While most birders would try to avoid hurricanes because many bird species will be hunkered down, other birders actually chase hurricanes!

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Find out more details from Audubon’s report!

Although most people will try to avoid visiting the Caribbean during hurricane season, especially if they are birding, sometimes you just can’t avoid it.  Maybe you can only find award seats then or you are combining a trip to the Caribbean with a family event or conference.  Last year, our trip to Belize in August was a calculated risk so we could stop in California over Labor Day weekend to visit family on the way back to Australia.  This also allowed us to get cheaper hotel rooms as we were traveling in the “Green season” but also managed to hit that lull in the rainy season that usually happens in August.  Conde Nast has some good links to check for weather advisories and other useful tips.

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Belize has in the past been hit by hurricanes but this is a rare occurence.  Most of our trip was inland for birding so my main worry was our flight to BZE being cancelled.  People who have diving or beach holidays planned might have other concerns.  We lucked out and had beautiful weather for our whole trip…………………but on the flip side, we were also covered by travel insurance just in case!