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The southeastern Yucatan Peninsula hosts high numbers of transient Nearctic-Neotropic migrants during autumn migration, but the importance of this region during migratory stopover has not been addressed. We studied autumn stopover body mass gains among passerine migrants in tropical lowland forest 20 km inland from the Gulf of Honduras. Most individuals captured had some subcutaneous fat. Ten of 15 taxa with sufficient sample sizes had significant positive diel (24 hr) gains in a body condition index. Estimates of net mass gains in these 10 taxa suggested they all were depositing fat; average individuals in four of these taxa were depositing sufficient fuel to undertake an entire night of migration after only l day of fattening: Empidonax spp., Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), and Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). Two (Wood Thrush [Hylocichla mustelina] and Common Yellowthroat [Geothlypis trichas]) of the four species apparently not gaining mass at the study site migrate late in the season and occurred only after Hurricane Iris severely altered the habitat. Four other species (Gray Catbird, Magnolia Warbler [Dendroica magnolia], American Redstart [Setophaga ruticilla], and Indigo Bunting [Passerina cyanea]) had significant gains in mass after the hurricane. These data demonstrate the importance of the region as an autumn stopover site for some species and suggest that stopover areas farther north are also important to migrants passing through the southeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula., The geography of North America causes Nearctic-Neotropic migrants that breed across thousands of square kilometers of boreal and temperate forest to funnel through a small fraction of the land area [...]

The Black-faced Hawk (Leueopternis melanops) and White-browed Hawk (L. kuhli) are forest-based, Amazonian raptors whose distributions have been considered to be mutually exclusive north and south of the Amazon River, respectively. The occurrence of L. melanops south of the river was first indicated by a specimen collected by A. M. Olalla on the lower Tapajos River >70 years ago. The provenience of this specimen has been contested by diverse authors but both species were recently captured at localities along the lower Tapajos, corroborating the coexistence of L. melanops and L. kuhli in this region. We present four new specimen localities for L. melanops in southern Amazonia, greatly amplifying its known distribution. We also describe the immature plumage of L. kuhli based on three specimens that had been identified as L. melanops., The genus Leucopternis comprises 10 forest hawk species distributed from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay. Six occur in Brazil: White Hawk (L. albicollis), Slate-colored Hawk (L. schistaceus), White-browed [...]

We conducted mist netting each October from 1994 to 2004 on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands, and recorded bird sightings to develop a more complete inventory of the island's resident and migrant species. During our study, we recorded four new species for the British Virgin Islands: Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia; 1996), Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera; 1997), Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus; 2000), and Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus; 2004). Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata) was the most frequently captured Neotropical migrant landbird, despite only being first detected in the region in 1989. Captures and detections of other Neotropical migrant landbirds suggest that many species may be more common in the region than previously believed, or, as speculated by other researchers, that migrant routes may be shifting eastward due to habitat degradation on western Caribbean islands. We also used recapture data to establish longevity records of resident species, including Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica; ≥ 7 years), Bananaquit (Coereba flaveala; 7 years), Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor; ≥ 9 years), and Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita; 5 years). Longevities of other resident species were similar to, or slightly less than, those reported elsewhere. Received 22 February 2005, accepted 30 November 2005., Ornithological research conducted in the West Indies has covered an array of topics, including avian species occurrence and distribution, ecology of individual species, effects of hurricanes on island bird populations, [...]