10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2023

That’s 18 species in one book. This is more than a collection of species accounts. There are also two pages illustrating the “Holistic Approach,” silhouettes of each species (Western birds on the left, Eastern birds on the right), that allow for comparison of structure, size, and shape.

Los Angeles 225

Los Angeles North America America Species 225

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Three Chestnut Bulbuls seem to winter on Tianmashan this year – somewhat surprising given that the HBW calls the species a year-round resident in an area at least several hundred kilometers south of Shanghai. The Rufous-tailed Robin seen at Tianmashan is another species that one would not necessarily expect here in January.

Birds 147

Birds China Killing Reptiles 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2023

Birders often venture into various habitats, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, or coastal areas, to encounter different bird species. The primary objective of birding is to identify bird species based on their physical characteristics, behavior, and vocalizations.

United States 147

United States North America Birds America 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage. But it is all for science, I hear them say. Swinhoe’s White-eye was just promoted to the rank of a full species in 2018. All three I have seen are males, which in this species are the subordinate sex.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Another puzzling thing to me, as for me, the ideal number of people to live with would be somewhere between zero and one but definitely not above 1. According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2018

It’s not often that we have the opportunity to glimpse the home life of albatrosses, nor of any seabird species. We didn’t know much about migration routes, foraging away from the breeding colony, and feeding during migration, in the water and in the air. Technology to the rescue! What about incubation shifts?

Albatross 114

Albatross Penguins Research Breeding 114

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

Erika is a first year graduate student studying Ecosystem Science and Conservation at Duke. The park is home to not one, not two, but large three colonies of breeding seabirds: the Brown Noddy , Magnificent Frigatebird , and Sooty Tern. If birds don’t want to be handled, then they definitely didn’t want to be weighed.

Birds 184

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2018

So many species that change eye color or leg color as they age. This encyclopedic identification guide covered 43 species in 608 pages, and was illustrated with both Hans Larsson’s exceptional artwork and color photographs by multiple photographers. Describing gull plumage is a combination of science, graphic art, and visual metaphor.

2004 161

2004 North America America Europe 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! The source of this ranking, BirdLife International, lists Bolivia as currently having 1,439 bird species, including 18 breeding endemics. The guide covers 1,433 species, the number of birds documented at the end of 2014, the cutoff point for the book.

Bolivia 181

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

Animal Person

AUGUST 9, 2009

When I saw the Live Science article about dogs being as smart as 2-year-old kids I knew that if there were any talk of ranking, my beloved greyhounds would be at the less-desirable end of the list (not from personal experience, but from reputation), and I also knew that there would be a whiff of speciesism. That last part is interesting.

Greyhounds 100

Greyhounds Dogs Speciesism Ethics 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

There is a very distinctive smell found on seabird colonies, where thousands upon thousands of birds come to breed and, coincidentally, deposit large quantities of waste. There comes a point in every season when simply providing target practice for gulls is insufficient, one needs to go and. well pretty much roll around in the stuff.

Breeding 187

Breeding Stray Seals Whales 187

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2011

Even if you don’t live in the summer range of a particular species, you may have opportunities to observe it while it passes through, especailly if you live in an active flyway, like I happen to. Because the ancestor of this species of bird migrated, and the migratory adaptation and all that entails were passed on.

Research 201

Research Humane Compassion New York 201