Animal Species You Have Seen Both in the Wild and in Captivity

[Jarne]

The list increases
- Red fox
- Grey seal
- Harbour seal
- Harbour porpoise
- Alpine ibex
- Alpine chamois
- Red deer
- Brown rat
- House mouse (only domestic in zoos when looking at designated exhibits)
- Alpine Marmot
- Eastern Grey Squirrel (invasive ones in England)

- Red kite
- Peregrine falcon
- Golden eagle
- Barn owl
- Long-eared owl
- Great cormorant
- Little egret
- Cattle egret
- Black ibis
- European hoopoo
- European goldfinch
- Eurasian oystercatcher
- Common redshank
- Ruff
- Pied avocet
- Northern lapwing
- Eurasian curlew
- European spoonbill
- European white stork
- Common shelduck
- Common eider
- Smew
- Mandarin duck
- Barnacle goose
- Brent goose
- Wood duck
- Mute swan
- Black swan (in non-native range so might be an escaped one)
- Ring-necked pheasant
- Common raven
- Monk parakeet
- Ring-necked parakeet

- Greek tortoise
- Pond slider (probably all three subspecies and hybrids between them, invasive ones in Belgium)

- European perch
- Pumpkinseed (Invasive ones in Belgium)
- Common carp
- European eel
- Common chub
- Three-spined stickleback
- Ten-spined stickleback
- Common roach

- European shore crab
- Common prawn

- Moon jellyfish (A. aurita)
- Warty comb jelly

 

[DaLilFishie]

A few more as of recent

Pastel Green Wrasse
Blunthead Wrasse
Blue Devil Damselfish
Burnt Sausage Sea Cucumber
Blue Linckia Star
Indian Sea Star

 

[15399]

Since I haven't done any real wildlife-viewing trips yet, my list is short, but I've seen:
Mammals

• Red Fox (wild in MA, seen at two zoos)
• Gray Fox (wild in MA, captive at Hawk Creek)
• Harbor Seal (wild in MA and ME, captive at numerous)
• White-tailed Deer (wild in MA and NY, captive at Buttonwood Park)
• Virginia Opossum (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams)

Birds

• Red-tailed Hawk (wild in MA and NY, captive at multiple)
• Bald Eagle (wild within Roger Williams Park Zoo, captive at a plethora of zoos)
• Turkey Vulture (wild in NY, captive at numerous)
• North American Wood Duck (wild in NY and MA, captive at Queens Zoo)
• Mute Swan (wild in MA, captive at Franklin Park)
• Greater Black-Backed Gull (wild in MA, captive at Toledo Zoo)
• Mourning Dove (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams- behind the scenes)
• Wild Turkey (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams)
• American Crow (wild in MA and NY, captive at Hawk Creek)
• Gray Catbird (wild in MA and RI, captive at Queens Zoo)
• House Sparrow (wild in MA, RI, NY, captive at Queens Zoo)

Herps

• Eastern Garter Snake (wild in MA, captive at Boston Museum of Science)
• Eastern Painted Turtle (wild in MA, RI, NY, captive at Boston Museum of Science)
• Red-Eared Slider (wild in RI, captive at numerous)
• Common Musk Turtle (wild in RI, captive at Toledo Zoo)
• Common Snapping Turtle (wild in RI and MA, captive at multiple)

I'd be curious to hear about what species some of the more well-traveled Zoochatters have seen in both.

 

[Coral and seastars]

I am not that well travelled but I’d have a go at this. Most interesting spot at the top of each class. Also, the phoenix wild is sightings, not the zoo wild.
Mammals:
Pacific bottle nose dolphin - The best animal sighting i’ve ever seen so far. (San diego wild, Seaworld)
Collared peccary (Southern arizona, Phx zoo)
Mearn’s coyote (Phoenix wild, Phx zoo)
Desert cottontail (Anywhere with bushes, Captive at rescues unspecified)
Birds:
Southern bald eagle - It followed me while flying. (Phoenix wild, SDZ, Phx zoo)
Blue heron (Phoenix wild, Phx zoo)
Turkey vulture (Very large specimens at southern az, Normal at phoenix, Captive at phoenix zoo)
American great egret (Phoenix wild, Phx zoo)
American raven (Phoenix wild, Phx zoo)
American avocet (Phoenix wild, Phx zoo, SDZ)
American mallard (Unknown lake AZ, Phx zoo)
Herps:
Western banded gecko (Southern AZ, Phx zoo)
Southwestern black widow (Arizona, Phx zoo)
Arizona walking stick (Arizona, Phoenix zoo)

 

[Chlidonias]

Herps:
Western banded gecko (Southern AZ, Phx zoo)
Southwestern black widow (Arizona, Phx zoo)
Arizona walking stick (Arizona, Phoenix zoo)

Just as a nomenclatural note, "herps" is a contraction of "herptiles" which is a collective term for "reptiles and amphibians".

Invertebrates are not herptiles.

 

[Coral and seastars]

Just as a nomenclatural note, "herps" is a contraction of "herptiles" which is a collective term for "reptiles and amphibians".

Invertebrates are not herptiles.

Oh, sorry. I assumed herps was just some name with some random origin referring to anything below birds besides fish, so inverts, amphibs and the reptiles.

 

[cornu aspersum]

Probably forgot most of them but

Mammals:
Indian leopard( melanistic version)
Asian elephant
Indian rhinoceros
Swamp deer
Hog deer
Wild boar
Chital
Sambhar deer
Hog deer
Rhesus macaque
Grey langur( unsure of species)
Small Indian civet
Gaur
Golden jackal

Birds:
Black kite
Mynah
Barn owl
Peafowl

Herps:
Mugger crocodile
Water monitor

 

[cornu aspersum]

Probably forgot most of them but

Mammals:
Indian leopard( melanistic version)
Asian elephant
Indian rhinoceros
Swamp deer
Hog deer
Wild boar
Chital
Sambhar deer
Hog deer
Rhesus macaque
Grey langur( unsure of species)
Small Indian civet
Gaur
Golden jackal

Birds:
Black kite
Mynah
Barn owl
Peafowl

Herps:
Mugger crocodile
Water monitor

Forgot harbour seal in mammals

 

[lintworm]

I'd be curious to hear about what species some of the more well-traveled Zoochatters have seen in both.

Quite a number. I was updating my mammal and bird lifelists and I have seen 493 bird species both in the wild and captivity (out of 2230) and some 135 mammal species (out of 760). Highlights include great blue turaco, king penguin, sunda pangolin, fossa black-and-rufous sengi, greater bamboo lemur, and many more

 

[evilmonkey239]

* = seen outside native or typical range
Mammals

• North American river otter
• Striped skunk
• Harbor seal
• California sea lion
• Moose
• White-tailed deer
• Pronghorn
• Groundhog

Birds

• Trumpeter swan
• Common merganser
• Hooded merganser
• Canvasback
• Bufflehead
• Mallard
• Red-tailed hawk
• Cooper’s hawk
• Bald eagle
• Turkey vulture
• Peregrine falcon
• Great-horned owl
• Sandhill crane
  
• Snowy egret
• Common raven
• European starling*
  
• Brown pelican
• Roseate spoonbill*
• Wild turkey

Reptiles

• Painted turtle
• Red-eared slider*
  
• Common snapping turtle
• Blanding’s turtle
• Green sea turtle

Amphibians

• Green frog
• American bullfrog
• Gray tree frog
• Eastern American toad

 

[birdsandbats]

* = seen outside native or typical range
Mammals

• North American river otter
• Striped skunk
• Harbor seal
• California sea lion
• Moose
• White-tailed deer
• Pronghorn
• Groundhog

Birds

• Trumpeter swan
• Common merganser
• Hooded merganser
• Canvasback
• Bufflehead
• Mallard
• Red-tailed hawk
• Cooper’s hawk
• Bald eagle
• Turkey vulture
• Peregrine falcon
• Great-horned owl
• Sandhill crane
  
• Snowy egret
• Common raven
• European magpie*
  
• Brown pelican
• Roseate spoonbill*
• Wild turkey

Reptiles

• Painted turtle
• Red-eared slider*
  
• Common snapping turtle
• Blanding’s turtle
• Green sea turtle

Amphibians

• Green frog
• American bullfrog
• Gray tree frog
• Eastern American toad

I guess I need to ask, where did you see Eurasian Magpie?

 

[evilmonkey239]

I guess I need to ask, where did you see Eurasian Magpie?

I had a brain fart

 

[KiwiBirb]

*= Very likely seen in captivity, not 100% confirmed

Mammals

• White-Tailed Deer
• Striped Skunk
• Groundhog
• Coyote
• Red Fox
• Common Raccoon*
• Harbor Seal
• American Mink
• Moose
• American Black Bear
• Pronghorn
• Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
• Bighorn Sheep
• American Bison
• Mountain Goat
• Elk
• Grizzly Bear
• Uinta Ground Squirrel
• Grey Fox
• Muskrat
• Virginia Opossum*

Birds

• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Bald Eagle
• American Robin
• Common Raven
• Brown-Headed Cowbird
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• American Goldfinch
• Blue Jay
• European Starling (Introduced)
• Copper’s Hawk
• Red-Shouldered Hawk
• Great-Horned Owl
• Burrowing Owl
• Turkey Vulture
• Black Vulture
• Golden Eagle
• Monk Parakeet (Introduced)
• Black-Crowned Night Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Mallard
• Canada Goose
• Hooded Merganser
• Red-Breasted Merganser*
• Wood Duck
• Ruddy Duck
• Common Merganser*
• Ring-Necked Duck*
• Western Cattle Egret
• Trumpeter Swan
• Mute Swan
• Bufflehead
• Sandhill Crane
• Dark-Eyed Junco*
• House Sparrow*
• Northern Cardinal*
• Greater Roadrunner
• Anhinga
• Wild Turkey

Herptiles

• Red-Eared Slider
• Painted Turtle
• Common Snapping Turtle*

 

[Lycaon]

• Common Raccoon
  
• Mule Deer
• Harbor Seal
• California Sea Lion
• North American River Otter

 

[DaLilFishie]

A more complete list than my previous posts:

Mammals
Short-beaked Echidna
Platypus
Common Wombat
Koala
Quokka
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Western Grey Kangaroo
Swamp Wallaby
Red-necked Wallaby
Agile Wallaby
Red-legged Pademelon
Lumholtz' Tree-Kangaroo
European Rabbit
Spectacled Flying-fox
Domestic Pig
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
Domestic Cat

Birds
Southern Cassowary
Radjah Shelduck
Green Pygmy-Goose
Pacific Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-billed Duck
Rock Pigeon
White-headed Pigeon
Brown Cuckoo-Dove
Pacific Emerald-Dove
Common Bronzewing
Bar-shouldered Dove
Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Superb Fruit-Dove
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
Torresian Imperial-Pigeon
Topknot Pigeon
Eastern Koel
Tawny Frogmouth
Papuan Frogmouth
Buff-banded Rail
Australasian Swamphen
Brolga
Bush Stone-curlew
Pied Stilt
Smooth Stingray
Bridled Tern
Little Penguin
Black-necked Stork
Royal Spoonbill
Whistling Kite
Eastern Barn Owl
Laughing Kookaburra
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Australian Ringneck
Western Rosella
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet
Hornbill Friarbird
White-browed Scrubwren
Eastern Whipbird
Australasian Figbird
Welcome Swallow
Metallic Starling
Scaly-breasted Munia

Herps
Green Tree Frog
White-lipped Tree Frog
Southern Brown Tree Frog
Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog
Cane Toad
Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko
Common Bluetongue
Lace Monitor
Boyd's Forest Dragon
Australian Water Dragon
Carpet Python
Common Tree Snake
Common Keelback
Tiger Snake
Macquarie River Turtle
Eastern Saw-shelled Turtle
Green Sea Turtle
Saltwater Crocodile

Fishes
Grey Reef Shark
Whitetip Reef Shark
Blacktip Reef Shark
Smooth Stingray
Bluespotted Lagoon Ray
Ocellated Eagle Ray
Southern Eagle Ray
Indo-Pacific Tarpon
Australian Longfin Eel
Common Carp
Striped Eel Catfish
Hyrtl's Tandan
Brown Trout
Sabre Squirrelfish
Pearly Soldierfish
Western Striped Cardinalfish
Mouth Almighty
Mangrove Cardinalfish
Australian Snakehead Gudgeon
Empire Gudgeon
Pug-headed Mudskipper
Barred Mudskipper
Ocellate Glidergoby
Whitebarred Goby
Australian Herring
Bluespotted Goatfish
Bicolour Goatfish
Goldsaddle Goatfish
Blacksaddle Goatfish
Pacific Trumpetfish
Elongated Hardyhead
Eastern Rainbowfish
Pacific Blue-eye
Crocodile Longtom
Freshwater Longtom
Guppy
Green Swordtail
Southern Platyfish
Eastern Mosquitofish
Spotted Tilapia
Mozambique Tilapia
Squaretail Mullet
Yellow-headed Hulafish
Fusilier Damsel
Bengal Sergeant
Whitley's Sergeant
Scissortail Sergeant
Indo-Pacific Sergeant
Whitetail Dascyllus
Threespot Dascyllus
Blackaxil Chromis
Bluegreen Chromis
Mediterranean Chromis
Black-headed Puller
Blue Devil Damsel
Black Damsel
Spiny Chromis
Golden Damsel
Staghorn Damsel
Eastern Clown Anemonefish
Clark's Anemonefish
Regal Demoiselle
Yellowtail Demoiselle
Peacock Demoiselle
Lemon Damsel
Bicolour Blenny
Queensland Combtooth Blenny
Chestnut Blenny
Leopard Blenny
Giant Trevally
Bluefin Trevally
Golden Trevally
Snubnose Dart
Smallspotted Dart
Live Sharksucker
Sevenspot Archerfish
Banded Archerfish
Bluespotted Coral Trout
Common Coral Trout
Bluespotted Rockcod
Flowery Cod
Queensland Grouper
Goldspotted Grouper
Humpback Grouper
Zebrafish
Silver Sweep
Western Striped Grunter
Silver Grunter
Stripey
Moonlighter
Old Wife
Freckled Hawkfish
Arc-eye Hawkfish
Western Crested Morwong
Red-lipped Morwong
Rainbow Cale
Harlequin Tuskfish
Anchor Tuskfish
Slingjaw Wrasse
Tripletail Maori Wrasse
Humphead Maori Wrasse
Spotted Fairywrasse
Sixline Wrasse
Brownspotted Wrasse
Mediterranean Rainbow Wrasse
Clown Coris
Blackeye Thicklip
Indo-Pacific Bird Wrasse
Indo-Pacific Bluehead Wrasse
Moon Wrasse
Green Moon Wrasse
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
Black-backed Wrasse
Leopard Wrasse
Pastel Green Wrasse
Hoeven's Wrasse
Western King Wrasse
Big-scaled Bullseye
Rough Bullseye
Western Pomfred
Threadfin Silverbiddy
Longfin Batfish
Hump Batfish
Pinnate Batfish
Orbicular Batfish
Goldspotted Sweetlips
Painted Sweetlips
Dotted Sweetlips
Harlequin Sweetlips
Diamondfish
Doublelined Fusilier
Threestripe Fusilier
Scissortail Fusilier
Yellowtail Fusilier
Stripey Snapper
Moses' Perch
Two-spot Red Snapper
Humpback Snapper
Mangrove Jack
Blue Blanquillo
Coral Beauty
Bicolour Angelfish
Pearlscale Angelfish
Western Talma
Copperband Butterflyfish
Longfin Bannerfish
Teardrop Butterflyfish
Citron Butterflyfish
Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish
Saddle Butterflyfish
Blackback Butterflyfish
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Vagabond Butterflyfish
Lined Butterflyfish
Moorish Idol
Paletail Unicornfish
Orangespine Unicornfish
Bluespine Unicornfish
Convict Tang
Dusky Surgeonfish
Clown Tang
Lined Bristletooth
Twospot Bristletooth
Epaulette Surgeonfish
Dark Surgeonfish
Yellowmask Surgeonfish
Scopas Tang
Two-lined Monocle Bream
Spangled Emperor
Tarwhine
Australasian Snapper
Bluelined Rabbitfish
Coral Rabbitfish
Spotted Rabbitfish
Goldlined Rabbitfish
Foxface
Black Rabbitfish
Spotted Scat
Striped Scat
Globefish
Banded Toadfish
Weeping Toadfish
Blackspotted Puffer
Shaw's Cowfish
Whitebarred Boxfish
Titan Triggerfish
Picasso Triggerfish
Harlequin Filefish
Mimic Filefish
Mosaic Leatherjacket
Horseshoe Leatherjacket

Invertebrates
Waratah Anemone
Bubbletip Anemone
Mauve Stinger
Gigas Giant Clam
Small Giant Clam
Bigfin Reef Squid
Papuan Hermit Spider
Macrobrachium tolmerum
Sculptured Slipper Lobster
White-spotted Hermit Crab
Indo-Pacific Swamp Crab
Australian Blue Swimmer Crab
Orchard Swallowtail
Ambrax Swallowtail
Ulysses Swallowtail
Monarch
Cruiser
Australian Lurcher
North Pacific Sea Star
Yellow Mesh Sea Star
Blue Linckia Star
Indo-Pacific Sand Star
Indian Sea Star
Burnt Sausage Sea Cucumber
Pineapple Sea Cucumber

 

[BerdNerd]

Updated List:


Mammals:

White-Tailed Deer
Common Bottlenose Dolphin
American Black Bear
Coyote
Red Fox
California Sea Lion
Sea Otter
Striped Skunk
North American River Otter
Common Raccoon
Virginia Opossum
Eastern Cottontail
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Fox Squirrel


Birds:

Bald Eagle
Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Osprey
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
American Kestrel
Tundra Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose
Snow Goose
Mallard
American Black Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-Winged Teal
Blue-Winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Canvasback
Ring-Necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Maned Duck
Wild Turkey
Northern Bobwhite
Common Loon
Clapper Rail
Sandhill Crane
Great Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Snowy Egret
Western Cattle Egret
American White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Brown Pelican
American White Pelican
Double-Crested Cormorant
Northern Gannet
Red-Footed Booby
Brown Booby
Great Frigatebird
Razorbill
American Herring Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Silver Gull
American Oystercatcher
Willet
Sanderling
Black-Necked Stilt
Killdeer
Pacific Golden Plover
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
Rose-Ringed Parakeet
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Headed Woodpecker
Greater Roadrunner
Laughing Kookaburra
Mourning Dove
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird
Chimney Swift
Common Raven
American Crow
Blue Jay
European Starling
Boat-Tailed Grackle
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Gray Catbird
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Cedar Waxwing
American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
White-Rumped Shama
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Cardinal
Carolina Wren
Brown-Headed Nuthatch
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Black-And-White Warbler
Black-Capped Chickadee
Song Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
House Sparrow
Saffron Finch
House Finch
Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow


Reptiles:

American Alligator
Green Sea Turtle
Painted Turtle
Common Box Turtle
Gopher Tortoise
Eastern Racer
Australian Water Dragon
Green Anole
Brown Anole


Amphibians:

American Toad
Southern Toad
Fowler's Toad
American Bullfrog
American Green Tree Frog
Blue Ridge Dusky Salamander
Eastern Red-Backed Salamander


Fish:

Spotted Eagle Ray
Bluefin Trevally
Orangeband Unicornfish
Bluespine Unicornfish
Short-Nosed Unicornfish
Highfin Chub
Striped Mullet
Pacific Threadfin
Bluegill
Hawaiian Flagtail
Blue-Striped Snapper
Pinfish
Peppered Squirrelfish
Spotfin Squirrelfish
Whitesaddle Goatfish
Manybar Goatfish
Yellowstripe Goatfish
Wedgetail Triggerfish
Pintail Triggerfish
Black Triggerfish
Lei Triggerfish
Yellowfin Surgeonfish
Eyestripe Surgeonfish
Ringtail Surgeonfish
Orangebar Surgeonfish
Whitespotted Surgeonfish
Brown Surgeonfish
Goldring Surgeonfish
Convict Tang
Yellow Tang
Pacific Sailfin Tang
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Raccoon Butterflyfish
Milletseed Butterflyfish
Saddle Butterflyfish
Forceps Butterflyfish
Moorish Idol
Hawaiian Sergeant
Indo-Pacific Sergeant
Hawaiian Dascyllus
Stripey
Saddle Wrasse
Bird Wrasse
Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
Spot-Fin Porcupinefish
Guineafowl Pufferfish
White-Spotted Pufferfish
Ambon Toby
Hawaiian White-Spotted Toby
Devil Scorpionfish
Pacific Trumpetfish


Invertebrates:

Monarch Butterfly
American Cockroach
Western Honeybee
Black Soldierfly
Golden Silk Orb-Weaver
Yellow Garden Spider
Giant African Land Snail
Eastern Oyster
Slate Pencil Urchin
Collector Urchin
Rock-Boring Urchin
Black Sea Cucumber

 

[Nile Lechwe]

Seen both in wild and captivity (mammals and birds) :

Mammals :
- European Wildboar
- Red Deer
- Red Fox
- Alpine Chamois
- Marmot
- Roe Deer
- Common Bottlenose Dolphin
- European wild rabbit

Birds :
- Golden Eagle
- Black Kite
- White Stork
- Eurasian collared dove
- Mallard

 

[15399]

Since I haven't done any real wildlife-viewing trips yet, my list is short, but I've seen:
Mammals

• Red Fox (wild in MA, seen at two zoos)
• Gray Fox (wild in MA, captive at Hawk Creek)
• Harbor Seal (wild in MA and ME, captive at numerous)
• White-tailed Deer (wild in MA and NY, captive at Buttonwood Park)
• Virginia Opossum (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams)

Birds

• Red-tailed Hawk (wild in MA and NY, captive at multiple)
• Bald Eagle (wild within Roger Williams Park Zoo, captive at a plethora of zoos)
• Turkey Vulture (wild in NY, captive at numerous)
• North American Wood Duck (wild in NY and MA, captive at Queens Zoo)
• Mute Swan (wild in MA, captive at Franklin Park)
• Greater Black-Backed Gull (wild in MA, captive at Toledo Zoo)
• Mourning Dove (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams- behind the scenes)
• Wild Turkey (wild in MA, captive at Roger Williams)
• American Crow (wild in MA and NY, captive at Hawk Creek)
• Gray Catbird (wild in MA and RI, captive at Queens Zoo)
• House Sparrow (wild in MA, RI, NY, captive at Queens Zoo)

Herps

• Eastern Garter Snake (wild in MA, captive at Boston Museum of Science)
• Eastern Painted Turtle (wild in MA, RI, NY, captive at Boston Museum of Science)
• Red-Eared Slider (wild in RI, captive at numerous)
• Common Musk Turtle (wild in RI, captive at Toledo Zoo)
• Common Snapping Turtle (wild in RI and MA, captive at multiple)

I'd be curious to hear about what species some of the more well-traveled Zoochatters have seen in both.

My recent trip to Belize brought a number of exciting wild sightings. Species marked with an asterisk (*) are ones which the only captive sighting is at the Belize Zoo, while species marked with a question mark (?) are ones that I'm not sure if this was my first wild sighting of (mainly birds with wide ranges). I might be missing one or two, but I think this list is mostly complete.

Mammals

• White-Nosed Coati
• Kinkajou
• Jaguarundi*
• Central American Spider Monkey
• Yucatan Black Howler Monkey*

Birds

• Ornate Hawk Eagle*
• Black Vulture?
• Osprey?
• Lesser Scaup?
• Jabiru Stork*
• Aplomado Falcon
• Great Curassow*
• Blue-Gray Tanager
• Western Cattle Egret
• Boat-Billed Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
• Black-Crowned Night Heron
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Keel-Billed Toucan
• Yellow-Headed Parrot
• White-Fronted Parrot*
• Red-Lored Parrot*
• Mottled Owl*
• Anhinga

Herps

• Cane Toad (all captive sightings were before I started keeping track of amphibians)
• Morelet's Crocodile
• Green Iguana
• Brown Anole
• Meso-American Slider*

I also saw in the wild some close relatives of species I've seen in zoos, such as the Central American agouti (instead of the red-rumped agouti) or the russet-naped wood rail (instead of the giant wood rail), which were cool to see nonetheless. Perhaps the only disappointing no-show on the trip was that I didn't see any wild peccaries, along with a few species that I had an extremely low chance of seeing in the wild to begin with.

 

[birdsandbats]

My recent trip to Belize brought a number of exciting wild sightings. Species marked with an asterisk (*) are ones which the only captive sighting is at the Belize Zoo, while species marked with a question mark (?) are ones that I'm not sure if this was my first wild sighting of (mainly birds with wide ranges). I might be missing one or two, but I think this list is mostly complete.

Mammals

• White-Nosed Coati
• Kinkajou
• Jaguarundi*
• Central American Spider Monkey
• Yucatan Black Howler Monkey*

Birds

• Ornate Hawk Eagle*
• Black Vulture?
• Osprey?
• Lesser Scaup?
• Jabiru Stork*
• Aplomado Falcon
• Great Curassow*
• Blue-Gray Tanager
• Western Cattle Egret
• Boat-Billed Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
• Black-Crowned Night Heron
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Keel-Billed Toucan
• Yellow-Headed Parrot
• White-Fronted Parrot*
• Red-Lored Parrot*
• Mottled Owl*
• Anhinga

Herps

• Cane Toad (all captive sightings were before I started keeping track of amphibians)
• Morelet's Crocodile
• Green Iguana
• Brown Anole
• Meso-American Slider*

I also saw in the wild some close relatives of species I've seen in zoos, such as the Central American agouti (instead of the red-rumped agouti) or the russet-naped wood rail (instead of the giant wood rail), which were cool to see nonetheless. Perhaps the only disappointing no-show on the trip was that I didn't see any wild peccaries, along with a few species that I had an extremely low chance of seeing in the wild to begin with.

I'm jealous of the Ornate Hawk-Eagle. That's a species that by all accounts I should have seen this winter when I was in Costa Rica, but I missed out on. Jabiru is a super cool sighting, too.

Cane Toad underwent a three-way split recently, and it's unclear which species is in most zoos (the only way to differentiate them is skull morphology).

 

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I'm jealous of the Ornate Hawk-Eagle. That's a species that by all accounts I should have seen this winter when I was in Costa Rica, but I missed out on. Jabiru is a super cool sighting, too.

The ornate hawk-eagle wasn't a close-up sighting, if that's any consolation. It was flying overhead, and if it wasn't for our excellent local guides I wouldn't have had any way of knowing what species of raptor it was. Still a very cool bird though, and the one at the Belize Zoo was a very impressive individual.

There's actually a pretty cool story behind the jabiru sighting. We spent a few days at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, which is supposed to be one of the best places in the world to see jabiru. Despite going on a three-hour birding boat cruise one morning while there, we didn't see either jabiru or wood storks on our tour (still plenty of other cool sightings, though). One of our local guides blamed the lack of jabiru storks at Crooked Tree due to the late rainy season this year, meaning the water level was still too high.

After missing them in Crooked Tree, my entire group was thinking a jabiru sighting wasn't in the books for us. However, on the boat ride to our next location, one of our guides spotted a pair of jabiru about 100 feet from our boat on the New River. While it wasn't an opportune location to get a good photo (also true of a number of other really cool sightings this trip- jaguarundi, ornate hawk-eagle, yellow-headed parrot, Morelet's crocodile, crested guan, tinamou), it was still really cool to see this species, especially when none of us were expecting it.

Cane Toad underwent a three-way split recently, and it's unclear which species in most zoos (the only way to differentiate them is skull morphology).

Interesting, this is the first I'm hearing of a cane toad split, although I don't exactly follow amphibian taxonomy closely. I tend not to be overly concerned with taxonomic splitting when keeping track of species I've seen (and for wild sightings I don't exactly keep a formal "life list", per say, either), instead opting to note them as sensu lato in some cases, but still good to know regardless.