[dropcap]I[/dropcap] have a book titled “100 Birds To See Before You Die,” and the number one bird listed is the ivory-billed woodpecker. This is a bit cruel, I think, since that bird has been extinct for at least 20 years. But the other 99 species are at least possible and, of them, I have seen 35. So I have many birds to see before I kick the bucket.
Of the 35 I have seen, probably the top ten for me would be the Andean cock-of-the-rock, resplendent quetzal, bee hummingbird, blue and yellow macaw, Arctic tern, magnificent frigatebird, greater flamingo, harlequin duck, carmine bee-eater and the I’iwi. To see these, I traveled to Peru, Cuba, Brazil, Iceland, Africa and Hawaii.
But you don’t have to be a world traveler to cross several of these birds off your list. For example, bohemian waxwing, western grebe, vermilion flycatcher, magnificent frigatebird, roseate spoonbill and scissor-tailed flycatcher can all be found in Texas, and all are listed among the must-see 100 birds.
By far the smallest bird listed is the bee hummingbird of Cuba, about the size of a large bee. The largest is the ostrich of Africa, a species weighing about 33 pounds. It is too heavy to fly, but can run at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.
While the 100 birds in this book are indeed desirable species, I think any bird is a good one to see. As I always say – watching birds is really great; they flit, they fly, they fascinate.
