Largest Bobolink roost ever recorded!

Location: Northcentral Bolivia
Weather: Now I know what a Thanksgiving turkey goes through

In my last update, I mentioned that we had come across our largest (so
far) Bobolink night roost, approximately 15-20,000. When people think of
roosts, they often think of trees. But here in South America, Bobolink
roosts are composed of tall grasses or rice. They always roost in areas
inundated with water. This characteristic and the lack of roads here made
it difficult for us to access the roost, or so we thought, for a more
accurate count.

Thanksfully, we found an easy access to the roost that we had overlooked.
Based on our estimates conducted simultaneously by 4 biologists on 2
different occasions...(drumroll please)...we counted approximately 60,000
Bobolinks in one roost. Based on my searches for literature on Bobolinks,
this is an all-time record! Personally speaking, the roost is a highlight
in my life, and for the rest of the crew it´s a very exciting discovery.

And nobody thought that Bobolinks wintered in Bolivia...

Rosalind Renfrew
Conservation Biologist