10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

I have written about the interesting sex life of these jacanas a few times already (short version: female mates with male, lays a bunch of eggs for him to incubate and raise the chicks, leaves him, finds another male, repeat). Swinhoe’s White-eye was just promoted to the rank of a full species in 2018.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147

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 229

Dissection Birds Research Europe 229

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

When you monitor a species of birds over many years you learn a lot from your observations and you soon become aware of the fact that some birds are just better at parenting than others. There is egg predation, chick loss and sometimes possibly just some “bad parenting”! Three eggs in the nest.

Eggs 165

Eggs Raised Breeding Family 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

” Writing about owls means writing about roughly 250 species (I counted 245 on the 2022 Clements spreadsheet, but I might have missed a few, and we all know that each classification system is different). These are behaviors that are most likely to vary across species and topics that make for compelling stories.

Owls 220

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 220

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

The first eggs were laid in the first week of July, which is the case each year. The eggs take 28 days to hatch and it is then at least 35 days before the chicks are developed enough to fly and there have been problems with predation as in other years. Pied Oystercatcher sitting on eggs in the nudist area of Cable Beach.

Breeding 159

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 159

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2018

This year is the eighteenth year since we discovered our first Pied Oystercatcher nest on Cable Beach in Broome and it didn’t take us long to realise that they are not at all successful at raising young due to egg and chick predation. He last raised a chick successfully in 2016 and has nested in this area since 2008.

Breeding 100

Breeding 2018 Eggs 2016 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2015

There are sixteen pairs of Pied Oystercatchers and they have varying success at raising young birds. To the north they are very unlucky with predation before the eggs even hatch out, but to the south the eggs hatch out and then the predation occurs on the chicks.

Feral Cats 159

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 159

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

Our recent bush-walking has involved some long muddy walks and are always productive as far as birds and wildflowers go and we have found several species nests. Australian Painted Snipe nest with four eggs. Four eggs in the Australian Painted Snipe nest. Australian Painted Snipe nest. Three swimming Australian Painted Snipe.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2013

Once again Pied Oystercatcher breeding season is fast approaching in Broome and we can expect the first batch of eggs to be laid within the next few weeks. We have also discovered that they are very rarely successful with the first eggs laid due to predation of either the eggs or the chicks. Sooty Oystercatcher having a shake!

Eggs 176

Eggs Breeding Australia Raised 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

The grass is green, the wildflowers are spectacular and now we have numerous species of dragonfly to enjoy as the season starts to change. Masked Lapwings have been busy breeding for some months now and some may well be on their second clutch of eggs. Masked Lapwing nest with eggs and chicks. Masked Lapwing protecting a nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2012

Many of the most peculiar aspects of birds are involved with mating, whether it’s for attracting mates, defending nests against predators, or raising chicks. The most common mating strategy in birds is social monogamy, found in roughly 92% of birds species in the world (Jenni 1974, Owens 2002). of all bird species, is polyandry.

2002 169

2002 North America 2000 2009 169

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2013

But there was this one in Australia. 08–20 Many bird species are in trouble, but the Hooded Grebe is really really in trouble. Birds are raised from the egg to follow a certain migration timing, but that timing shifts when the egg hatches later or earlier due to changes in conditions.

Science 191

Science 2013 Elephants Birds 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2012

There are thousands of shorebirds that visit Broome each year and the majority of them are now in the northern hemisphere hopefully sitting on eggs. Not all of our shorebird species migrate and those that reside here are also currently sitting on eggs, or thinking about laying eggs in the upcoming weeks.

Eggs 217

Eggs Raised Birds Breeding 217

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2015

As the tide dropped the Black-winged Stilt settled themselves on the wet sand close to some other Australian Pelicans and gives you some idea of the relative size of the two species. The most exciting time of year is coming up for us with the imminent egg laying, hatching and possibly fledging of Pied Oystercatcher chicks.

Pelicans 160

Pelicans Eggs Birds 2015 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

The most common member of the Grebe species around Broome is the Australasian Grebe- Tachybaptus novaehollandiae and it has taken advantage of our exceptionally good Wet Season early this year and has been breeding very successfully. This is a bird species that much prefers to dive instead of fly, so taking photographs can be problematic.

Breeding 100

Breeding Geese Ducks Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2016

We have several of the cuckoo species around the Broome area and all cuckoos are more likely to be heard than seen, but every now and again you get lucky! Pheasant Coucals are also a member of the cuckoo family, but are unique because they do actually raise their own young. At 28-33cm they are one of the larger cuckoos. Pallid Cuckoo.

United Kingdom 100

United Kingdom Raised 2013 Africa 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? And I haven’t even started to write about ageing them … What are your experiences, and what is the colour of the claws on your local gull species? It is the claws that give them away, their black nail polish.

2011 165

2011 Birds Deer Europe 165