Geo answer

Today’s Geo Quiz — sticks out like a sore thumb.

??? Peninsula??? Peninsula

We’re searching for a peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. This rainforest covered landmass includes parts of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. And it lies to the east of something called the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

That isthmus is interesting for several reasons:

Its name comes from the Aztecan word for jaguar. Pretty cool. It marks the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific. And it divides North America from Central America. Now let’s get back coming up with the name of the peninsula.

flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/merulaflickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/merula

We’ll tell you more about the peninsula and its feathered friends when we reveal the answer…

Back to our Geo Quiz now … which takes us to the large peninsula that sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s the Yucatan Peninsula.

Its tropical rainforests make it very desirable habitat for all kinds of birds. Some are migratory species that fly over the peninsula, others like the Yucatan Jay are found nowhere else in the world.

There’s nowhere else in the world that Antonio Celis and Jill Deppe would rather be. They usually nest in Chicago at the University of Illinois where they’re graduate students.

But they regularly fly south to study the birds of the Yucatan. Antonio Celis and Jill Deppe sent us an audio postcard:

Recorded by Antonio Celis-Murillo, Fernando Gonzalez-Garcia, and Danny Meltzer

Bird Songs of Mexico – Yucatan PeninsulaBird Songs of Mexico – Yucatan Peninsula

Bird Songs of Mexico (Cantos de las Aves de Mexico): Yucatan Peninsula was recorded by Antonio Celis-Murillo, Fernando Gonzalez-Garcia, and Danny Meltzer.

All the birdsongs and calls were recorded in the wild on the Yucatan Peninsula. The CD includes: Thicket Tinamou, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Plain Chachalaca, Magnificent Frigatebird, Northern Jacana and Greater Yellowlegs.