Each week I’ll be featuring a short natural history note on a plant or animal found here in Belize; this week it's all about the collective nouns for vultures! voltnoun /voʊlt/1. the standard unit used to measure how strongly an electrical current is sent around an electrical system2. the collective noun for a committee of vultures … Continue reading A Volt, Venue, Committee, or Wake of Vultures
Each week I’ll be featuring a short natural history note on a plant or animal found here in Belize; this week it’s the White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora), one of the larger hummingbirds in Belize, and called Tz'unun by the Maya. My focus with today's notes is not so much to describe its natural history- that it … Continue reading Jacobin
Each week I’ll be featuring a short natural history note on a plant or animal found here in Belize; this week it’s one of the several species of Passionflower endemic to the lowland savannahs. Passifliora urbiana; Equestrian savannah, Sittee River Wildlife Reserve All species in the genus Passiflora, indeed many in the family Passifloracea, are … Continue reading Passion!
Each week I’ll be featuring a short natural history note on a plant or animal found here in Belize; this week it’s the double-espresso-drinking Red-throated Ant-Tanager (Habia fuscicauda)! (the espresso quip reflects how impossible it is to get photos while it flits from place to place!) male Red-throated Ant-Tanager; Árabu, Sittee River Wildlife Reserve Resident … Continue reading Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Although our work with small mammals focusses on Kinkajous, Porcupines, and species in the Mustelidae family (Grison/Weasel), we take on the responsibility for any other small mammal in need of care. This juvenile White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica) was found languishing in a ditch, infested with over 50 Amblyomma ticks, an ectoparasite commonly found on coatis … Continue reading White-nosed Coati Rehab & Release
World Parrot Day was originally founded 2004 by the World Parrot Trust. This is one of a flock of two pairs of wild endangered Yellow-headed Amazons that spent a few minutes feeding on the flowers of Symphonia globulifera, called Waika Chewstick tree here in Belize. The importance of this now photographed observation can be found … Continue reading World Parrot Day 2021
Each week I’ll be featuring a short natural history note on a plant or animal found here in Belize; this week it’s the awkwardly beautiful Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris), a member of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. The esteemed ornithologist Alexander Skutch wrote 36 pages describing the Groove-billed Ani in a 1959 edition of the Auk … Continue reading Groove-billed Ani
Celebrating World Turtle Day 2021 with photos of the Furrowed Wood Turtle (Rhinoclemmys areolata). This species was red-listed by the IUCN as Near-Threatened in 2007 but hasn't been assessed in the last 14 years, so I'm sure with urban development, roads, and increased loss of freshwater wetlands, it's much worse off now. On the move … Continue reading World Turtle Day 2021
In partnership with Belize Bird Rescue (BBR) with whom we have worked over the last 6 years, in addition to our own projects with parrots and various gamebird species, we also take on the responsibility for releasing other birds like this immature Common Black Hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus). BBR received this hawk in July of last … Continue reading Common Black Hawk Release
top row: world Tapir range; mural on the Armenia Government Primary School, Mile 46 Hummingbird Highway, Armenia, Cayo District; Baird's Tapir footprint, Equestrian Estate, Sittee River Wildlife Reserve, Stann Creek District bottom row: trailcam Baird's Tapir, Waterway Village, Sittee River Wildlife Reserve; Baird's Tapir, the Belize Zoo, Mile 29 Western Highway, La Democracia, belize District; … Continue reading World Tapir Day 2021
Wishwilly & Craboo 