remember to avoid disturbing
these sensitive species. Luck and persis-
tence are often your best friends for locat-
ing these charismatic photo subjects.
Most birders who travel to southeast Ar-
izona have a list of specialty target species.
For those who come to this famed birding
hotspot seeking Rose-throated Becards and
Five-striped Sparrows, don’t overlook some
of the common, yet region-specific, trea-
sures found in the Sonoran Desert. Many of
these hardy birds can help photographers
appreciate the grit it takes to survive and
thrive in this harshest of environments.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 31
CODEBREAKERS
Editor’s Note: The Codebreakers series provides tips and tricks
by top birding experts on how to find some of the ABA Area’s most
difficult regularly occurring birds. I hope you enjoy! —Frank Izaguirre

Swainson’s Warbler
Tips for finding and photographing
this secretive skulker

S
wainson’s Warbler is one of the most difficult of
all the eastern warblers to view clearly, frustrating
countless birders every breeding season. This is true
even though, on spring breeding grounds, Swainson’s
Warbler is often not hard to find in appropriate habitat due
to its resounding song. The song can be confused with
that of the Louisiana Waterthrush, especially in southern
Appalachia, where they are more likely to use habitat in
the same geographic area. But, in general, hearing and
identifying a Swainson’s Warbler in appropriate habitat
during the right time of year is doable. A key difference
between the songs is that the Louisiana Waterthrush
song usually ends with various short weak chaotic
chip notes, while the Swainson’s Warbler song
ends in a more organized way with a few
rapid downward notes.

Gene Koziara

Atlanta, Georgia

gene.koziara@yahoo.com

32 b i r d i n g june 2024

• A singing Swainson’s Warbler is
rather loud, so the species can often
be located by sound. Getting a clear
look, as in this photo, is another mat-
ter. The author recommends trying
to find and photograph this species
early in its breeding season if possible,
when there are fewer leaves and less
undergrowth to contend with. This
individual was photographed in early
Apr. 2021. Photo by © Gene Koziara.
D espite the strong song of Swain-
son’s Warbler, many birders who
have heard Swainson’s Warblers sing
have gotten poor views at best and
crave an opportunity to get good views
and perhaps a special photograph. In
this article, I give tips, based on over a
decade of experience interacting with
Swainson’s Warblers, for how to suc-
cessfully find and hopefully get a de-
cent look at this sneaky skulker.
Swainson’s Warblers famously have
two breeding habitat types. In southern
Appalachia, they can be found in areas
of rhododendron thickets, especially
but not always adjacent to clean flow-
ing streams, usually below 3,000 feet in
elevation. They can be quite numerous
in some such montane locations, but
I have found them more plentiful and
thus easier to find in their lowland-
type habitat of wet deciduous woods
near swamps.
It has been my experience, however,
that it can be easier to get an actual
june 2024
codebreakers : swainson’s warbler
• Of the regularly occurring ABA Area
warblers, Swainson’s Warbler is per-
haps one of the most frustrating to
photograph well, but you can use the
author’s tips to help find these secretive
skulkers. This individual, photographed
in late May 2016, is a good candidate
for a second-calendar-year bird be-
cause of its worn (juvenile) greater alula
and more worn-looking primary co-
verts, primaries, and rectrices, the pri-
mary coverts contrasting slightly with
the fresher formative greater coverts.
Photo by © Gene Koziara.
glimpse of a Swainson’s Warbler in
southern Appalachia than in its low-
land habitat due to how thick the vege-
tation usually is in that lowland habitat.
Even when not out birding, I have more
than once run into this species singing
away in southern Appalachia while I
was hiking along a trail that runs along
a stream with rhododendron thickets.
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 33
codebreakers : swainson’s warbler
left:• A Swainson’s Warbler strikes a
pose beside a butterweed flower. This
individual is whiter below than oth-
ers and may have spent more time in
the open sun on its wintering grounds
than the yellow-tinged birds. It was
photographed in early Apr. 2021.
Photo by © Gene Koziara.
right:• A rare photographic treat,
the tongue of this singing Swainson’s
Warbler is visible. This individual was
photographed in early Apr. 2023.
Photo by © Gene Koziara.
I don’t hike around swamps, so I don’t
typically encounter Swainson’s Warblers
in that habitat when I’m not looking for
them! For me, over time and regardless
of which habitat I’m in, it has become a
thrill to simply hear a Swainson’s War-
bler singing away with its boisterous
song, even if I don’t get to lay eyes on it.
For the lowland habitat, my recom-
mendation is to visit during the earlier
part of the breeding season. Here in
Georgia, some Swainson’s Warblers ar-
rive on their lowland breeding grounds,
around swamp edges or stream systems
with adjacent muddy edges, as early as
34 b i r d i n g june 2024
the first week in April. Anytime seems
to be a good time to visit them, but my
preference is the first three weeks of
April. This species can then be found
singing into July. As a rule, I do most of
my spring warbler photography early
in the season, before young would be
expected on the nest and often before
nest-building would likely be complete,
because this minimizes disturbance
while increasing chances for getting a
high-quality photo. For warbler pho-
tography in general, there is also less
obstructing vegetation earlier in the
season, improving the likelihood of
open views and images.
Upon arriving by vehicle to such a
location, I normally will slowly drive
the habitat as completely as possible
with windows down, noting locations
of singing males. I may stop for several
minutes when I hear a new bird sing to
get a sense of what his territory might
be. Assessing these areas and their po-
tential for photography can help pho-
tographers determine which locations
have the best chance for encountering
the bird singing prominently on a perch
with unobstructed views.
Then, after completing that run-
through, I backtrack doing the same
thing, and note where the overlap
is and what birds are likely clos-
est in proximity so I can work from
the road. I don’t want to venture into
the swamp-adjacent habitat, which
is generally quite muddy with thick
vegetation. I have friends who are
into snake photography, but I try to
avoid snakes! I’m scanning those loca-
tions for lighting options and potential
perches before I make a decision about
which bird to photograph, including
which side of the road to work on. I
don’t want to pick a bird whose ter-
ritory seems to range too far from the
road, nor one where the lighting and
perch selection is not as good.
I n either Appalachia or the lowlands,
when photographing Swainson’s
Warbler, low light will probably be an
issue. I try to have shutter speeds of
at least 1/500 when I am photograph-
ing warblers. Depending on your lens,
this may necessitate a higher ISO than
you normally use when photographing
birds. This can result in noisy, grainy
images. I like to use my 600 F4 lens
for most warblers, not only for reach,
 codebreakers : swainson’s warbler

but also for focusing speed and to keep

the ISO needed for me to get adequate
shutter speeds more manageable. I try
to keep my ISO less than 4,000. I like to
• A yellowish Swainson’s
Warbler poses in a blooming
shoot at F5.6 or even F6.3 with spring wild azalea bush in late
warblers, as I normally work from as Apr. 2021. Yellower birds
close as 25–30 feet (8–10 meters) away, are fresher and the whiter
and this allows me to get most if not ones are more worn. This
all of the bird in focus and still get a is not because of age, but
smooth, pleasing background. Often rather plumage wear due to
for Swainson’s Warbler, due to low solar exposure, a function
lighting, I have to make a sacrifice and of environmental conditions
shoot at F5 or even F4.5. If you shoot and the bird’s habits on
in RAW format, some of the new post- its wintering grounds.
processing software is great for taking Photo by © Gene Koziara.
the noise out of images, thus allowing
you to shoot at higher ISOs.
I shoot from a tripod, which I find a
big help. The tripod provides stability
to the camera, allowing me to shoot at
lower shutter speeds than I could with
handholding. This helps

provide sharper
images in the lower lighting situations
where Swainson’s Warbler is usually
encountered. Watching the bird care-
fully and anticipating where it may
perch also makes the tripod helpful,

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 35
codebreakers : swainson’s warbler

as you can prefocus and make sure your

camera settings are adequate. Also, even
though the newer lenses are lighter and
often easier to hold by hand, it is easier to
be patient with your camera on a tripod,
and you will be much less susceptible to
arm fatigue.
As with so many things in birding and
photography, preparation is key. Know the
habitat, know the ideal time of year, know
the songs and calls, and think carefully
about the gear you bring. Whether your
goal is just to get a decent view of the bird
or to come home with a frameable photo,
please review and follow the ABA Code of
Birding Ethics. Doing so will increase your
chances of both minimizing disturbance
to the bird and achieving your own goals,
and you’ll likely be a better birder for it.

B irders and photographers sometimes

use playback in their attempts to get
open views or a clear photograph of this
species. A word of caution is warranted.

36 b i r d i n g june 2024
 codebreakers : swainson’s warbler

Swainson’s Warblers in particular are sen-

sitive to playback and are very easy to get
ramped up by it, a characteristic that will turn
the bird into a little brown rocket going back
and forth while also undermining any attempt
to get an open view of the bird. Remember to
follow the ABA Code of Birding Ethics, and that
even without a clear view or frameable photo
of a Swainson’s Warbler, it is a thrill simply to
hear this special warbler sing.

Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Peter Pyle for his review
of this manuscript and comments on the
plumage of these birds. Thanks also to Greg
Neise and Nathan Goldberg for their addi-
tional review.

counterclockwise from top left:

• Swainson’s Warblers primarily winter in

the West Indies, especially the Greater Antil-
les, where they can be found in various forest
types, including mangrove, dry, and montane.
Jamaica has a large population, and some
are also found in the Yucatan Peninsula as
well as Belize. During migration, a good place
to find Swainson’s Warblers is the Florida
Keys: Look on the ground in forested areas
with plenty of leaf litter and listen closely for
rustling as they search for prey. This individ-
ual was seen in Fort Zachary Taylor Historic
State Park, Monroe Co., Florida, in Apr. 2017.
Photo by © Tim Healy.

• A Swainson’s Warbler forages atop a

log in Apr. 2022. This is an adult (at least
two years old), as opposed to a bird in its
second calendar year, because of the lack
of molt limits among wing coverts, the fresh
and dark primary coverts, and the broad and
fresh primaries and rectrices. Photo by ©
Gene Koziara.

• This Swainson’s Warbler is in its mountain

habitat. Birds were discovered foraging as
a pair in leaf litter below a rhododendron
thicket, and located by hearing singing and
then the sound of foraging in early Apr. 2021.
Photo by © Gene Koziara.

• In this image, you can see broad truncate

(basic) rectrices, indicating this bathing indi-
vidual, photographed in mountain habitat, is
an adult. Photo by © Gene Koziara.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 37
deep listening

Editor’s Note: This article was translated from its original Spanish by Frank Izaguirre.

Deep Listening in
Buenos Aires
Getting to know the
Great Kiskadee & Monk Parakeet
🇦🇷
L
istening is an exotic thing
these days. Just contem-
plating with your ears. No
screens. Sitting, lying down,
standing. Being present. Remaining
silent and appreciating what’s going on
around you.
Is there wind? What kind of sounds
can I distinguish? Are they from nature,
or are they industrial sounds? Do I rec-
ognize any bird songs?
These are some questions we can ask
ourselves when we focus on listening.
Julia Tchira
Buenos Aires, Argentina
julitch@gmail.com
Birders are often attuned to the sound-
scape of their environment, even in
places they may not think of as the best
for birding. My hope with this article
is that by describing the act of deep
listening, even the best earbirders can
come to a more profound appreciation
of their local avian soundscape, with all
its familiar voices.
A s a person who enjoys birding very
much, and as a composer interest-
ed in sound ecology, I experienced over
time that the practice of exercising the
sense of hearing consciously—that is,
practicing deep listening to our acous-
tic environment—is very useful to bet-
ter get to know the birds that surround
us. And what a joy when you discover
the birds you live with on a daily basis
through sound!

38 b i r d i n g june 2024
 deep listening

I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but I

recently participated in an online event
organized by NYC Audubon entitled “The
Art of Slow Birding with Dr. Joan Stras-
smann.” The experience was fabulous, as
Dr. Strassmann presented on her book
Slow Birding: The Art and Science of En-
joying the Birds in Your Own Backyard. In
the talk, she encouraged us to appreciate
the birds we find right where we are, and
introduced the concept of slow birding,
which I find fascinating.
The practice of slow birding challenges
all the senses: deep observation, deep lis-
tening, deep connection with our natural
environment. It is based on a practice
where presence is essential, and, as the
author points out, it is not necessary to
go far and travel to another country to
enjoy birding, but it is an activity that
can be done from wherever we are. In
this sense, there is so much to learn just
by observing them! See their behavior,
how they use their time, and, above all, be
willing to enjoy them.
I currently live in San Isidro, in the
Province of Buenos Aires, and in my gar-
den I meet two species of birds that I find
enchanting: el benteveo and la cotorra, in
English known as the Great Kiskadee and
Monk Parakeet. These birds have a limit-
ed distribution in the ABA Area. In a few
places they are common, but they aren’t
widespread and integral throughout most
of the ABA Area soundscape as they are
here in Buenos Aires. By sharing what
it’s like to appreciate the way these birds
contribute to the soundscape of my daily
life, I hope readers will be able to enjoy
not just the Great Kiskadee and Monk
Parakeet in new ways, but also better

• Great Kiskadees barely creep into the

ABA Area in South Texas, occasionally
also appearing elsewhere in the U.S.
and Canada as a vagrant, but this spe-
cies has a vast range throughout much
of Latin America. In the author’s home
of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Great Kis-
kadee is a common voice that enriches
her local soundscape and has helped
her cultivate a deep listening practice.
Photo by © Laura Borsellino.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 39
deep listening

understand the birds that are the

most vital contributors to their own
local soundscapes. To imagine the
Buenos Aires soundscape is to re-
member the sound of tango just as
much as these emblematic birds.
Their songs are an integral part of
this acoustic environment.

T he benteveo is often popularly

called bicho feo!, as their most
well-known chant sounds very
similar to those two words in Spanish.
Translated into a vocalization, it would
be like tsi tso feeeoo in the form of a
shout, boisterous and shrill. The bird
usually emits duet sounds that are
very beautiful to hear at dawn.
Visually, it is characterized by hav-
ing a noticeable black mask with a
white eyebrow and throat. Its chest
and abdomen are yellow. Great Kiska-
dees are often seen in public squares,
parks, and gardens. The species loves
places where there is water nearby.
When we see them, we can hardly
identify if it is a male or a female,
because their appearance is similar
and both build the nest. The ability to
watch them often is a joy.
The Monk Parakeet is a friendly and
talkative bird that is distinguished by
its loud and strident song. These birds
sing boisterously. It’s amazing how
many there are here in the city, and
you can see them everywhere. They
appear in flocks, move fast, and, due to
their intense green color, can easily be
seen flying through the treetops.
A very interesting thing that hap-
pens with Monk Parakeets is that
they build giant nests perfectly suited
to resist the wind, which provide a
safe place to live and breed. Many
times, in the same tree several pairs
build their nests, generating a large
nest with several entrances. These
nests are not only used by them, but
also provide for other species, called
“tenants,” so they are great builders
of houses for everyone! In addition to
this community quality, Monk Para-
keets are fantastic seed dispersers,

40 b i r d i n g june 2024

which plays a very important role in
the ecosystem.
I must confess that my appreciation
for parakeets is not shared by most
people here, unfortunately. Many
people don’t like the parakeets, because
they are bothered by their loud songs
and because they are considered a
• Monk Parakeets have a spotty
distribution in the ABA Area, includ-
ing in some urban areas, but they
are a common sight and, especially,
sound in Buenos Aires. Although many
Argentinians don’t appreciate the
ubiquitous Monk Parakeets because
of their raucous calls, the author finds
them to be an important co-inhabit-
ant of her environment, helping her
feel connected to her local ecology.
Photos by © Laura Borsellino.
“pest.” The birds are often expelled from
the fields because they eat the seeds
of the plantation and are a problem for
agriculture.
As we can see, the Monk Parakeet
does not go unnoticed at all, for its
colors, for its strident sounds, for the
numbers we see daily, for its role in the
ecosystem.
I don’t think there’s a person in my
neighborhood who doesn’t know them.
Even here in Argentina, people who talk
a lot are usually called cotorras; such is
the degree of popularity they have.
In this sense, it is striking how,
sometimes, as we are accustomed to
frequently seeing or hearing a bird it
goes unnoticed. As if we had a certain
peace of mind that they are still there.
In search of the exotic, we do not value
or appreciate what we have at our fin-
gertips, the beauty that surrounds us.
june 2024
deep listening
T his is where I find that the exercise
of contemplation, of slowing down,
of observing and listening while in the
present moment, can help us in many
new ways. It engages us with our natural
environment, reinforcing the link be-
tween the human and the non-human; it
gives us information about the changes
that happen in the ecosystem and its
seasons, and something so, so important:
It gives us great joy and relaxation to be
able to enjoy the birds that visit us daily
and get to know them more deeply.
Perhaps there are common birds in
your area that are not appreciated by
most, even by other birders, but which
contribute to the local ecology in inter-
esting and important ways and enrich
the soundscape. Listen deeply, and
maybe you will connect with them in a
different way. Around your home, what
bird sounds do you listen to deeply?
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 41
connecting with jamaica
Toponymy,
Migration &
Pigeon Peas
Making etymological
connections between
birds of the Caribbean
and U.S. East Coast
Y
ou could say I was born to birding,
though I came to love birds as an
adult. I was oblivious of the Carib-
bean connection to one of my favorite
birds until my 30s. The bird species that sparked
this connection—the commonly known Red-
tailed Hawk—also shares its Latin name with my
home country of Jamaica: Buteo jamaicensis. This
discovery fueled my curiosity to find out what
other birds shared an etymological link with the
region of my origin that can be found in my home
of New York and the general eastern U.S.
Learning the etymological histories of some bird
names has helped me stay connected with my home
country of Jamaica while increasing my apprecia-
tion and enjoyment of the birds I can find in my
new home, New York City. I want to share these
stories because I feel they may inspire other birders
to learn about places they have connections with
through bird name etymology.
J ohann Friedrich Gmelin, a German naturalist,
described B. jamaicensis in 1788 from a type
42 b i r d i n g june 2024
specimen from the island, hence the specific epithet.
There have been Red-tailed Hawk nesting pairs in
my neighborhood of Greenwich Village, New York
City, for more than a decade. I have watched the pairs
court and mate, defend their territory, and incubate
and care for their young until fledging.
After learning about the Latin name for Red-tailed
Hawk, I became curious about some of the names of
its subspecies as well. The subspecies of the Red-
tailed Hawk I see in New York City, whose range
includes the Caribbean, is the eastern subspecies
(B. j. borealis). The northern variant is B. j. abieti-
cola, a toponymous name meaning to “dwell in fir
trees.” Toponymous names are based on places. The
abieticola subspecies breeds in the boreal forests of
Canada, which include balsam fir and other conifer-
ous evergreens.
In James A. Jobling’s Helm Dictionary of Scientific
Bird Names, bird names are organized into nine
categories. The most common is morphological, a
morphonym (“plumage, colors, and physical char-
acteristics”). The Red-tailed Hawk is an example of
a morphonymous bird name. The fourth most com-
mon origin is toponymous. The sixth most common
is bionymous, or based on habitat. I focused on these
types of names because of my interest in natural fea-
tures and geography.
Growing up, I often heard the following saying:
“chicken merry hawk deh near.” It is a cautionary
proverb about the importance of being mindful. As
a child, I was not curious about the specifics of the
hawk. When I learned about the connection between
the Red-tailed Hawk and Jamaica, I wondered if I
had seen Red-tails my whole life and not noticed
them. Or maybe, sadly, I ignored them. After all, I
wasn’t a chicken. I didn’t have to choose between
eyes down to scratch for food on the ground or heads
up to watch out for aerial predators. All I had to do
as a human was to focus on good behavior. When I
moved to New York City in 2009, I did not consider
myself a birder. But Red-tails here and back home
made me reconsider myself as a bird person. After
all, I also remember being on the lookout for the “John
Crow,” a.k.a. the Turkey Vulture, because this bird
was an omen. Everybody wanted a glimpse of the
“Doctor Bird,” the endemic hummingbird also called
Red-billed Streamertail, which is the country’s na-
tional bird.
Georgia Silvera Seamans
New York, New York
 connecting with jamaica

• The name of the Palm Warbler

may seem odd to ABA Area birders,
but for the author it is a reminder
that members of this species spend
significant portions of their lives in
areas with palms, including in Ja-
maica. Photo by © Chris Sloan

The rest of this article will discuss

three more species named for places
and habitats within Caribbean rang-
es—the region where I was born—and
which breed in eastern North Amer-
ica, where I live now.

T he Palm Warbler, Setophaga

palmarum, was also described
by Johann Friedrich Gmelin, but
from a specimen on the island of
Hispaniola. Cabbage palmetto, Sabal
palmetto, thickets are one of several
habitats in their range used by Palm
Warblers. Cabbage palmetto is also
native to Cuba. Hispaniola has its
own native palmetto, Sabal domin-
gensis or Hispaniola palm. Most of
the Palm Warbler’s diet is insects,
which might be found in abundance
on the small white aromatic flowers
of the Hispaniola palm. The warblers
are also known to eat fruit, which
might include the drupes of the His-
paniola palm.
The distinctive russet-colored cap
of the Palm Warbler makes the bird
easy to pick out in mixed flocks on
the ground. I have seen individual
Palms and mixed flocks in my local
park in New York City. Palm War-
blers feed on the ground in Jamaica,
too, and are the only warbler there to
feed in open grass. The name Palm
Warbler may seem odd for ABA Area
birders encountering this species
throughout the U.S. and Canada, but
when I see a Palm Warbler the name
reminds me this species spends sig-
nificant portions of its life in Jamaica
or elsewhere in the region.
Many warblers sport yellow
plumage. The Prothonotary Warbler’s
scientific name, Protonotaria citrea,
is a shout-out to the bird’s exuberant

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 43
 connecting with jamaica
above: •
The author has not yet con-
nected with a Prothonotary Warbler,
which sometimes appears in New York
City as a rarity, but learning about the
etymological history of its name has
helped her take an added interest in the
species. Photo by © Jean Shum.
right: •
When the author, who is origi-
nally from Jamaica, learned that the
scientific name of the Red-tailed Hawk,
a species she regularly encounters in
New York City, is Buteo jamaicensis, she
became interested in learning about the
etymological history of birds she regu-
larly sees as a way of feeling connected
with Jamaica. Photo by © Jean Shum.
yellow feathers. The warbler was de-
scribed from a Louisiana specimen in
1779 and placed in the genus Protono-
taria, according to Jobling an homage
to the yellow robes worn by members
of the Byzantine court. The specific
epithet citrea is derived from the Latin
“citreus,” a reference to the citrus tree.
44 b i r d i n g june 2024
I don’t typically chase
rarities, but there have
been a few times I couldn’t
resist and have twice
missed seeing a Protho-
notary Warbler in Central
Park. This warbler is like
a Pantone fan deck for
yellow and gray. The bird
doesn’t remind me of
citrus so much as other
fruits I grew up eating.
The warbler looks like the
black seed and yellow aril
of ackee. I’m also reminded
of an open passionfruit
whose black seeds are
covered in juice-filled yel-
low arils. A Prothonotary
Warbler perched in a tree
looks so much like a ripe June plum. species first described by Gmelin,
this time from a type specimen from
S outh Florida has another species
with a Caribbean place name:
the Gray Kingbird, Tyrannus domini-
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Gmelin is credited with scientifically
naming more than 290 bird species. T.
censis. This kingbird was yet another dominicensis looks different from “my”
 connecting with jamaica

local kingbird, the Eastern Kingbird, or them Linnaean scientific binomials, cousin raised pigeons for homing and
Tyrannus tyrannus. The former has a preempting Latham ’s 1790 Index Or- racing purposes. I think he also liked
pale gray face and head, is stouter, and nithologicus. tending to them. My cousin would
has a larger bill and a shorter tail. eventually donate his pigeons to our
Learning these things, I became
interested in Gmelin as a historical
figure, the person associated with bird
I bring Gmelin’s bird observations
back to New York City, this time
with a less direct Caribbean asso-
neighbor. Our yard abutted sugarcane
fields—a classic example of suburban
development from agricultural land.
names in connection with Jamaica and ciation, though one I am making the Mongooses would leave the cane fields
elsewhere throughout the Caribbean. leap to connect, as you will see. He and cross the stream to prey upon the
The Gmelin family was well known in described a now-common resident of pigeons in the coop. The small Indian
the pharmacy business in seventeenth this city, the pigeon, in 1789: Columba mongoose (Urva auropunctata) was
century Tübingen, Germany. Writing livia. The specific epithet, livia, derives first introduced to Jamaica in 1872 to
in 1929, Otto Raubenheimer, a phar- from the French livide, meaning “of control rats, which were devastating
macist, praised the Gmelins: “That this a bluish-leaden color,” and the Latin cane crops. In addition to preying on
family of scientists originated in an lividus, defined as “of a bluish color, pigeons, mongooses hunt native spe-
apothecary shop, which is still in ex- black-and-blue,” making the pigeon’s
istence today, in the university town name morphonymous. The most com-
Tübingen, Württemberg, in the seven- mon pigeon color morph is the blue- • Although the connection may
teenth century, is a credit to pharmacy, bar (wings). seem odd, Rock Pigeons in New York
of which our profession can justly be A cousin of mine kept pigeons in City remind the author of a favorite
proud. It is the ambition of every Ger- my childhood backyard in Jamaica, as Jamaican dish—rice and pigeon peas.
man pharmacist that his son, or one did a neighbor across the street. My Photo by © Jean Shum.
of his sons, shall be his
successor, a rule which
deserves adoption in our
own country.” The prolific
and influential Johann
Friedrich Gmelin was
born on Aug. 8, 1748, and
died at the age of 56.
There is nothing in
Raubenheimer’s bi-
ography that suggests
Gmelin studied birds,
although he named many
of them. He earned an
M.D. in 1769 and became
a professor of medicine
in 1780 after completing
a Ph.D. in 1790. Gmelin
published the thirteenth
edition of Carl Linnaeus’s
Systema Naturae. It
was with this publica-
tion that he entered the
world of birds. Systema
Naturae included birds
described by ornitholo-
gist John Latham, author
of A General Synopsis of
Birds. Gmelin included
Latham’s species in Sys-
tema Naturae, assigning

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 45
connecting with jamaica
cies. The Jamaica Observer reported
that mongooses might be responsible
for the potential extinction of en-
demic birds such as the Jamaica Petrel
(Pterodroma caribbaea).
And here is my final, regional con-
nection, if I may be so bold: Rice and
(pigeon) peas is a popular dish in Ja-
maica. The pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan,
is an Afro-descendant food possibly
named for the resemblance between
46 b i r d i n g june 2024
the pea and the pigeon’s eye. Have
you noticed the small iris and pupil to
large sclera ratio of famous illustrated
pigeons (think of the work of Rose-
mary Mosco and Mo Willems)? Don’t
see the likeness between the pigeon
and its namesake pea? Doesn’t matter;
rice and peas are delicious. When my
mum makes rice and peas now, she
substitutes kidney beans, which is
the alternative Jamaican restaurants
use, too. Maybe a stretch, but as I bird
in my chosen home of New York, I
have familiar birds around me to har-
ken memories of my birth country,
through their arcane etymology.
Works Referenced
Jamaica Observer. 2009 (May 16).
Jamaica and invasive species.
https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/
2009/05/16/jamaica-and-invasive-
species/.
Jobling, J. A., editor. The Key to Scien-
tific Names. In: Birds of the World.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca NY.
Jobling, J. A. 2010. The Helm Diction-
ary of Scientific Bird Names: From
Aalge to Zusii. www.avesdecostarica.
org/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/
scientific-bird-names.pdf.
Largen, M. J. 1987. Bird specimens
purchased by Lord Stanley at the
sale of the Leverian Museum in 1806,
including those still extant in the col-
lections of the Liverpool Museum.
Archives of Natural History
14(3): 265–288.
Monaco Nature Encyclopedia. https://
www.monaconatureencyclopedia.
com/sabal-domingensis/?lang=en.
Raubenheimer, O. 1930. Gmelin, a Ger-
man family of pharmacists, chemists
and botanists. The Journal of the
American Pharmaceutical Asso-
ciation 19(3): 259–265. https://
doi.org/10.1002/jps.3080190315.
Wilson, H. W., Jr. Palm Warbler,
Setophaga palmarum.
Birds of the World. https://
birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/
palwar/cur/introduction.
 connecting with jamaica

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 47
the macaws of mexico

Editor’s Note: This article was translated from its original Spanish by Frank
Izaguirre. For his excellent and continuing contributions to Birding, Jesús Antonio
“Chucho” Moo Yam has been named the magazine’s Latin America Correspondent.

The Woman Painting

the Skies of Mexico
The reintroduction of Scarlet Macaws in Veracruz

I
n Mexico’s vast forests, one woman
has dedicated her life to protecting
the parrots and macaws that call these
lush lands home. Dr. Bertha Patricia
Escalante Pliego is among the country’s
foremost ornithologists in the areas of
taxonomy and bird systematics, but above
all she is a passionate conservationist, and
has emerged as a leader and model in the
fight to save the parrots of Mexico. Her ef-
forts show that, despite many challenges,
modern-day conservation initiatives can
still succeed.
Dr. Escalante was the first woman in
Mexico to earn a Ph.D. degree in ornithol-
ogy, which she received from The City
University of New York. One of her most
notable accomplishments is the success-
ful reintroduction of Scarlet Macaws, Ara
text and photos by
Jesús Antonio “Chucho” Moo Yam
Pomuch, Campeche, Mexico
blink_jamy@hotmail.com
macao in Mexico. She led captive-breeding
and controlled-release projects to restore
vitality to forests with the distinctive
flights and calls of these majestic birds,
to paint Mexican skies with their beauty
once more. But she arrived at this work in
a peculiar way, with a species not closely
related to the parrots.
The Imperial Woodpecker and
Its Ancient Forests
In 1998, Dr. Escalante and her team relent-
lessly searched for the mythical Impe-
rial Woodpecker, Campephilus imperialis,
throughout the mountains of Mexico. There
was a need to establish an organization to
locate places where the bird could be liv-
ing. Thus arose the group Asociación Civil
Bosque Antiguo in the state of Jalisco, near
the Mexican Pacific Coast in the town of
Bolaños: The association’s mission was to
find the woodpecker in the isolated moun-
tains of that territory. Dr. Escalante and her
team searched this area, where large pines
provided ideal habitat for this species.
Despite many expeditions throughout the
high mountains, the team could not find the
great woodpecker. But, with the organiza-
tion and the nature reserve in operation,

48 b i r d i n g june 2024
 the macaws of mexico

• Scarlet Macaws are

among the world’s most
iconic and beloved bird
species, but it was only
recently that they have
returned to Veracruz,
Mexico, thanks to the
extraordinary efforts of
dedicated conservationists,
wildlife rehabilitators, and
an entire community.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 49
the macaws of mexico

Lilac-crowned Parrot
• Among the many parrots in the group of 115 birds seized in Iztapalapa on May
15, 2023, were Lilac-crowned Parrots, Amazona finschi. They were rescued at
about two to three weeks old and were dehydrated, overcrowded, malnourished,
stressed, and hypothermic. They had respiratory illnesses and were tended by
volunteers and veterinary doctors specializing in birds. When the parrots started
to fledge, species could be determined. At three months of age, they moved to
the Reserva Ecológica Nanciyaga to continue their rehabilitation in a better
climate and wider environments. In aviaries of 8.2 feet x 8.2 feet x 8.2 feet (2.5
m x 2.5 m x 2.5 m), they received ample space and environmental enrichment
consisting of branches of native trees in which they like to forage. The presence
of parasites, as well as the birds’ weight and behavior, are carefully monitored.
They are released when approved by authorities.

50 b i r d i n g june 2024
 the macaws of mexico

left: • Scarlet Macaws

often can be observed
as family groups with
two parents and their
offspring—as shown here.

Bosque Antiguo kept working. Over below: • In this grooming

time, it took on a new project with a Scarlet Macaw family, the
similar potential for high impact—the chicks were born in the
reintroduction of macaws in Los Tux- wild: true Veracruzanos.
tlas, Veracruz. It seemed like an even
more utopian dream than the previous the involvement and commitment of
venture because of all the challenges it the Reserva Ecológica Nanciyaga in original mission for Asociación Civil
would have to overcome. Veracruz. The reserve gave the ma- Bosque Antiguo.
caw project a home to settle into. This In 2014, macaws were released for
The Dream: The Return migration from the Mexican Pacific the first time, using a management
of the Scarlet Macaw Coast to the Gulf of Mexico in Vera- plan. Knowing the challenges faced by
to Veracruz cruz was a 180-degree turn from the this project, leaders designed a plan
Due to habitat loss and illegal traffick-
ing of chicks and adults, the Scarlet
Macaw became extinct within Mexico
in 1975, the year in which the last
specimen was seen in Veracruz. Vera-
cruz is a long and thin state that hugs
the southwestern edge of the Gulf Coast
of Mexico. The state is home to a few
sought-after specialty birds like Beard-
ed Wood-Partridge and Sumichrast’s
Wren, but is also one of the most
densely populated parts of Mexico. As
such, much of the land has been cleared
for agriculture or development.
Many years after the last macaw
sighting, it would be necessary to
start from scratch in the area, as ur-
banization had increased since 1975
and suitable habitat was lacking. A
first big breakthrough came thanks to

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 51
the macaws of mexico
for the macaws to gain acceptance by
the local community. The aim was to
counteract the potential human threats
to successful reintroduction, because
people posed the greatest risks to
these birds. Through environmental
education, festivals, and the efforts of
private institutions, the macaws were
accepted by the Native communities,
and they are protected by the vil-
lagers themselves. Local people have
even been involved in the project as
park rangers, jam producers, and bird
guides. The return of the macaws has
revitalized the birding scene and cre-
ated opportunities.
Esteban Cortéz, a resident of
Catemaco, Veracruz, has become a local
icon as a guide. Thanks to the macaw
reintroduction project, he found in
birding an alternative to his job ac-
52 b i r d i n g june 2024
tivities. Working with experienced
researchers, he has achieved a great
status as a knowledgeable bird guide.
Commitment to
Indigenous Communities
Dr. Escalante and her team understand
the importance of working closely with
the Indigenous communities that share
their territory with these birds. Through
educational and awareness-raising pro-
grams, the team has established strong
ties to promote environmental conser-
vation and respect for local wildlife.
While in one of the macaw shel-
ters waiting for the rain and cold to
pass, “Dr. Paty,” as she is affectionately
known, sat with the whole team at the
table and talked about how the com-
munity has embraced the project and
the macaws:
• Dr. Bertha Patricia Escalante Pliego, along
with Eduardo García Escobar, her partner
and fellow fighter in the struggle to reverse
the damage of illegal wildlife trafficking, pose
beside a mural celebrating Scarlet Macaws.
One day something beautiful oc-
curred with the people. Residents
of the area noticed a macaw on the
ground, a little lost, with lesions.
There were people chasing the bird
to steal her, but others captured
the bird and then called the park
rangers here to hand her over. For-
tunately, after rehabilitating the
bird for a few days, she was able to
return to the forest again. It was so
nice, the way people were already
taking ownership of the project,
that they know that at the end of
the day the legacy of the macaws
is for them and their children.
As she sipped her coffee, Dr. Escalante
shared more details. At the beginning,
the most difficult part of the project, like
any project surrounded by urbanization,
 the macaws of mexico

Mexican Imperial
Woodpecker
• In 1998, Dr. Escalante led a team to search
for the extinct Imperial Woodpecker in the
large pine forest mountains of Mexico, which
led to the creation of the group Asociación Civil
Bosque Antiguo. Although they were unable
to rediscover this gigantic woodpecker, the
association’s mission was repurposed for the
reintroduction of Scarlet Macaws in Veracruz, a
goal which initially seemed nearly as far-fetched.
In that way, the Imperial Woodpecker brought
life to another lost and beloved bird. These
Imperial Woodpeckers belong to the National
Autonomous University of Mexico’s Institute of
Biology’s bird collection.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 53
the macaws of mexico
clockwise from left:
• The macaw reintroduction project
has benefited the local community.
Esteban Cortéz has established himself
as a local bird guide, helping visitors
see and enjoy the birds.
• The community captures and
prepares to return an injured macaw.
• Parrots must be fed every three
hours in order to recover successfully
from illegal wildlife trafficking.
was to get the community behind it.
The reintroduction project also must
be committed to maintaining the rein-
troduced birds—for instance, attending
to the cages used to help birds adapt to
the climate. Maintenance is quite ex-
pensive because it covers the salaries
of park rangers and veterinarians, as
well as the costs of medicine and even
surgery for macaws injured by people
outside the community engaged in il-
legal wildlife trafficking.
54 b i r d i n g june 2024
“The project is really supported by a
combination of my salary as a teacher
and donors who are usually friends and
acquaintances, and sometimes some al-
truistic foundation,” said Dr. Escalante.
The Reserva Ecológica Nanciyaga
has a wildlife unit dedicated to the
reintroduced macaws, and has also
become an oasis for other parrots in
Mexico.
Project Successes and
the Fight Against Illegal
Wildlife Trafficking
Because innovation comes with
challenges, this project has had to
pioneer many methods to overcome
obstacles and achieve its positive
results. When asked about her suc-
cesses, Dr. Escalante said:
In 2018, we were able to document
for the first time the first Scarlet
Macaw hatched in the wild, proudly
Veracruzano: We named that bird
‘Huentli,’ which means ‘brother’ [in
Nahuatl]. To be more successful, we
had to change their nests to protect
them from different threats, and we
created nest boxes. The nest boxes
were not good at first, so we had to
study the conditions better for them
to occupy them successfully, but
in 2019 we had eggs. By 2020, the
nest boxes worked well, and every
year we have between nine and 13
chicks in them.
On May 15, 2023, big news attracted
the attention of hundreds of Mexicans
concerned about environmental pro-
tection: the seizure of 114 parrots in a
police operation against drug cartels in
Mexico, highlighting the involvement
of cartels in illegal wildlife traffick-
ing. Many Latin Americans consider
having wildlife as pets a status sym-
bol. ABA Area birders may have some
sense of the threat of wildlife traffick-
ing in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin
America, but they may not appreciate
the severity of the threat to certain
species—especially parrots, but also
some migratory birds, such as Painted
 the macaws of mexico

Mottled Owl
• The macaw reintroduction project is not only about parrots:
It also helps other species. This Mottled Owl, Ciccaba virgata,
was rehabilitated in Mexico City by a veterinary medicine
student who rescued it from someone who had kept it as a
“pet” and wanted it to be released into the wild. The bird’s
flying ability is limited, so he lives in an aviary measuring
20 feet x 10 feet x 10 feet (6 m x 3 m x 3 m). He has been in
rehabilitation for about five months and is close to being moved
to a flight aviary, after which he will be ready for release.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 55
the macaws of mexico

Red-crowned
Parrot
• This is a Red-crowned Parrot,
Amazona viridigenalis, also sometimes
called Tamaulipas Parrot, which
belongs to a group of eight parrots
of this species that arrived after the
rescue of 115 illegally trafficked parrots.
He suffered from overcrowding,
hypothermia, malnutrition, and initial
dehydration, but has recovered. The
bird will remain in Reserva Ecológica
Nanciyaga for a few more months, but
there is hope that the authorities will
allow the bird to be moved to San Luis
Potosí for release in its natural range.

56 b i r d i n g june 2024

Buntings, which spend part of their
lives north of Mexico.
Dr. Escalante showed great courage
by taking on the risk of rescuing these
114 parrots victimized by criminal
activity. Her team worked tirelessly to
provide medical care and rehabilitation
to the abused birds, managing to save
the vast majority and return them to
their natural habitat.
At the beginning, the biggest chal-
lenge was that most of the birds were
chicks and had to be fed every three
hours. Also, the number of species in
shelter was not accurately known,
because the birds had been taken from
their nests when they were very small,
even hours after hatching. It was be-
lieved that there were 17 Blue-headed
Parrots, 96 Red-fronted Parrots, and
one Yellow-headed Parrot.
“In the first few weeks, the chicks
began to fledge, and we were able to
identify them better, detecting that,
instead of three species, we had seven
species represented, and 115 specimens
instead of 114,” said Dr. Escalante. The
seven total species were Red-lored
Parrot (78 chicks), Mealy Parrot (17
chicks), Lilac-crowned Parrot (two ju-
veniles and six chicks), Red-crowned
Parrot (eight chicks), Yellow-headed
Parrot (one adult and one chick),
White-fronted Parrot (one chick), and
Yellow-naped Parrot (one juvenile).
Caring for These
Precious Patients
Caring for these avian patients is de-
manding and exacting. Upon arrival,
all patients were administered subcu-
taneous hydration with Hartmann’s
solution, which is often used to restore
fluid levels and salt balance, as well as
oral hydration with electrolyte serum
and glucose. Afterwards, only sick birds
received this treatment. Special food
is provided for fledgling parrots (por-
ridge), and adults and juveniles (pellets).
Measurements are taken and food is
given every three hours. After the third
week, the 3am feeding was eliminated,
leaving the last one of the day at 11pm
the macaws of mexico
and the first at 6am. At the one-month
point, there were four feedings: 6am,
11am, 4pm, and 9pm. Each feeding
lasted between three and four hours,
depending on the number of volunteers
and doctors available.
When asked about the rigors of the
care involved in resuscitating these
birds, Dr. Escalante said:
We have been told that this effort
is titanic, and indeed it has been an
exhausting, instructive, comforting
experience to help innocent beings
who are in deplorable conditions in
illegal trafficking. Here you can see
the stressful situations and suffer-
ing that are completely unnecessary
for the birds. Many of the infections
and injuries suffered by these birds
are animal cruelty that completely
violates the five freedoms of animal
welfare dictated by the OIE (World • Ricardo Baxin Xolio first saw Scarlet
Organization for Animal Health). Macaws being released when he was
These are a consequence of the a teenager in high school. He was
treatment of traffickers. We hope so fascinated by these birds that he
that our effort will be appreciated studied biology and eventually joined
and considered for future situations, the macaw reintroduction project,
as these species require it. Their where he is now second in command.
populations are very decimated
and therefore they are in danger of
extinction in our country. We owe As she continues this tireless work,
restitution for the damage caused to Dr. Escalante leaves a legacy inspiring
these wild species. wildlife conservation not just in Mexi-
co, but everywhere. Her team’s unwav-
Several of these birds have core ranges ering commitment to protecting parrots
in Mexico, such as Red-crowned Par- and macaws has encouraged many to
rot and Lilac-crowned Parrot. Most are join the cause, ensuring a brighter fu-
in a vulnerable category, according to ture for these iconic species and for the
their protection classification by the ecosystems they call home.
International Union for Conservation Such is the case of Ricardo Baxin
of Nature. Xolio, a native of the area, who as a
teenager in high school witnessed the
Education, Art, Legacy release of macaws. He was so fasci-
As a passionate advocate for environ- nated to see them fly through the skies
mental education, Dr. Escalante has of his town that he later studied biology
devoted significant efforts to raising and, upon graduation, joined the macaw
public awareness of the importance of reintroduction project. But his passion
conserving endangered birds. Through has gone beyond even that.
conferences, murals, workshops, and He is now studying for a second
outreach campaigns, she has inspired bachelor’s degree, this time in vet-
new generations to take action to pro- erinary medicine, to gain knowledge
tect biodiversity. to further support the macaws. He is
june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 57
the macaws of mexico
top: • Volunteers feed parrots.
The care of birds recovered
from illegal wildlife trafficking
is extremely demanding.
bottom: • Community involvement
in the reintroduction of Scarlet
Macaws has been an essential part
of the program’s success. Here,
artists of all ages participate in
mural painting to celebrate the
return of these majestic birds.
58 b i r d i n g june 2024
currently in charge of the rescued specimens
in the Reserva Ecológica Nanciyaga, and the
second in charge of the macaw reintroduc-
tion project.
In a world where biodiversity loss is an
alarming reality, the story of Dr. Escalante
and her team of volunteers reminds us that
change is possible when passion is combined
with action. Her courageous leadership in the
conservation of Mexico’s birds is a beacon of
hope for the future and a reminder of the re-
sponsibility we all share to protect that future.
May we all take inspiration from her and her
team, and do our part to paint the skies.
Acknowledgments
It’s vital to recognize the role of all the
volunteers who, with their effort, cour-
age, and dedication, managed to ensure
that 99% of all specimens survived. This
is good news, but it doesn’t always hap-
pen with such efforts. For these birds to
survive, it took Dr. Patricia Escalante’s
leadership and boldness to take on the
risk of caring for all those parrots as
well as the hard work of her team mem-
bers, who went hours without sleeping
and eating to make sure all birds were
healthy and safe. Dr. Escalante can be
contacted at tilmatura@ib.unam.mx.
Learn more about the project at
bosqueantiguo.org.
Thanks as well to Juan Carlos Or-
raca, President of Vuela con Loros
(vuelaconloros.org), and Anna Back-
ström, also of Vuela con Loros, for their
coordination of volunteers and dona-
tions to the Scarlet Macaw Reintro-
duction Project in Los Tuxtlas. Thanks
also to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice for their support on site in Nan-
ciyaga. Additionally, thanks to all the
following for their medical volunteer-
ing: Ariadna Acosta Carrillo, Sebastián
Armando Andrade Sánchez, Víctor
Anzaldo Valdovinos, Andrea Artea-
ga, Isaí Chávez Morales, Loida Chávez
Morales, Diana Fabiola Cortés Tenorio,
Verónica Díaz, Mariemma Escorcia,
Marcela Priscila Franco Ochoa, Iztala
Garibay, Mariana Hernández, Andrea
Velouria Juárez Murguía, Adela Labra
Dávila, Miriam Lobato, Axel Martínez,
Ulises Martínez, Mónica Muñoz, Lili-
ana Alexia Ruiz Dávalos, Anhet Alin
Torres Torres, Dulce María Vázquez
Machorro, and Abigail Villegas. Fi-
nally, thanks to all of the following for
their social service work: Obed Bustos
Ávila, Belen Eunice De La Cruz Men-
doza, Kirsten Abigail Freyre Castro,
Daniela García González, Jacqueline
Jiménez Berrum, Cesar Eduardo Jurado
Badillo, Karla Denisse Lira López ,
Jorge Luis Lucho Polito, Andrea Nancy
Moreno, Ángeles Ramo, Carlos Yahir
Ramírez Sánchez, Fernanda Santiago,
and 128 others.
 the macaws of mexico

Red-lored Parrot
• Some parrots, such as this Red-lored Parrot,
Amazona autumnalis, fell behind in their
rehabilitation, but are now moving forward.
The main problem for this one was a respiratory
infection due to the conditions in which it arrived.
The bird was given medicine and evaluated with
laboratory tests, but the bacteria present were
resistant to antibiotics. A specialized porridge
diet was donated by volunteers. The bird’s sad
plumage showed “stress bands,” which are black
stripes indicating that a bird is not being well
fed. Fortunately, this bird’s behavior is good,
and its plumage will improve when it molts. Very
likely, it will be released. Of all birds received,
only one can never be released into the wild,
having lost its sight from infection.

june 2024 a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 59
 featured photo
Featured Photo
The Dundas Valley
Hybrid Warbler
A rare encounter with an American
Redstart x Magnolia Warbler hybrid
I
am very lucky that my office and work
are situated in the heart of the Dundas
Valley Conservation Area, a 2,965-acre
(1,200-hectare) Carolinian forest managed
by the Hamilton Conservation Author-
ity on the edge of Hamilton, Ontario. The
area is situated in a major migration cor-
ridor, with birds following the edge of Lake
Ontario tending to continue through the
Hamilton harbor, and then up the Dundas
Valley and down toward Lake Erie.
O n Sept. 11, 2023, I stood outside my
office while having a coffee with
my colleague, Nicole. Our yard around the
office has always been a great spot to ob-
serve birds, as it is located on a hydro cor-
ridor, cleared areas that allow electricity
lines and power to pass through the forest
unimpeded, which can make for good
migration pathways. Birds tend to move
through in a southwesterly direction in the
fall and often pass through in good num-
bers. From just my landlocked office, I have
recorded 172 species so far. There is a small
stand of cedar trees directly opposite the
office, a magnet to migrating birds. On this
rather dull misty morning, the north winds
overnight had clearly dropped in some
new arrivals. Several migrant Swainson’s
text and photos by
James Lees
Hamilton, Ontario
jameslees1980@gmail.com
60 b i r d i n g june 2024
Thrushes were evident, as well as quite a
few species of wood warblers.
My attention was drawn to a bold and
brightly colored warbler. With the naked
eye, it almost gave the impression of a
male Kirtland’s Warbler with a strong
gray head and bright but plain yellow
underparts. Unfortunately, before I lifted
my binoculars, it flew to my left and into a
much larger stand of cedars. I stood think-
ing about what it may have been for a few
minutes, then suddenly the bird flew back
to the original spot. This time, I raised
my bins in excitement only to be quite
gobsmacked. It was immediately obvious
that this was a hybrid warbler and not the
rarity I had thought. The bird was facing
me and looked very much like a Magnolia
Warbler, Setophaga magnolia, only to turn
around and look just like an American
Redstart, Setophaga ruticilla. I may have
said something along the lines of “holy
smoke,” and I asked Nicole to keep an eye
on the bird while I dashed inside my office
and grabbed my camera. This was clearly
going to be one of those bird sightings in
which photographs would be a real asset.
Sadly, the light was difficult, and I could
barely get enough of a shutter speed to
capture the bird. I knew I had to get pic-
tures of it from as many angles as I could. It
was probably on show for several minutes,
feeding with several other warbler species.
Just as I got myself into a decent position
and the bird looked to be playing ball, a
Bay-breasted Warbler came in and chased
the bird across the yard into the forest.
That was the last I ever saw of the odd
warbler, even though I walked around
the yard and on one of the trails that cut
through the area where it had headed. At
that point, I reviewed the photographs and
began to realize that I may have just seen
something quite special. Unfortunately,
Nicole did not have her binoculars, so she
never really got a good look. But she is
fantastic on computers, and I asked her to
help me put together a graphic. I thought
it would be best to put several images
together and add details to explain my
identification and thought process. Nicole
cut out the background from several im-
ages and arranged them on a blank screen.
This was a really fun exercise as we went
through the details, and I wrote down what
I had just observed.
T he American Redstart piece of the
puzzle was the easy bit. The tail pat-
tern of this bird was that of an American
Redstart, something I am very familiar
with, as we have a healthy breeding
population right here in the Dundas Val-
ley. From below, there was a very large
black band across the end of the tail with a
point in the middle. The rest of the tail was
yellow in color. The upper part of the tail
again had yellow sides, as well as a black
tail band, and the central tail feathers were
black, consistent with a redstart.
The bird’s black primary coverts;
blackish-tipped, broad, and truncate
rectrices; and the head pattern, which is
not matched by a first-fall (hatch-year or
• The author observed this striking
warbler on Sept. 11, 2023, outside
his office in Hamilton, Ontario. The
bird appears to be a rare American
Redstart x Magnolia Warbler hybrid, a
taxon previously unreported to eBird.

• From the front, this bird looks like a
Magnolia Warbler, but from the back it
displays American Redstart characters.
formative plumage) bird of either species,
indicate that this is an adult. Because
the bird lacks much of the orange and
black of definitive basic (after hatching
year) male American Redstarts, it could
be a female. Interestingly, however, adult
Magnolia Warblers of both sexes lack this
much black to the head plumage in basic
plumage (fall), so the black feathering
must be a contribution of redstart genes,
and it thus seems just as likely if not more
so that this is an adult male. That the
pattern of black in the head is similar to
Magnolias in breeding (alternate) rather
than winter (basic) plumage appears to be
just another wonder of how plumage can
be expressed in hybrids.
Interestingly, the bird seemed elon-
gated, more like a Redstart than a Mag-
nolia Warbler would be. The wings were
interesting, as this bird showed both
Redstart and Magnolia patterns. First,
there was a strong yellow bar across the
outer primaries, shown by adult Red-
starts. The markings on the secondary
coverts were consistent with a Magnolia
Warbler pattern, but some of the white
was yellow. The shoulders and back of
the warbler were black and the rump
appeared all dark. The chest color of yel-
low perfectly matched that of a Magnolia
Warbler, as did the pure white undertail
coverts that started around the legs. The
distinct breast streaking of the Magnolia
Warbler was almost all there.
If you compare this bird to a male or
bright adult female Magnolia Warbler,
you can see the large black clump under
the throat from which stripes emanate.
This is evident on this hybrid, as is some
of the body streaking. I presume the
reason why the main streaks are miss-
ing is that American Redstarts have a
plain body. The head pattern fits a Mag-
nolia Warbler perfectly, with a white
line beginning at the front of the eye,
getting thicker as it extends back. There
is a white line under the eye, and lack of
white line on the upper eye. The pink bill
may best be characterized as anoma-
lous and relating to the bird’s status as
a hybrid.
You may ask, “so why a Magnolia and
not a Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) as the
other parent?” Even though the vibe of
this bird in the field was Magnolia, I had
to eliminate any other parent possibili-
ties. Really, when I got down to the finer
details, only the head pattern was similar
to Yellow-rumped (Myrtle). I think be-
cause the throat was white, it made some
people jump to the conclusion it must be
a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle). Often
with hybrids, most markings can be eas-
ily explained, clearly coming from one of
the two parent species, although some-
times a part of a bird can be a different
color or pattern that does not match ei-
ther parent. These areas can make it a bit
confusing, and that’s why you really have
to focus on the ones that you can say for
sure belong to an obvious species.
On this hybrid, there was no yellow in
the crown or rump, which are strong and
key features of Yellow-rumped Warbler,
and no streaking on the back at all. Also,
there was no gray or streaking on the
shoulders. The secondary pattern did
not fit with this bird, as there was also
no white between the bill and the eye.
Additionally, Yellow-rumped Warbler
(Myrtle) shows an obvious white line on
the top and bottom of the eye; this bird
only had lower markings like a Mag-
nolia. The chest pattern and beginning
of the streaks does not fit with Yellow-
rumped Warbler.
I looked at other reference materials.
I researched to see if there were other
hybrid American Redstart x Magnolia
Warbler records, but I struggled to find
much. There seem to be two previous
records of hybridization between Mag-
nolia Warbler and American Redstart:
Ottawa County, Ohio, U.S., and Laval,
june 2024
featured photo
Québec, Canada. Both of these species’
breeding ranges overlap in large parts
of Canada and some parts of the U.S. I
also found several American Redstart x
Yellow-rumped Warbler records, which
did not fit with this bird.
It’s worth noting the time when this
bird was migrating through southern
Ontario. On that day, there were seven
American Redstarts and two Magnolia
Warblers. Because it was early Septem-
ber, we were seeing your typical earlier
warblers passing through heading south.
Yellow-rumped Warblers are the last
warblers to come through in October and
November. However, American Red-
starts and Magnolia Warblers appear in
early September.
O f course, I was unable to get a DNA
sample from this bird, or hear it
sing. These are only my personal conclu-
sions based on what I observed in the
field and from closely examining my
photographs after the event. I worked
for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for
11 years, and came across many hybrid
ducks and geese in that time. Wildfowl
tend to hybridize far more regularly
than other birds. Hybrid songbirds are
much rarer to see, although some species
like Blue-winged and Golden-winged
warblers (as well as Townsend’s and Her-
mit warblers in the Pacific Northwest)
hybridize regularly. We have both Blue-
winged and Golden-winged warblers
here in the Dundas Valley and encounter
their hybrids fairly frequently.
Apart from those, this is the first hy-
brid warbler I have seen here. It was a
fascinating bird, and I am very grateful
that it came back long enough for me to
grab my camera. These images, no mat-
ter how poor, helped with the identifi-
cation, and its acceptance into the eBird
database, where it had not previously
been reported. I am fairly sure that I will
never add a new taxon to eBird again, so
this really was a red-letter day.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Peter Pyle for his re-
view of this manuscript and additional
comments on the plumage of this bird.
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 61

book & media reviews
Analysis & Appreciation of the Birding Literature
A Memoir of Injustice
and the Beauty of Birds
a review by April D. Campbell
Better Living Through
Birding: Notes from a Black
Man in the Natural World
by Christian Cooper
Random House, 2023
304 pages, hardcover
ABA Sales–Buteo Books 15350
For two Black men, one residing in New
York City and the other in Minneapo-
lis, May 25, 2020, was a fateful day. For
Christian Cooper, an expert birder, the
day’s events would lead to celebrity and
exciting career opportunities. For George
Floyd, an unemployed truck driver, the
day would end in death. Both incidents
exposed America’s seemingly intractable
racist underbelly and would ignite a fire-
storm of publicity and outrage across the
country. Cooper’s first memoir, Better Liv-
ing Through Birding: Notes from a Black
Man in the Natural World, is about navi-
gating the world as a nerdy, queer Black
man in love with birds and how birds
helped him cope with both racist occur-
rences and other hardships in life.
Cooper, the son of an English teacher
edited by
Rebecca Minardi
Peoria, Illinois
rminardi@aba.org
Read the reviews, discuss
the reviews, buy the books:
aba.org/book-reviews
In-depth reviews in the expanded
online edition of Birding:
aba.org/magazine
62 b i r d i n g june 2024
Purchase these titles at
ABA Sales / Buteo Books BUY IT
NOW!
mother and biology teacher father, both
civil rights activists, grew up in conserva-
tive Long Island during the 1960s and 70s.
He was introduced to the natural world
by his first mentor, his father, Francis.
Francis drove the family cross county
in their VW camper to western Canada.
Armed with Roger Tory Peterson’s A Field
Guide to the Birds, Cooper was instantly
enthralled by birds like the Clark’s Nut-
cracker (soon to bear another name) and
the Black-billed Magpie. Back at home
in Long Island, Francis took Cooper to a
bird walk sponsored by the South Shore
Audubon Society where he met his second
mentor, Elliot Kutner. Many other mentors
followed. But life as a closeted Black male
was lonely and stultifying. Cooper de-
scribed this period in his life “as if I were
locked in a coffin under six feet of earth .
. .” Birding and science fiction became his it to Twitter. Cooper refers to the racist
twin refuges, likely sparing his life. altercation in the Ramble as “The Incident,”
Cooper and I share many commonalties. preferring to diminish this chapter of his
We’re queer, Black, grew up in conserva- life rather than allow it to enjoy outsized
tive white communities, found refuge from importance in a well-lived six decades.
chaotic family lives in nature and books, Readers will be grateful he did as his book
and attended Ivy league schools. This spills over with colorful, immersive stories
part of the book resonated very strongly of his worldwide birding adventures, the
with me. What I sorely lacked that Cooper people he meets along the way, and his days
enjoyed in abundance were mentors. The working as an editor for Marvel Comics.
importance of mentoring for young bird- His unabashed love for things with
ers, especially for young birders of color, wings bellows from the pages, making
cannot be overstressed. Without mentors, you wish you could be there alongside
many fewer birders of color will step in the him, sharing in the rapture. His analogies
world of birdsong and wonder. of bird behavior to aspects of African-
Cooper was catapulted into the public American history such as migration seem
consciousness when, while birding in the a bit strained at times, but, overall, they hit
Ramble in Central Park, an area that is al- the mark. Multiple birding tips, useful for
ways off limits to unleashed dogs, Cooper new and experienced birders alike, punc-
asked a white woman to leash her dog. The tuate the text. Finally, Cooper anchors
his book with his “Seven Joys of Birding”
woman, later referred to as “Central Park
Karen” in the news media, reacted by in- such as his “First Pleasure of Birding: The
voking one of America’s oldest and most Beauty of Birds.” I can’t disagree with that
dangerous racist tropes: Black men are one! More poignant aspects of the book
brutes out to harm white women. She called explore his uneasy relationship with his
the police, breathlessly saying an African- distant late father and Cooper’s doomed
American man was threatening her. Cooper love affairs.
recorded the exchange on his phone, and The penultimate chapter explores in
his video went viral after his sister posted depth “The Incident” and his reaction

to the murder of George Floyd. Cooper’s
refusal to prosecute “Central Park Karen”
astounded many African-Americans
(including myself). After all, baseless
accusations by women have led to the
lynching of many Black men and boys in
both the North and the South. Emmet Till’s
horrific death for supposedly whistling
at a white woman in a store in 1955, just
a year before my birth, remains seared in
our collective memory. But for Cooper, this
was the right thing to do, and his explana-
tion for why he did not seek retribution is
remarkable reading. The last chapter ad-
dresses the existing social and racial bar-
riers hindering birders of color and Coo-
per’s work in promoting birding in young
people as both a bird walk leader and as
host of the televised nature program, Ex-
traordinary Birder with Christan Cooper
on National Geographic. In this chapter,
Cooper returns to Alabama, the land of his
ancestors, to participate in the Black Belt
Birding Festival. His ambivalence about
the South is palpable, but his short stay in
Alabama ended on a positive note—chas-
ing Chimney Swifts in Selma.
I greatly enjoyed reading Cooper’s new
memoir. While his writing lacks the lyrical
beauty of a Camille Dungy or J. Drew Lan-
ham, Cooper more than makes up for this
with his exuberant storytelling, infectious
enthusiasm for birds, and his willingness
to probe difficult realities. I especially en-
joyed his discussion on how he came to see
the Common Grackle with new eyes thanks
to a young child: “To recognize something
as beautiful, sometimes all it takes is a
change of perspective.” Amen. Better Liv-
ing Through Birding is an important ad-
dition to the growing lexicon of works by
naturalists and birders of color. It offers
something for everyone; whether you’re
a diehard lister or casual birdwatcher, gay
or straight, Black or white, the lessons
imparted are universal. Perhaps the great-
est takeaway for me was the importance
of forgiveness. Whenever we can forgive
others, we forgive ourselves, removing a
burden that helps us move forward to take
on with greater fortitude the tough issues
threatening our planet. Forgive we must.
For ourselves and for the birds.
The Political Hatching of
the Migratory Bird Treaty
a review by M. Ralph Browning
A Connecticut Yankee
Goes to Washington:
Senator George P. McLean,
Birdman of the Senate
by Will McLean Greeley
RIT Press, 2023
350 pages, paperback
Will McLean Greeley’s biography, A Con-
necticut Yankee Goes to Washington:
Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the
Senate, on his great-great uncle George
Payne McLean is quite unlike Mark
Twain’s satire about a different Connecti-
cut Yankee. This work contains a plethora
of footnoted accounts documenting the
life and times of McLean, who ultimately
became the governor of Connecticut and
finally a U.S. senator. Part of the chroni-
cling of McLean’s political career were his
efforts to pass the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act of 1918 (MBTA). To birders, conserva-
tionists, and to everyone really, McLean’s
greatest achievement was the passage
of the MBTA. Without the treaty, we all
might be eating fast-food thrushes, with
or without hummingbird fries.
From most of the biography, we learn
that McLean (1857–1932) traversed a
beginning that evolved from journal-
ism to law school and that led to a public
service career as a representative and
then senator in Connecticut, a U.S. district
attorney, the governor of Connecticut, and
a finally a U.S. senator. Politically, McLean
was a Republican as defined in the early
twentieth century. Though he considered
himself an ardent progressive, McLean’s
voting record was not always in agree-
ment with his own label. For example, he
opposed women’s right to vote, but Gree-
ley almost apologetically seems to blame
the politician’s wife for his lack of pro-
gressiveness. Oddly, she and other women
reportedly were not in favor of women
having this right. Politically, McLean also
did not always lean in a predictable direc-
tion. For example, he talked about corpo-
june 2024
book & media reviews
rate power and inequality but opposed
tightening antitrust laws. He was against
lynching but used disparaging names for
certain people.
Though readers will not find mention
of birds until briefly on page 148 and
reference to the MBTA until page 170, it
is by now apparent that McLean’s po-
litical abilities, savvy, wherewithal, and
perseverance were what finally drove the
treaty to reality. According to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service: “The MBTA pro-
vides that it is unlawful to pursue, hunt,
take, capture, kill, possess, sell, purchase,
barter, import, export, or transport any
migratory bird, or any part, nest, or egg
or any such bird, unless authorized under
a permit issued by the secretary of the
interior.” As with most political issues,
people on the Hill are slow to act unless
under the threat of bodily harm. So, when
McLean came on board as a U.S. senator in
1911, he first pushed for stronger hunting
laws. In 1912, the senator from Connecti-
cut focused his energy on the protection
of migratory birds. The next year, he
joined forces with John Wingate Weeks,
a fellow senator from Massachusetts.
A measure in 1913 to protect migratory
birds seemed promising, but it still had to
be signed off and voted on by not just the
House of Representatives and the Sen-
ate but by the Supreme Court regarding
constitutionality of the act, and it needed
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 63
book & media reviews
the approval of the sitting president. The
biographer provides us with, dare I say,
an exciting story nicely presented in 25
pages in chapter eight. During the ap-
proximately seven years from 1911 to the
passage of the 1918 act, migratory birds
remained fodder for those in the process
of commercial management of bird feath-
ers, their meat, and their eggs. How many
birds succumbed to the hand of man dur-
ing those seven years is probably phe-
nomenal. Also phenomenal is the length
of time the government took to ratify the
MBTA. The biographer did not mention
Louis Marshall, who was successful in
convincing the Supreme Court to uphold
the treaty as constitutional.
Subsequent chapters continue with
McLean’s remaining political career and
his words and wishes. Other measures,
bills, or merely discussion on conserva-
tion issues apparently never occurred in
McLean’s remaining years in office from
1918 to 1929. He did will a 3,200-acre
game refuge in Connecticut but otherwise
took little to no credit for the passage of
the MBTA. During his senatorial watch,
numerous national wildlife refuges and
a few national parks and monuments
were established. Although busy, McLean
missed about 40 percent of roll calls to
vote in the Senate; he presumably would
have been in favor of protecting habi-
tat. Barely mentioned by Greeley is that
Senator McLean served as chairman of
the committee on forest reservations and
game protection. The position, which
was for two Congresses, might have been
an opportunity to further conservation
agendas, though Greeley did not say so.
Did McLean favor the additional public
lands, the national refuges and parks, es-
tablished during his watch? What he con-
tributed while chairing the congressional
committees are but a few questions unan-
swered. After all, the title states McLean
is “The Birdman.” Why? Other than the
MBTA that McLean and Weeks so suc-
cessfully drove to law, readers are left
wondering. Was McLean a birder? What
kinds of birds most attracted his interest?
Was his disdain for overhunting, his favor
of bag limits, and his brief encounters
64 b i r d i n g june 2024
with local and national conservationists
like Mabel O. Wright and friend Theodore
Roosevelt the reason for the monicker
“Birdman of the Senate”? Roughly eight
percent of the biography points to these
answers. The remaining pages mostly
dwell on the life of an early twentieth-
century politician. Thanks to Will Greeley,
readers have the opportunity to have a
detailed look into a politician’s life, wit-
ness the slow grinding wheel that was (is)
government, and gain an understanding
about the passage of the MBTA.
A Guide to a Great State
a review by
Meg Scherch Peterson
Birds of Arizona
by Richard Cachor Taylor
R. W. Morse Company, 2022
494 pages, paperback
ABA Sales–Buteo Books 15336
Richard Cachor Taylor’s latest guide,
Birds of Arizona, distills the essence of
two mega data sources, the Arizona/New
Mexico Birding Listserv and the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology’s eBird, into a birder-
friendly format.
And on that count, this pocket guide
delivers. Measuring a neat four by six
inches, this guide will tuck easily into the
pocket of your birder’s vest or the glove
compartment of your car. It’s meant to be
used—and useful—in the field. I plan on
bringing it along on my next birding trip
to Arizona. May that be soon!
Seasoned birders will appreciate that
recent Mexican specialties, regardless
of abundance, are included. Handy one-
inch range maps show not only regular
geographic and seasonal occurrences, but
also “color dimes,” small circular dots on
the map that record a bird’s sighting out-
side its usual range.
New birders (and even non-birders)
will appreciate that Taylor supplies an
answer to the question, “Hey, I’m here, so
what birds are here?” Common birds are
conveniently grouped into four simple
categories: Widespread, Water Birds,
Desert Birds, and Mountain Birds. But if
you want more, there is more. The guide
zeroes in on 11 habitats defined by eleva-
tion and water availability. You’ll learn
about species variability from valley
scrub to pecan fields, from foothill groves
to foothill thornscrub, and from mountain
interior chaparral to Madrean pine-oak
woodlands. And an elevation chart will
let you know which species of humming-
bird can be found at which elevation. The
guide covers the 17 hummingbird species
found in the state.
Perhaps best of all, the chief identify-
ing characteristics of a bird—those that
most help distinguish it from other simi-
lar birds—are at your fingertips. Confused
by sparrows? Not to worry. Highlighted
in boldface are key features: the gray bill
and yellow lores of White-throated Spar-
row, the orange bill of White-crowned
Sparrow, and the black crown and flesh-
colored bill of Harris’s Sparrow. Color
photographs display crucial features. But
what I like best is how the photographs
are paired. Photos of species that are eas-
ily confused (say, Hepatic and Summer
tanagers) are displayed on a single page
so comparison is relatively straightfor-
ward. No need to switch back and forth
between species on bird apps. Each entry
includes a section labeled “Noteworthy”
with the kind of detail you might get on
a bird walk with an experienced birder.

Some entries read like insider stuff, to-
tally unique to Arizona.
Recently, I listened to an Arizona
State Parks and Recreation podcast that
featured Taylor. I was amazed by how
down-to-earth the author was, how will-
ing to share information about birds, and
how over-the-top enthusiastic he was
when talking about Arizona sightings of
Ruff, the territorial expansion of Crested
Caracara, the iridescence of hummingbird
feathers, and the first record of Elegant
Trogon in Arizona in 1886.
Taylor, in fact, conducted an eight-year
study of Elegant Trogon and authored
Trogons of the Arizona Borderlands in
1994. He also wrote two more guides: A
Birder’s Guide to Southeastern Arizona
(published by the ABA and updated in
2018) and Birds of Southeastern Arizona
in 2010. So, he knows his birds.
For me and no doubt for thousands
of birders, the lure of birding in Arizona
continues to beckon. Species diversity
dazzles. The Arizona Bird Committee of
the Arizona Field Ornithologists lists 571
species as of January 2023. As writer
Mel White put it in Audubon magazine
back in 2016, “Eventually, every birder
must visit Arizona. From the Chiricahua
Mountains in the southeast to the world’s
largest ponderosa pine forest in the north
to wetlands along the Colorado River, the
rewards are practically endless.” I can’t
wait to return.
Extinction in the
Anthropocene
a review by John Kricher
The End of Eden:
Wild Nature in the Age
of Climate Breakdown
by Adam Welz
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023
288 pages, hardcover
The metaphorical title of this somber
book obviously refers to the biblical story
of Eden, which provided an early lesson
about ill-advised human boldness and
overstepping. The South African author,
Adam Welz, argues convincingly that
human actions coupled with an alarming
lack of attention to global environmental
consequences are resulting in a rapidly
increasing climate breakdown, caused,
as was the case with the mythical Eden,
by human boldness and overstepping.
As the present century unfolds, nature
will continue to change dramatically
throughout the planet, a change for the
worse for thousands if not millions of
species including most bird species. Mil-
lions of humans will also be the worse for
it. The fundamental cause is that humans
cannot effectively come together for the
sake of the planet. Let that sink in. This
is not a fun book to read, but it should
be read by anyone who is empathetic
to nature and what is happening to na-
ture as climate change worsens. Many
bird-focused examples are presented
throughout the book. In nine chapters,
Welz makes a carefully reasoned, urgent,
and scary case for what he terms global
climate breakdown.
Global diversity patterns have changed
dramatically throughout Earth’s long
history. Among such changes include five
major extinction events, such as the fa-
mous Cretaceous asteroid that eliminated
all large dinosaurs about 66 million years
ago. Profound climate change, directly
or indirectly, was the cause of all five
extinction events. The sixth major ex-
tinction is now ongoing, and we humans
are the cause. The easiest way to disrupt
global ecosystems and bring about large-
scale extinctions is to rapidly change the
global climate (which is exactly what the
Cretaceous asteroid strike did). Rapid
global climate change pulls the adap-
tational ecological rug out from under
whole ecosystems, indeed whole biomes.
In the case of human actions, climate im-
pact is augmented by continued habitat
loss from economic actions such as, for
example, replacing huge areas of tropical
forest with oil palm plantations and lit-
tering the oceans with millions of tons of
plastic waste.
Above all else, organisms must be
adapted to the climate in which they
reside. Some, not adapted to all seasons
june 2024
book & media reviews
in a particular location, either migrate,
hibernate, estivate, survive as seeds, or do
whatever temporary escape their evolu-
tion has provided. Many bird species are
global migrants, and you might think all
they have to do is to fly away to a better
habitat should their habitat decline or be
eliminated. Well, maybe. But for many
species it doesn’t work that way. You
cannot escape if there is nowhere to go.
Welz provides a convincing and carefully
researched array of examples showing
that global climate breakdown is accel-
erating at a pace where huge numbers of
species are threatened. And it is compli-
cated, not simple.
Most birders now know that bird
numbers in North America have declined
by almost 30 percent over the past 50
years for a total loss of three billion birds.
But the public, including many birders,
are slow to notice that such declines
mean they are witnessing ongoing ex-
tinctions in progress that are expected
to accelerate. Still, for much of human-
ity, extinction, if a worry at all, seems
like “tomorrow’s worry,” not today’s. We
still see Evening Grosbeaks on occasion,
though their total population may now
be reduced to barely 10 percent of what
it had been. Many elderly birders might
say that not a single bird species has
gone extinct during their lifetimes. But
human lifetimes are short in terms of
global dynamics. Consider two examples
that Welz explains, both of which show
how rapid climate change is moving spe-
cies toward extinction.
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills are
common in the Kalahari Desert of South
Africa. They may not be for much longer.
A recent study involving forty hornbill
nest boxes suggests they are declining
rapidly. Like most hornbill species, the
female of the pair walls herself into a tree
cavity (or nest box) by applying mud that
hardens, “trapping her” until she breaks
out when the young bird is ready to
fledge (there are typically two eggs laid,
but usually only one young fledges). This
leaves the male of the pair to do 100 per-
cent of the foraging to feed both female
and young. This breeding system has
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 65
book & media reviews
worked for hundreds of generations. Not
anymore. Rising air temperatures in the
region now exceed the heat tolerance of
male birds. Male hornbills remain ther-
mally neutral at air temperatures as high
as 34.5ºC (94.1ºF). But as climate change
drives air temperatures above their ther-
mal tolerance zone, males are forced to
spend considerably less time foraging and
instead idle in shade during the heat of
the day in order to reduce heat stress. The
result is that they cannot adequately for-
age and provide for the female and young.
Between 2008 and 2020, the breeding
rate has dropped from 1.1 young produced
per nest to 0.4, so far fewer young are
produced annually. But hornbills live a
long time. Birders on a tour of the region
will likely see the species commonly for
some years to come, even as heat stress
continues to reduce reproductive success.
Once the older birds perish it will then
become clear that the species is declining
to extinction, at least for that area.
Are Red Knots extinct? No, not yet. But
as Welz explains, Eurasian populations
are seriously stressed by increasingly
early Arctic insect emergence, caused, of
course, by accelerating global warming
in their Arctic tundra breeding grounds.
Birds now arrive well after insect emer-
gence, meaning that there is much less
available insect food to feed a new gen-
66 b i r d i n g june 2024
eration of knots. Thus, the birds fledge
smaller in body size than was usual, in-
cluding their beak dimensions. The young
migrants dutifully fly to their African
coastal wintering grounds, but smaller
beak length reduces their ability to feed
as they cannot probe as deeply in the mud
for clams. Thus, the birds fare worse than
was historically the case in their non-
breeding range. Their population in the
region has dropped by 80 percent over
four decades. Red Knots face a double
whammy, one on their breeding grounds
and one on their wintering grounds, that
puts them on an extinction path unless
they can somehow adapt by changing mi-
gration timing or food gathering behavior.
The “field marks” of ongoing extinc-
tion are such characteristics as steadily
declining populations, changing dispersal
patterns, and increased vagrancy. Climate
breakdown does not hit as abruptly as an
asteroid, but it is hitting, and what Welz
is suggesting is that climate breakdown is
gaining in speed and impact by the day.
The Rattling Cisticola is one of many
bird species of the genus Cisticola, and it
happens to be uncommonly common in
parts of Namibia. In a chapter titled “Fer-
tile Air,” Welz masterfully explains the
complex ecology of savanna ecosystems
and how they have been changing with
increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
and global warming. In this case, a once
diverse and fertile savanna of mixed
shrubs, grasses, and scattered trees has
rapidly been reduced to a monotonous
low diversity ecosystem of grassveld,
made up of thorn-covered dry shrubs
that are now almost the exclusive real
estate of many, many Rattling Cisticolas.
There are no longer cheetahs, grazing
mammals, or the diverse bird commu-
nity that once typified the region. The
reason is that climate warming is driv-
ing changes in a complex process called
ecological succession. Be warned, reader,
you must be patient with this book. Some
of the topics that Welz explains so skill-
fully are nonetheless somewhat complex,
and this is one of them. Welz describes in
detail how global warming is altering the
pattern of plant photosynthesis, convert-
ing what was once a stable savanna into
an ecologically far less diverse system. Of
Rattling Cisticolas.
The final chapter, symbolized by the
head of Medusa (the threatening mytho-
logical beast with multiple nasty serpents
growing from its head), brings climate
breakdown into sharp and pragmatic
focus. Welz raises the issue of “nature’s
rights,” an issue brilliantly championed
long ago by Aldo Leopold in A Sand
County Almanac. Why is climate change
so difficult for the world’s multiple na-
tions to confront and fix? Would it be as
difficult if humanity could conceptualize
nature—the trees, the bugs, the birds—as
having existential “rights” as we afford
to ourselves in society? Alas, such a view
remains far too long a reach for most of
today’s citizenry, cultures, and, more
to the point, its various governments.
Instead, we are committed to a strong
philosophical dualism between us and
nature. We use nature for “resources,”
food and fiber and whatever else we
deem important. Indeed, we continue, for
what we argue are pragmatic reasons, to
plunder nature.
Holistic attitudes about nature have
been constantly overwhelmed by human-
ity’s historical cultural focus on political
boundaries, extraction of resources, and,
of course, the dependency on continual
capitalistic-modeled economic growth.
I discussed this issue in a previous book,
The Balance of Nature, Ecology’s Enduring
Myth (2009). Rather than use Medusa as
a symbol, I invoked Marley’s Ghost from
Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I am confi-
dent that Welz would agree that meta-
phorically “Marley’s ghost is staring us in
the face.” We have very little time left to
alter course regarding carbon manage-
ment, energy usage, and conservation of
ecosystems. Being pessimistic is, at least
at this point, more and more akin to being
realistic. Welz tries, as did I, to end on an
encouraging note, but he was obviously
struggling. I was too.
Reading Welz’s tightly and well-
written book should disabuse anyone of
feeling indifferent to what is happening
now in nature. But how many will read

it? How many weeks will it be on various
bestseller lists as it deserves to be? Will
it be on any bestseller lists? Some birders
choose to be myopic or downright oblivi-
ous about the threats that climate change
presents to nature as they eagerly focus
their bins only on their targets, the birds
de jour, while giving little or no attention
to the very features of the ecosystem
that contain and sustain birds . . . and
the planet. At an ABA convention back
in 2000, my wife and I were joined for
The Latest Book & Media News • Rebecca’s Bird Book Bulletin
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
As every ABA member soon comes to know,
dozens upon dozens of exciting new bird
books appear each year, and there are simply
too many for the Birding reviews column to
cover adequately. But the ABA is dedicated
to making sure its members are aware of
the latest bird book news, so book lovers are
invited to peruse this bulletin for the latest
in bird book and media news in every regular
issue of Birding magazine.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Kenn Kaufman’s The Birds That Audubon
Missed: Discovery and Desire in the
American Wilderness was published
in May by Simon and Schuster.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A fifth edition of Birds of Nepal: With
Reference to Kashmir and Sikkim by
Robert L. Fleming, Sr., Robert L. Fleming,
Jr., and Lain Singh Bangdel has been
published by Adarsh Enterprises.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Lynx Nature Books has published:
Rafael Armada’s Portfolio 1: Photographs
and Stories of Extraordinary Birds,
available in English and Spanish.
The East Atlantic Flyway of Coastal Birds:
50 Years of Exciting Moments in Nature
Conservation and Research, edited by
Peter Prokosch.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses:
Instructions and Plans for 15 Specific
Birds, Including Bluebirds, Wrens, Robins
and Owls by Melvin “Bird Man Mel”
Toellner and Matt Maguire is anticipated
to be released this summer by Fox
Chapel Publishing Company.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
breakfast by a well-traveled birding cou-
ple, and of course we began talking about
birds. The gentleman, proud of his global
life list, had an agenda that he forcefully
expressed when he saw from my badge
that I was a member of the ABA board. He
asked why the ABA was now embracing
bird conservation and what was I plan-
ning to do about it as a board member. He
was appalled. In his view, conservation
was the Audubon Society’s job. The ABA
stood for birding, period. Not “watching”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sophie A. H. Osborn’s Feather Trails:
A Journey of Discovery Among
Endangered Birds has been published
by Chelsea Green Publishing.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Feathered Marvels: The Natural History
and Extraordinary Lives of Birds by
Dominic F. Sherony with Randi Minetor
has been released by McFarland and
Company Publishers.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Chris Packham’s Birdwatching Guide:
From Beginner to Birder has been
published by DK.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The 65-page guide, “Bird-friendly
Building with Glass and Light” by Martin
Rössler, Wilfried Doppler, Roman Furrer,
Heiko Haupt, Hans Schmid, Anne
Schneider, Klemens Steiof, and Claudia
Wegworth has been published by the
Swiss Ornithological Institute and can
be accessed for free at https://www.
vogelwarte.ch/glass-brochure-2023.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A third edition of Philip Zalesky’s Birding
in Snohomish County and Camano
Island: 80 Birding Sites, Parks, and
Drives from Puget Sound to the Cascade
Mountains has been published by
Pilchuck Audubon Society. All proceeds
go to conservation efforts in the region.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A second edition of Roberts Bird Guide:
Greater Kruger National Park by Duncan
McKenzie, Hugh Chittenden, and Ian
Whyte has been published by Jacana
Publishers.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
june 2024
book & media reviews
birds, not ornithology, and certainly not
politically-charged conservation issues.
Just birding and listing. Go out, find bird,
tick, period. The man told me that he
couldn’t care less if a bird species went
extinct after he saw it. This conversation,
now over two decades old, is still vivid
in my memory and remains disturbing.
Why? Because there are likely more folks
with his viewpoint, and it is scary to
wonder how many. So, to borrow the Inca
Dove’s lament, is there “no hope?”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A second edition of Birds of Western
Australia: The Field Guide by Simon J. Nevill
has been released by Woodslane Press.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A second edition of The Birds of Ireland:
A Field Guide by Jim Wilson with
photographs by Mark Carmody has been
published by Gill Books.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
John Rhyder and David Wege’s Bird
Tracks: A Field Guide to British Species
has been released by The History Press.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Jack Baddams, a researcher for the BBC
television series Springwatch, has written
Birdtopia: A Miscellany of British Birds,
published by BBC Books.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Birdy Books for Kids!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Lucy’s Life List: A Tale for Young
Birders of All Ages by Sally Deems-
Mogyordy and illustrated by Christina
Baal was published by Belle Firm
(picture book). Christina Baal was the
ABA Bird of the Year artist in 2022.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Amelia and the Mysterious
Woodpecker by Marissa Mizeski
was released by Purple Birdhouse
Publishing (middle grade).
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Birding reviews significant books, films, and other
publications of interest to our extremely varied
readership. Authors and publicists interested in
having their book or other media reviewed should
contact Rebecca Minardi at rminardi@aba.org.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
a b a . o r g / m a g a z i n e 67
featured photo

That’s a warbler all right.

But what kind of warbler?

O
n a Sept. 2023 morning, James Lees of Hamilton,

Ontario, spotted this fascinating and beautiful

individual just outside his office, where he

often birds and notes migratory songbirds. This bird seems

to be a hybrid of some unusual sort, but determining hybrid

warbler parentage requires careful consideration.

Read James’s thoughtful analysis of this rarely reported

hybrid, beginning on p. 60.

68 b i r d i n g june 2024
 Community
Weekends

Imagine a world where the joy of birding

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