Nemesis Birds

Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons); Bluff Springs Conservation Area, Missouri; May 17, 2011. It is just right of the trunk on the branch. Bird number 987 (about) for the world; number 411 for North America)

As many of you know, I chase birds all over the place. I keep a country list for places I visit, I keep a North America list (for birds seen in the United States and Canada), I keep trip lists, and to some degree I have kept year lists. In all these, there are birds that become "nemesis birds."

A nemesis bird is a bird I have looked for and failed to see, generally multiple times. It will generally be a common bird in an area. So a bird like a Harpy Eagle or Whooping Crane couldn't be a nemesis bird, since they are overall somewhat rare. In other words, it is not reasonable to expect to see a bird like those two when you go out bird watching. A nemesis bird is a bird that within reason, I should see. Without much of a problem. A good way to know a nemesis bird is one that when I tell other bird listers I don't have a bird, they say "Really? But it's so common and easy to see?!?!"

For me, I have past and current nemesis birds. The bird you see above is an example of a past nemesis bird. The Yellow-throated Vireo has fairly expansive range in North America. It is found west to the Mississippi River; north to southern Ontario, Cananda; east to the eastern seaboard; and south to the Gulf of Mexico. In other words, it can be reasonable to expect to see this bird in the appropriate habitat in it's range during the breeding season.

However, in the few seasons I spent working in the birds range, I never saw it, and rarely was able to pinpoint its song that I could spend time to look for it. I did chance upon seeing one in Costa Rica in Santa Elena, so I had it on my world checklist. But for my North American checklist it remained elusive. I saw one in the hand when we captured one on a migration station in Maine in 2009, but I do not count birds in the hand (my list, my rules). In 2009, I was working in Missouri, and I actually spent significant time paying attention to the bird songs in my work plot, as well as outside it, listening for the song that I could reliable identify as the Yellow-throated Vireo, so could chase it down. But no luck.

So, as such, it became a nemesis bird. I had been in the habitat the bird was found multiple times, I had actively looked for the bird, but I had never seen the bird. So I was constantly frustrated in my attempts. Until 2011, in Missouri.

And like all nemesis birds, when I see it, I wasn't even trying to find it! I was watching another bird species, observing its behavior to determine its breeding status. Lo and behold, in the tree nearby, was a calling bird, that turned out to be a Yellow-throated Vireo. And not only that, it was a pair of them foraging for food. And on top of that, later in the day, I found another pair elsewhere! So, not only did it cease to be a nemesis bird, I was seeing it frequently enough to make me feel like the bird had been mocking me! So, knock one more bird off the list.

Some of my past nemesis birds follow. You may notice a trend with these nemesis birds - they will all be recent. That is part of how they were nemesis birds - it took me a while to see them!

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria). It's a type of duck. And with all the flocks and rafts of ducks I watched, I never found one, though I found it's close relative (and nearly identical twin) Redhead (Aythya americana) fairly often instead. I saw my first one for the world (#1,350) and North America (#436) on February 5, 2011 in Missouri.

Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens). I consider it a nemesis bird because I saw vast quantity of them all at once - but in the hand. This was at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory fall migration banding station. So, with a bird that common, I figured it was easy to see. WRONG. It took another 6 years (and many jobs later) for me to get my first one, again on a banding station. But this time, flying free as can be. My life bird #1,131 (world) and #425 (North America) was on Metinic Island, Maine, on September 25, 2009.

Common Loon (Gavia immer). [Great Diver in Europe]. One of those birds that other bird watchers, until I saw it, were like What? Really? Just one of those birds that I was never in the right place at the right time. I saw my first individuals near Manchester, Tennessee, on December 11, 2007. It was bird number 393 for North America, and bird number 784 of the world.

Internationally, I didn't really have any, though there were a few birds in both Costa Rica and Peru that took me a little while to find. I spent about 9 months total in Costa Rica, and nearly 4 continuous months in Peru. So with Costa Rica, nemesis birds were birds I actually made a concerted effort to find when I knew I could; in Peru, it became "mocking" birds that I heard frequently or knew were common, but didn't find after a while.

In Costa Rica, the nemesis birds included Crested Bobwhite (Colinus cristatus) [#914 world; June 12, 2008; Santa Rosa National Park], Tropical Gnatcatcher (Polioptila plumbea) [#950 world; August 26, 2008; La Fortuna]; and Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans) [#1012; December 9, 2008; Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge]. This last one was a particular nemesis for a little while. I would hear it frequently in Santa Rosa National Park (May to September, 2008), but never saw it. I heard it a few times at Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge before I finally found it. And then, of course, I really found it, up close and personal. And frequently had no problem finding it to show to guests, too.
Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans). The actual life bird (one of a pair) seen at Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge on the Osa Peninsula.

In Peru, the only true nemesis bird I saw was the Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus). Somewhat ironically, this is a migrant from North America (breeds in the boreal forests of Canada and northern New England). It became a nemesis because we caught it with some frequency in our nets. Eventually, when I was walking in the forest, I finally saw one flying around on it its own. Bird #1342 for the world; November 28, 2011.

So, what are my current nemesis birds? In no particular order, a few come to mind.

The Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) has become one now. I have frequently been in the birds range and habitat now (hardwoods east of the Rocky Mountains). As often as I have seen its close relative the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), never once have I found one of these that was the "other" cuckoo. As far as I know, I have not heard its call. So, for now, I have to keep searching.

To some degree, the Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) has become a North American nemesis, but only as a result of last year in Wyoming. I was not only in the birds breeding and migration route when I was working, we were very much expecting it to occur on our point counts! I have seen this bird in Mexico, so for the world list I am okay. But why I never saw it last year, is hard to fully know (the strange seasonal weather may have had something to do with it).

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is definitely on the list. For an owl, it can be easy or hard to see. It really is a bird of the right place, right time. But the funny thing is, I have seen it in THREE other countries already! First in Costa Rica, second in Australia, and most recently in Peru. Eventually I shall find one I can stake out and find here.

Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philidelphicus) falls under the Yellow-throated Vireo type category. I've been in the habitat. Heard the song most likely. Looked for it in flocks. Looked for it in migration. But no luck so far (they all turn out to be Tennessee Warblers [Oreothlypis peregrina], which is a similar looking species).

Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza belli). With all the time I have spent in sage brush, and the right locations (Colorado in 1997, California in 2002-03 and 2005-06; Wyoming in 2010), how have I NOT seen this bird? It is beyond me. A true nemesis. It will get an extra special dance when I finally see it!

Internationally, the only one that might be considered one is the Brown Nunlet (Nonnula brunnea). However, these birds are of a group (the family Bucconidae) that are often heard but not seen, if they are heard at all. But we captured many of these in Peru, so I am slightly surprised I never saw any in my wanderings in the forest in four months.

We all have things that make us keep going back. These are mine. I'll eventually get 'em!