10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

Seuss’s Horton Hatches An Egg precedes Eastman’s book by twenty years. But since Horton is an elephant, and since the creature that hatches from the egg is an elephant-bird, I’m going to wait till 10,000 Birds does a Hybrid Bird Week before discussing this representative of the Seussiverse. In Are You My Mother? Random House, 1960.

Birds 211

Birds Owls Switzerland Lions 211

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2020

I am only responding to my subjective impression of a single species’ appearance here; specifically, that of the Bronzed Cowbird. Instead, they lay their eggs in other species’ nests, and let those nest-making birds (often significantly smaller than the cowbirds) raise their young. Native versus invasive species?

Birds 154

Birds Blackbirds Mexico Cattle 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

The fields near the Tiaozini mudflats look very much like a lunar landscape, but this does not seem to keep a number of species from breeding there, sometimes directly on dirt roads. But now back to birds … Little Ringed Plovers also seem to like to breed directly on the road. The birding life. A somewhat older chick.

Birds 213

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 213

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2012

When it comes to breeding, Yellow-rumped Warblers are a good example of what many people regard as a “regular” bird. Male and female Yellow-rumps pair up on their breeding grounds, share duties in raising chicks, then politely part ways when fall migration comes.

Albatross 191

Albatross Birds Lifestyle Raised 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

But it happened at that moment that a lot of what I was looking at was avian in nature: a few crows, some sparrows, blackbirds, and other run of the mill inner-ring suburb fliers and flitterers. A squirrel skittered by … a squirrel is not a bird. Photograph by Paul Randall ( wingsonwire.com ) Then a thought occurred to me.

Mammals 174

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 174

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2012

One of the more interesting aspects (in my opinion) of breeding in birds is their mating strategy. 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. Polyandry is found mostly in shorebirds (e.g.

2002 166

2002 North America 2000 2009 166

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

To be honest, both the robin and the flycatchers shown above remind me of the easter eggs I hunted for as a child – the same strong colors in front of a green background, same time of the year (feel free to insert your own Proust Madeleine reference here) … Bluethroats apparently are good at imitating other birds.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2018

Sacrilege perhaps, but unless we’re talking invasive species, snake extirpation doesn’t cut it here at 10,000 Birds. According to one legend, Kevin was kneeling in prayer one day when a blackbird alighted on his outstretched hand and began to build a nest. What’s the eBird breeding code for that? Saint Kevin and the blackbirds.

Blackbirds 105

Blackbirds Wounded Stray 2013 105