Belize Bird Banding, December 2010

During the December 2010 9-day trip, travelers participated in bird banding operations at PfB’s La Milpa Field Station located in the 260,000-acre Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in Belize. In conjunction with banding operations, travelers also provided bird monitoring activities, conducted banding workshops for naturalist guides and educators, and provided community outreach programs.

While working in collaboration with conservation partner the Programme for Belize (PfB), travelers contributed to a legacy of research while deepening their knowledge of aviary species, bird banding techniques, migration patterns, and much more.

The group saw a total of 228 bird species and other wildlife, laughed a lot, and provided a great training opportunity in bird banding for the Belizean naturalists. Some highlights of the program, as described by members of the group, include:

• Seeing “our” New England breeding birds feeding alongside the resident birds – Hooded Warblers with Red-throated Ant-Tanagers and White-breasted Wood-Wrens
• watching the Morelet’s Crocodile in the pond at La Milpa
• seeing the 30+ Fork-tailed Flycatchers as we drove to the rice fields
• seeing the Spotted Wood-Quail with Peter
• seeing the Common Pauraques along the dirt road from the Bird’s Eye View Lodge
• extracting a Red-capped Manakin from the mist net
• banding the White-collared Seedeater – my first extraction
• driving down the road and seeing the Great Curassows (La Milpa)
• seeing the Chestnut-colored Woodpecker in the plaza of the La Milpa archeological site
• sitting at breakfast at La Milpa and seeing the following birds in the fruiting tree: Collared Aracari, Red-capped Manakin, Black-headed Saltator, Yellow-breasted Chat, Gray Catbird, Melodious Blackbird, and Green-backed Sparrow
• seeing all of the Army Ants – watching all of the birds feeding around the swarm
• walking along the Mahogany Trail – what a beautiful forest
• enjoying the meals at La Milpa – really great food
• seeing five Yellow-headed Parrots during our drive from La Milpa to Crooked Tree

See the species list

See the slideshow

Mass Audubon is pleased to offer a very special opportunity to travelers and birders again in December 2011. Join us as we return to Belize to witness Massachusetts birds on their southern wintering grounds and to participate in an on-site bird banding program. Download the trip itinerary!