Birds to See in Belize in December
92 species listed for December · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
92 bird species on our list for Belize are recorded regularly in December. Of these, the most often recorded are Gray Catbird, Turkey Vulture, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart. New this month: Red-breasted Merganser, Western Kingbird, Eurasian Teal and Lark Sparrow and 3 more.
New in December7
Residents
(28)Recorded all year
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes auraLC
Recorded all year
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes aurifronsLC
Recorded all year
Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
Recorded all year
Cattle Egret
Ardea ibisLC
Recorded all year
Roadside Hawk
Rupornis magnirostrisLC
Recorded all year
White-winged Dove
Zenaida asiaticaLC
Recorded all year
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodiasLC
Recorded all year
Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year
Lineated Woodpecker
Dryocopus lineatusLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaoctoLC
Recorded all year
Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year
Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorusLC
Recorded all year
Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensisLC
Recorded all year
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceusLC
Recorded all year
Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
Glaucidium brasilianumLC
Recorded all year
Mottled Owl
Strix virgataLC
Recorded all year
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year
Great Curassow
Crax rubraVU
Recorded all year
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalisLC
Recorded all year
Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschataLC
Recorded all year
Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerinaLC
Recorded all year
House Sparrow
Passer domesticusLC
Recorded all year
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Dryobates scalarisLC
Recorded all year
Gull-billed Tern
Gelochelidon niloticaLC
Recorded all year
Stygian Owl
Asio stygiusLC
Recorded all year
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolorLC
Recorded all year
Great Horned Owl
Bubo virginianusLC
Regularly May–Mar
Red Crossbill
Loxia curvirostraLC
Regularly Apr–Feb
Winter visitors
(55)Present outside the breeding season
Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Magnolia Warbler
Setophaga magnoliaLC
Regularly Sep–May
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticillaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Northern Waterthrush
Parkesia noveboracensisLC
Regularly Aug–May
Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbulaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichasLC
Regularly Sep–May
Least Flycatcher
Empidonax minimusLC
Regularly Aug–May
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Empidonax flaviventrisLC
Regularly Aug–May
Black-throated Green Warbler
Setophaga virensLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Ovenbird
Seiurus aurocapillaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Great Crested Flycatcher
Myiarchus crinitusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Setophaga pensylvanicaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronataLC
Regularly Nov–Apr
Least Sandpiper
Calidris minutillaNT
Regularly Jul–May
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Tyrannus forficatusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarolaLC
Recorded all year
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleucaNT
Regularly Aug–Jun
Willet
Tringa semipalmataLC
Recorded all year
Tennessee Warbler
Leiothlypis peregrinaLC
Regularly Sep–May
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Sphyrapicus variusLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpresLC
Recorded all year
Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitariaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubrisLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Semipalmated Plover
Charadrius semipalmatusLC
Recorded all year
Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podicepsLC
Regularly Sep–Jun
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Sanderling
Calidris albaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Palm Warbler
Setophaga palmarumLC
Regularly Sep–May
Merlin
Falco columbariusLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterusLC
Regularly Sep–Mar
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipesVU
Regularly Jul–May
American Avocet
Recurvirostra americanaLC
Regularly Oct–May
Painted Bunting
Passerina cirisLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Northern Shoveler
Spatula clypeataLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
American Herring Gull
Larus smithsonianusLC
Regularly Oct–Mar
Glossy Ibis
Plegadis falcinellusLC
Recorded all year
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauriLC
Recorded all year
Cape May Warbler
Setophaga tigrinaLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Short-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus griseusVU
Recorded all year
Long-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus scolopaceusNT
Regularly Aug–Apr
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macrouraLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Philadelphia Vireo
Vireo philadelphicusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensisLC
Regularly Nov–Mar
Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteriLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopusLC
Recorded all year
Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris himantopusNT
Regularly Sep–May
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensisLC
Regularly Sep–Apr
Eurasian Teal
Anas creccaLC
Regularly Dec–Feb
Willow Flycatcher
Empidonax trailliiLC
Regularly Sep–Feb
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Setophaga caerulescensLC
Regularly Sep–May
Lincoln's Sparrow
Melospiza lincolniiLC
Regularly Oct–Apr
Blue-headed Vireo
Vireo solitariusLC
Regularly Dec–Mar
Red Knot
Calidris canutusNT
Regularly Oct–Mar
Passage migrants
(8)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migration
Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatusLC
Regularly Sep–May
Western Kingbird
Tyrannus verticalisLC
Regularly Dec
Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Regularly Mar–Jan
Dunlin
Calidris alpinaLC
Regularly Nov–Dec
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscusLC
Regularly Nov–Dec
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphiaLC
Regularly Dec
American Bittern
Botaurus lentiginosusLC
Regularly Dec–Mar
Lark Sparrow
Chondestes grammacusLC
Regularly Sep–Dec
Scarce visitors
(1)Recorded in some years but not every year
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made