| | Chapala Birders Newsletter Dec, 2025 |
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| | eBird Community News & Sightings Last Month |
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Sightings Last Month submitted by Duncan Poole There were 194 species reported for the lake area in November. The complete list is shown at the end of this newsletter. Interesting sighting: Lesser Scaup, Female, sighted by Thomas Bravo, Flooded field - Estación de Bombeo
Mark your Calendar for the Christmas Bird Counts!
The big birding event of the year is the Christmas Bird Count. This year the Ajijic count will be on Tuesday December 16, with a potluck celebration at 6pm. The Dike Count will be on Thursday, December 18. Details of both trips are further below.
4th Colima Birding Festival December 3-7 The State of Colima is holding a Birding Festival to show off over 470 bird species, with tours and other events. For full details visit their website and Facebook page.
Birding Ethics Are you familiar with the ethics of birding? If not, now is a great time to learn! Be sure to read our monthly Birding Ethics Tips in this newsletter. |
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| Feature Bird: Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) [TUVU] by Jules Evens. |
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| | Lakeside snowbirds see them daily, rising from their communal roost in La Floresta or Chapala, large black birds laboring aloft well after sun rise when the rising air currents provide lift for their long, outstretched wings. These are the common and familiar Turkey Vultures we see soaring overhead most days, often in loose flocks, circling and rising in their daily search for carrion. In flight the long wings seem fingered at the tips, primaries evenly spread, wings held slightly above the horizontal ("dihedral"). School children to the north call them "tippy gliders," an apt description of |
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| typical flight, seemingly unsteady as they soar as on fixed wings, rarely flapping, primaries responding to at subtle air currents. Designed for soaring over the landscape, the body is relatively small in relation to their long, wide wings. "Wing loading" (body weight /wing area) is exceptional in the Turkey Vulture, among the most efficient in soaring birds (also frigatebirds). This adaptation allows the birds to cover vast distances in their perennial search for carrion. The silver wing linings, in contrast with the otherwise black plumage, flash when a bird circles, a visual cue to other vultures, signaling that the bird has found (through its highly developed olfactory sense) potential prey, likely a dead animal. Others gather in tightening spirals to share the feast. Almost exclusively a scavenger (Cathartes means "purifer"), vultures are "nature's clean-up crew", recycling nutrients within food webs, removing carrion from roads, and reducing the transmission of infectious diseases (e.g. anthrax). |
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| Turkey Vultures migrate long distances. Distributed from southern Canada to southern most South America, birds at distributional extremes (30° N or S of the equator) migrate toward the equator in their respective winters, soaring along topographic ridgelines in impressive numbers. Lake Chapala Birders have tallied more than 900 birds streaming over Mezcala mountain in a single day in early October. Vultures are a silent presence. Lacking vocal muscle (syrinx) their vocalizations are limited to a guttural hisses, rarely emitted except at nest sites when threatened, or while mating. As obvious as they are in the sky, they are extremely furtive when nesting, often on the ground or a cliff face, producing two fluffy white chicks. The chick's un-feathered head is black, turning red only with age. The naked head is another adaptation allowing the head to dry bacteria in the sun after feasting on a carcass. The vulture's oil or preen gland (uropygial), located at the tail base, helps water repellency of the flight feathers. We often see birds roosted with outstretched wings, as if praying to the sun and air, drying their feathers further before soaring aloft. Photo credits: Jules Evens |
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| | | Lake Chapala Hawk Watch Results 2025: by Duncan Poole |
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| Another great Hawk watch had a slow start this year but through Sept/Oct/Nov we had some excellent sightings. Here is the list of species we have seen each month.
September Species Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Common Black Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Great Horned Owl American Kestrel |
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| October Species Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey White-tailed Kite Hook-billed Kite Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Northern Harrier Mississippi Kite Common Black Hawk Gray Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Short-tailed Hawk Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon |
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| November Species Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Hook-billed Kite Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Gray Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Short-tailed Hawk Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon |
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| | Hawk Watch Summary of Species & Number Seen by Nicola Cendron |
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| Black Vulture (not included - not migratory) Turkey Vulture 2640 Osprey 9 White-tailed Kite 1 Hook-billed Kite 110 Sharp-shinned Hawk 53 Cooper's Hawk 116 Northern Harrier 2 Mississippi Kite 1 Common Black Hawk 16 Gray Hawk 38 Broad-winged Hawk 31 |
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| Zone-tailed Hawk 9 Short-tailed Hawk 6 Swainson's Hawk 297 Red-tailed Hawk 126 American Kestrel 46 Merlin 5 Peregrine Falcon 14 Raptor Species 991 Acipiter Species 52 Diurnal Raptor Species 66 Falcon Species 1 Buteo Species 26 |
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| | Tip #4 for Birding Ethics - Try not to create human disturbances |
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| When you are out sharing space with wildlife, stay on the trail. This will help to avoid damaging vegetation, accidently destroying low-lying nests, or causing agitation to the parents by getting too close. We don't want to draw the attention of nest predators to the very nests we are excited about! Alarm calls and rapid movements from adult birds is a cue to move away from a nest. For more ethics of birding, visit the e-bird site here. Birding Ethics. |
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| | Upcoming Bird Walks & Trips |
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| Our bird-walks are open to all those interested in birds, both beginners & experienced birders. We always have knowledgeable birders on hand to identify the species. Note that we will try to limit most car trips to 3-4 vehicles and 12-16 people. Larger convoys are hard to manage. If you are being given a ride, you are expected make a contribution to your driver for gas and tolls ($200 pesos for shorter trips, $400 pesos for a day longer trips). |
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| 1st SUNDAY OF THE MONTH: December 7th there will be a birding outing along the Allen Lloyd Trail. Meet up with team leaders Kate and Carl Anderson at 8am. Expect to see Blue Mockingbird, Happy Wren, and maybe a Russet-crowned Motmot. Please confirm your attendance by sending an email to hdd@hdd.net How to get to the trail head: Drive up the Libramiento a half mile (1 km) from the traffic light at Walmart, then turn left (carefully) as you would for the hospital (Ribera Medical Center). Double back and drive up the left side of the hospital. Keep going uphill another half mile, and park on the only street to your left. Here is a pindrop.
On Wednesday December 10th, meet team leader Jules Evens at the Laguna Mall behind the old "Black Coffee" at 8:00am (see pindrop ). We will drive a short distance up the Libramiento to the "International School Road" to walk from the bottom area up to the Caracol Trailhead. You must reserve at least 2 days in advance. Email Jules Evens at avocetra@gmail.com and indicate if you wish to be a passenger or if you have a large car and will drive. Trip is limited to 2 large cars.
On Tuesday December 16th and Thursday December 18th are the Christmas Bird count days! See all the details below to sign up. |
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| Join us for the Annual Christmas Bird Count ! |
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| Sign Up Now for the Christmas Bird Count & Potluck Supper The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the Ajijic Area will be held on Tuesday December 16. This is a special morning to count birds for science. Everyone with an interest in birds is welcome to take part. Participants must register with John by email to chapalabirders@yahoo.com for each trip. Please provide: Your name Your cell phone number for your team leader Your area preference (if you have one) Whether you can provide a car or will need a ride Whether you (and a partner) plan to attend the potluck supper at 6pm in the evening.
We divide participants into 5 or 6 teams, with each team having 4 to 6 members. Each team will go to a particular part of our designated 15-mile diameter circle which runs from San Juan Cosalá to San Nicolas, and north to Lake Cajititlan. Your team leader will contact you close to the time of the count to confirm your meeting point. We generally go out from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Passengers, please expect to give a donation of $200-$400 pesos to your driver to cover expenses (depends on the distance they drive). The Potluck Supper celebration will be held at 6.00 pm on the same day (Tuesday December 16) at John Keeling's house in Ajijic. Bring your spouse or partner. This is an opportunity to meet the other participants and compare sightings. John will provide wine and beer. Donations gratefully accepted at the Potluck: There is no fee for the Bird Count, but if you appreciate our monthly outings, we ask for a donation at this time of year to go towards the out-of-pocket expenses covered by Chapala Birders. These are for website hosting and newsletter mailing, which together cost up to $8,000 pesos per year. The "Dike CBC" at the east end of the lake will be held on Thursday December 18. This is an all-day affair as it is 80km (50 mi.) from Ajijic. Please sign up by the same email for this count. We will have one large team for this circle which extends from Ocotlán to La Palma and east to Briseñas. Each passenger is expected to give a donation of $400 pesos to their driver to cover their travel expenses. |
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| | Bird Trip Summaries for November submitted by each Trip Leader |
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| On Sunday, November 2nd, 5 people set off with Kate and Carl Anderson on the Sendero Allen Lloyd. 35 species were counted. It was nice to see the Rufous hummingbird. The Motmot and Squirrel cuckoo were missed today. The Western Kingbirds are back in abundance. The flowers are amazing. It is always a fun walk up Allen Lloyd Canyon. Visit the complete bird list https://ebird.org/checklist/S282562767
On Friday, November 7th 8 people joined John Keeling for the last hawk watch on Mezcala mountain. Since there were only small numbers of hawks (Sharp-shinned, Coopers, Swainson's, Red-tailed, Gray and American Kestrel) we all hiked up to the peak looking for warblers on their migration to points south. We saw colorful Painted Redstart and Graces, as well as Nashville, Wilson's, Black-throated Gray and Rufous-capped. A large number of resident Gray-silky Flycatchers were observed at the top. https://ebird.org/checklist/S283449491
On Thursday, November 13th, 20 birders joined team leader Robert Taylor at the San Antonio Malecón, one of our favorite local spots. With the lake level being so high and with swaths of lireo (water hyacinths) dominating the water's edge it was somewhat uncertain as to how our morning would develop. We were happily surprised to count 50 species, several of these being migrants returning from their northern breeding grounds. We observed the Greater Pewee, Violet green swallow, Orchard Oriole and Orange-crowned warbler as well as over 250 barn wallows. Carl Anderson kept a complete list of the birds observed. https://ebird.org/checklist/S284729703
On Sunday, November 16th, 13 keen birders braved the blockades due to a marathon to join us for a lovely walk at the Sendero Allen Lloyd. Again, we didn't see the Motmot nor the squirrel cuckoo but we saw lots of nice birds. It is always a pleasure to have new birders. We had several. Best of all was having John Keeling join us. 36 species were seen. There is still a hawk migration going on as we saw 17 Red Tailed hawks in a kettle over the mountains. https://ebird.org/checklist/S284786207 |
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| | Monthly Sightings List submitted by Duncan Poole |
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| 194 species observed around Lake Chapala in November! (in Taxonomic order):
1 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 3 Blue-winged Teal 4 Northern Shoveler 5 American Wigeon 6 Mexican Duck 7 Northern Pintail 8 Green-winged Teal 9 Lesser Scaup 10 Ruddy Duck 11 Rock Pigeon 12 Eurasian Collared-Dove 13 Inca Dove 14 Common Ground Dove 15 White-tipped Dove 16 White-winged Dove 17 Mourning Dove 18 Groove-billed Ani 19 Greater Roadrunner 20 Mexican Squirrel-Cuckoo 21 Lesser Nighthawk 22 Buff-collared Nightjar 23 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 24 Rufous Hummingbird 25 Broad-tailed Hummingbird 26 Broad-billed Hummingbird 27 Violet-crowned Hummingbird 28 Berylline Hummingbird 29 Aztec Rail 30 Sora 31 Common Gallinule 32 American Coot 33 Purple Gallinule 34 Black-necked Stilt 35 American Avocet 36 Killdeer 37 Northern Jacana 38 Marbled Godwit 39 Long-billed Dowitcher 40 Wilson's Snipe 41 Spotted Sandpiper 42 Solitary Sandpiper 43 Lesser Yellowlegs 44 Greater Yellowlegs 45 Least Sandpiper 46 Laughing Gull 47 Ring-billed Gull 48 American Herring Gull 49 Caspian Tern 50 Forster's Tern 51 Least Grebe 52 Pied-billed Grebe 53 Wood Stork 54 Neotropic Cormorant 55 White Ibis 56 White-faced Ibis 57 American Bittern 58 Least Bittern 59 Black-crowned Night Heron 60 Little Blue Heron 61 Tricolored Heron 62 Snowy Egret 63 Green Heron 64 Western Cattle-Egret 65 Great Egret 66 Great Blue Heron 67 American White Pelican 68 Brown Pelican 69 Black Vulture 70 Turkey Vulture 71 Osprey 72 White-tailed Kite 73 Hook-billed Kite 74 Sharp-shinned Hawk 75 Cooper's Hawk 76 Northern Harrier 77 Gray Hawk 78 Zone-tailed Hawk 79 Swainson's Hawk 80 Red-tailed Hawk 81 Great Horned Owl 82 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl 83 Belted Kingfisher 84 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 85 Acorn Woodpecker 86 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 87 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 88 Crested Caracara 89 American Kestrel 90 Merlin 91 Peregrine Falcon 92 Monk Parakeet 93 Orange-fronted Parakeet 94 Rose-throated Becard 95 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet |
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| 96 Greenish Elaenia 97 Greater Pewee 98 Least Flycatcher 99 Hammond's Flycatcher 100 Dusky Flycatcher 101 Western Flycatcher 102 Buff-breasted Flycatcher 103 Eastern Phoebe 104 Say's Phoebe 105 Vermilion Flycatcher 106 Dusky-capped Flycatcher 107 Ash-throated Flycatcher 108 Nutting's Flycatcher 109 Brown-crested Flycatcher 110 Great Kiskadee 111 Social Flycatcher 112 Tropical Kingbird 113 Cassin's Kingbird 114 Thick-billed Kingbird 115 Western Kingbird 116 Golden Vireo 117 Cassin's Vireo 118 Plumbeous Vireo 119 Western Warbling Vireo 120 Loggerhead Shrike 121 Common Raven 122 Tree Swallow 123 Violet-green Swallow 124 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 125 Barn Swallow 126 Bushtit 127 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 128 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 129 Canyon Wren 130 Northern House Wren 131 Marsh Wren 132 Bewick's Wren 133 Spotted Wren 134 Happy Wren 135 Sinaloa Wren 136 Blue Mockingbird 137 Curve-billed Thrasher 138 Northern Mockingbird 139 Brown-backed Solitaire 140 Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush 141 American Robin 142 Rufous-backed Robin 143 Gray Silky-flycatcher 144 House Sparrow 145 American Pipit 146 Elegant Euphonia 147 House Finch 148 Lesser Goldfinch 149 Stripe-headed Sparrow 150 Grasshopper Sparrow 151 Chipping Sparrow 152 Clay-colored Sparrow 153 Lark Sparrow 154 Savannah Sparrow 155 Lincoln's Sparrow 156 Canyon Towhee 157 Yellow-breasted Chat 158 Yellow-headed Blackbird 159 Black-vented Oriole 160 Orchard Oriole 161 Hooded Oriole 162 Streak-backed Oriole 163 Bullock's Oriole 164 Black-backed Oriole 165 Red-winged Blackbird 166 Bronzed Cowbird 167 Brown-headed Cowbird 168 Brewer's Blackbird 169 Great-tailed Grackle 170 Orange-crowned Warbler 171 Lucy's Warbler 172 Nashville Warbler 173 Virginia's Warbler 174 Gray-crowned Yellowthroat 175 MacGillivray's Warbler 176 Common Yellowthroat 177 American Redstart 178 Yellow-rumped Warbler 179 Grace's Warbler 180 Black-throated Gray Warbler 181 Rufous-capped Warbler 182 Wilson's Warbler 183 Painted Redstart 184 Hepatic Tanager 185 Summer Tanager 186 Western Tanager 187 Black-headed Grosbeak 188 Blue Grosbeak 189 Lazuli Bunting 190 Indigo Bunting 192 Varied Bunting 193 Painted Bunting 194 Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater |
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| What is the "Lake Chapala Area" for bird sightings? We define it as the whole area of the lake plus all land within 15 km (7 miles) from the edge of the lake. We combine sightings for the month from Chapala, Jocotopec, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, Poncitlán, Ocotlán, Jamay, & La Manzanilla de la Paz. |
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| | | John and Rosemary Keeling |
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| Lake Chapala Birders is an informal group of bird observers led by a team of Chapala Birders on behalf of John & Rosemary Keeling. Overall Coordinator: Cheshta Buckley Newsletter: Mugs McConnell Website: Robert McConnell Feature Bird: Jules Evens Monthly Sightings List: Duncan Poole Bird Trip Leaders & Reports: Cheshta Buckley, Thomas Bravo, Kate & Carl Anderson, Jules Evens, Duncan Poole, John Roynon, Robert Taylor, Robert McConnell. |
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| | Illustrated color folders showing our common birds are available for $200 pesos from your birding group leaders on bird walks. Also available at Diane Pearl's Gallery, 11am to 4pm, Santa Margarita #23, Riberas del Pilar.
You can sign up for this newsletter or send us your exciting bird sightings at birderschapala@gmail.com.
Check our website: ChapalaBirders.org . There you will find our newsletters, illustrations of our birds and advice on buying binoculars, books & birding apps. |
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