Birding

Missing in Action

January 28, 2026 by Catherine Carroll No Comments

I returned from a birding trip to Puerto Rico on January 16th—as I write this, 12 days ago now—from sunny and 85° F (about 30° C) weather to an alternate universe; days of single digit and subzero weather and daily snow. I downloaded my photos and made minor adjustments—cropping and brightening, but mostly deleting. Following any trip, I typically delete, right off the bat, around 2/3 of my photos finding that only about 1/3 are worth keeping. Normally, by now, I would have written my 10,000 Birds trip report on Puerto Rico.

I’ve been distracted. I returned home to an alternate universe that transcended the weather. That is, a world in chaos, disorder and disarray, all of which has been initiated by the hegemony of the United States. True, all of this began in January of 2025 (many would argue—correctly—that it began decades ago), but in January of 2026, the wool has been lifted from our eyes. We can, in large part, thank the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, for standing up in Davos and, finally, speaking a cogent and clear truth. Even if they were not watching Davos speeches, Americans here at home also had to wake up, thanks sadly to the execution-style murders of two U.S. citizens; one, a young woman, for exercising her first amendment rights, and the 2nd, a young man, for helping a pepper-sprayed woman who had fallen at the edge of the street. We have watched, with grim hope, the courageous protests of the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the state of Minnesota generally stand up to an illegal federal police force thrust upon them for contrived reasons.

10,000 Birds is an international birding site. It’s a site I come to for learning about birding in the world at large and to learn from birders who share their adventures. In this way, I see birds that I have no hope of ever seeing in real life. But birding has never shielded me from the politics of my country and the world at large. On the one hand, I should, perhaps, use birding as the wonderful diversion that it can be; on the other hand, I’m not that kind of person. Writing about Puerto Rico will not divert my attention from the many travesties being done by our federal government and from our complete humiliation at the international Davos meeting. It’s not that I am a huge Davos fan—I think of it as a largely silly meeting of the wealthy and the political—but this year it became significantly more.

I want contributors and readers of 10,000 Birds to understand that none of this is supported by most Americans. I want to remind our non-American readers and friends that only 49% of the voting U.S. population voted for Trump—despite how he inaccurately represents himself. This means 51% of that same population did not. I can only speak for myself, but I have been deeply distressed by Minneapolis, Davos, Greenland, the astonishingly corrupt “Board of Peace” and the myriad shenanigans of the hooligan who controls and is tearing apart our system of government and our country. I am willing to go out on a limb and suggest that most American birders are also deeply distressed; especially but not exclusively, perhaps, by those of us who enjoy birding internationally. In a world of climate change (from which the U.S. has abdicated from its responsibilities) and an ever decreasing number of birds worldwide, I want birders to know we are all on the same side—that is, on the side of our care for humanity and for the world’s living things. I know it’s popular to make fun of the United States (I see the especially European obsession with this on some social media platforms). Many of us know the truth in it; that is, if it’s not completely ridiculous. We understand what the word hegemony means.

Venezuelan Troupial, a spectacular bird now more easily seen in Puerto Rico than in Venezuela. In all of my words above, none mention Venezuela. It’s already disappeared from the mediascape.

We saw all 19 endemic birds in Puerto Rico and this does not count the near endemics or the possible future splits that may occur. I will note that the behemoth of the United States has only about 15-17 fully endemic species, and this also includes the Hawaiian Islands. Imagine the tiny island of Puerto Rico, 100 miles (~ 160 kms) east to west and 40 miles (~65 kms) north to south with 19. Many of Puerto Rico’s endemics are in trouble, thanks to the usual culprits including the 2017 hurricanes, Maria and Irma, Dorian in 2019 and Fiona in 2022. Our group had two fantastic guides and our local guide, Alcides, was one of the best guides I have ever had the pleasure to bird with. True enough, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. But to me it felt like a world apart and I was grateful for it. I ask readers for their tolerance for my chancing to write this post. I’ll write about Puerto Rico and share photos in a separate post.

Cover photo: Pearly-eyed Thrasher, a common permanent resident of Puerto Rico in nearly all habitats, and which turned out to be the bully in the forest. The Pearly-eyed would arrive and the other birds would clear out. An appropriate cover for this post.

Written by Catherine Carroll
Cathy Carroll is a native Michigander, the Great Lakes state in the U.S., but became a birder in the Baltimore, Maryland, and Maryland’s Eastern Shore areas (the mid-Atlantic region) in the late 90’s. She was enticed by a birding friend to travel back to Michigan to see the Kirtland’s Warbler for her friend’s life list. She found the whole experience completely riveting and was hooked. Since that first experience, Cathy has seen Kirtland’s Warbler many times, each encounter as delightful as the first. In 2006, Cathy took the opportunity to take her first birding trip abroad – to Cuba – and she has traveled widely since then. On her recent trips to Finland and Norway and Puerto Rico, she learned that she was the least well-traveled, by far, birder on either trip. This is a humbling awareness. Her style of birding now is to select a few special birds each year and try to see them. This fuels her ongoing interest in birds and the unrelenting issues that threaten them.