10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2012

On this final day of 2012 it is time, just like it was on the final days of 2010 and 2011 , to share your Best Birds of the Year. Well, actually, your Best Bird of the Year will only be shared here if you took the time to respond to the post in which we here at 10,000 Birds shared our Best Birds of the Year.

2012 133

2012 Ghana Ireland Birds 133

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Ron Pittaway has published his winter finch forecast for the winter of 2012-2013. Though Ron is based in Ontario his reports are eagerly anticipated by birders across the northeastern United States and eastern Canada because it takes into account a vast array of data to figure out which irruptive species might show up where.

2012 227

2012 2013 Canada United States 227

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2012

We should all be concerned about this, if not out of love for this prosaic passerine then because the sparrow may very well be a signal species for more encompassing environmental threats. We’ll be celebrating World Sparrow Day 2012 by running some of our favorite House Sparrow posts.

Sparrows 196

Sparrows 2012 Raised America 196

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Typical of the species. The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. This is an immature bird, as evidenced by the yellow wash on his underparts.

Trinidad 226

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2022

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes – Coracina novaehollandiae are a common bird species around our home in Broome, Western Australia. The only other similar species is the White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike , but it is a much smaller species and the call is quite different. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.

Australia 249

Australia Zebras 2014 2012 249

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

Thank you, goddess of birding luck and text group people).* My inner self felt stuck in an area between disbelief and total joy and the voices near me were echoing this state of mind: “Oh My God,” “I never thought I would see this bird,” “Look at that bill!” “How did that bird get here?”

Birds 264

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2014

In Australia we definitely have our fair share of invasive species and the main problem is that we are such a huge land mass with such a small population. The population of Australia is concentrated mainly around the city areas along the coast and many invasive species have been able to spread with ease.

Australia 157

Australia Species Feral Cats Feral 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

It was apparently all the way back in 2012, when I was first getting back into birding after a 30 year hiatus, that I took a sad little picture, with my sad little camera, of a cute little bird that seemed to not show up anywhere at all in my field guide. What I didn’t know was that this is a very special species.

Birds 177

Birds Mexico California Spain 177

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2012

Like some of the other beat writers around here I’ve been roped into keeping a year list this year , and inspired by the other lists I looked at I thought about what I wanted to achieve this year in birding. I began by playing down expectations; on my list I state that I would be very happy to reach 300 birds for the year.

2012 167

2012 New Zealand Birds Albatross 167

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

Back in January of last year I said in my list for the year that I’d be happy if I hit 300 birds in 2012. The equation is simple, surely, if seeing birds makes me happy, then surely lots of birds makes me lots of happy, right? For starters, the enjoyment of birds is not actually directly correlated with enjoyment.

2012 157

2012 New Zealand Thailand Albatross 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2021

This is the second post in the Birding crème de la crème series (the first, focused on southern Asia, is here ). The bird-richest region of Africa is its equatorial East: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi (unlike the rest, the last one, Burundi, is politically unstable and not recommendable). SERVIR Africa Workshop.

Africa 221

Africa Kenya Uganda Tanzania 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2021

In April 2012 I wrote about A close encounter with a Wedge-tailed Eagle. The features are just so incredible at this stage of development and they are such a huge bird. There is definitely some beauty to the colouring of this species at this stage of their lives. I can’t use that heading again! Juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagle.

Eagles 264

Eagles 2012 Species Birds 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2013

They wanted to put together a book about The World’s Rarest Birds , but were finding that it was pretty difficult locating photographs of the 590 bird species considered Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered or Endangered. Hold not one, but two international photo contests, one in 2010 and one in 2012.

2012 185

2012 United States Birds 2010 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2022

It doesn’t always offer the most interesting set of birds, but it is nearby. The voice isn’t very musical — it sounds a bit like the wind-up of a tornado alarm — but the bird who owns it is called a “spectacular, large vireo” by eBird, and I agree. It is even harder to see, and much less common.

2013 210

2013 2012 Birds Species 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

My family took our annual post-Easter Egg hunt hike at Powder Mills Park, where I spied several gorgeous matched pairs of Wood Ducks along with lots of different woodpecker species. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2012 197

2012 Birds Eggs Hunting 197

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

An interesting–or perhaps enervating–aspect of this time of year is how birding tends to run feast or famine. Corey and I both pondered birds that are extremely ordinary for us. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2012 186

2012 Birds Experience Experiments 186

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 242

Dissection Birds Research Europe 242

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2012

Summer can be boring from a birding standpoint or it can be very, very interesting. While I saw a number of tasty shore species, I most appreciated the behemoth Great Black-backed Gulls , which I’ve missed since I’ve moved upstate. What was your best bird of the weekend? How has yours been so far?

2012 180

2012 Birds Experience Experiments 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Most years, there are no more than a few dozen reports of this species across the region. Certain kinds of birds, such as finches and Snowy Owls , may go for years without travelling outside of their normal ranges. and Canada, Waxwings are clearly an irruptive species for Mexico. The Hook-billed Kite is a wonderful bird.

Mexico 147

Mexico 2020 2012 Parrots 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

In 2007 I was working in a university building that was just begging for bird feeders. This was where I set up my bird feeders, just one at first, then expanding as everyone expressed delight in seeing the Carolina Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Downy Woodpeckers. There were no dead birds for weeks. ©2012 Donna L.

New York City 263

New York City Birds Illinois Science 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2012

Then again, birding culture offered a surprising slate of events as well. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a more interesting species of warbler, likely the last Northern Parula he’ll find in Queens this fall. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2012 160

2012 United States Birds Experience 160

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2012

Have the birds really started moving where you live? I was in Chicago (actually, I might even still be here by the time this post goes up considering my first flight was cancelled and my second has already been delayed once) and managed to sneak an awesome morning’s birding in the Chevalier Woods Forest Preserve.

2012 173

2012 Chicago Florida Birds 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2012

My weekend was devoted to a seemingly endless celebration of my son’s 8th birthday, which meant that my best bird was bound to be a backyard species. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2012 179

2012 Jamaica New York Birds 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2019

But there is an old quote I always carry with me when I bird: “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” (Desiderius Erasmus). and I never bird on an empty stomach. I rarely bird more than an hour from my home, because my wife expects me back by 2 p.m. I am, you see, only a mediocre birder. or the U.K.;

Mexico 138

Mexico Birds 2013 Lamb 138

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2012

The latest news from IUCN Redlist regarding birds is not good. This gloomy article made want to go birding in the Amazon before it is gone. The exuberance of the Amazon jungle is a compelling drive to get people to explore this disappearing eco-system, so I thought I would post some beautiful pictures of Amazonian birds.

Parrots 214

Parrots 2012 Birds Humane 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. The next winter bird spot lies some 4.5 Bus: 79 & 24. eBird list.

Serbia 247

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 247

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

Or join in… Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was, what else, his first Red-headed Woodpecker in Queens ! I had my share of best birds while visiting Wild Wings at Mendon Ponds Park. What was your best bird of the weekend? Woodpeckers FTW! Who says there’s no truth in advertising?

2012 167

2012 ALA Woodpeckers Birds 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2021

In 2012 , the NFC revised some of its goals and set forth a new vision of waterfowl management that emphasized a core of hunter and conservationist supporters. Although I have no evidence, I suspect eBirders are broadly representative of birders generally, though they are likely younger than the overall birding community.

Minnesota 264

Minnesota Research Pennsylvania Ohio 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

If you were ever looking for a reason to pay careful attention to the common birds around you, this weekend offered the perfect opportunity. Have you been participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count ? You won’t be surprised to learn that Corey had many good birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Weekend.

2012 156

2012 Birds Jamaica New York 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2012

Seeing as it is near the midway point of the year I thought it would be nice to check in on how the blogging Big Year birders are doing thus far in 2012. Josh Vandermeulen is sitting pretty at 317 species for the year in Ontario, only 21 off the province’s record of 338, set by Glen Coady in 1996. It’s quite a list!

South Dakota 216

South Dakota Houston Mammals Birds 216

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2015

A pelagic trip yesterday put Corey in a quandary over what to choose as his Best Bird of the Weekend. One of the awesome gull species the folks on the boat spotted? Even better was that these were the first Corey had seen since 2012. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2015 167

2015 2012 Birds Experience 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

From Nature, “ Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow “: Only a handful of bird species are known to use foraging tools in the wild. In a related story, a recent study notes that Kauai, an Island of Hawaii, have lost a lot of birds due to climate change.

Hawaii 162

Hawaii Research Center 2012 2000 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2012

As long as it persists, this Western species will prompt every birder within 400 miles to consider, however briefly, taking a run to see it. The rosy-finch isn’t even that far from me, but I’d rather see this species in the Rocky Mountains. What will you be doing this weekend and will you be birding?

Botswana 165

Botswana 2012 United States Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2012

Do you get out birding much? If you’re checking in here on a Monday morning, chances are you have a bird tale to tell. Then again, maybe like me you simply enjoy hearing about the avian observations of others even when you can’t make time for your own bird chases. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 165

2012 Birds Medical Owls 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2012

Coming into the second weekend of this new year, we’ve all added a few birds — possibly very few birds — to our year lists. I gave up year listing a couple of annums back even though I’ve rung up some banner bird bounties in 2010 and 2011. What will you be doing this weekend and where will you be birding?

Atlanta 161

Atlanta Zimbabwe 2012 New York 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

With the arrival of May, we turn from bird love to migrant mania. Forget March Madness… this is when things get crazy for those in sync with the endless sojourns of countless species. He hopes to sneak off for at least part of one morning to look for birds. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding?

2012 167

2012 Florida Birds Species 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2018

Two reactions on hearing that Steve Howell and Brian Sullivan have written a guide entitled Peterson Guide to Bird Identification–in 12 Steps : (1) What? In other words, you don’t even observe the bird closely until Step 7, and that is to observe behavior. Another identification guide?, (2) Howell and Brian L.

Birds 160

Birds North America 2012 America 160