10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

Maybe these people like challenges – at least here at the monastery, getting good shots of this species is quite easy. Another species apparently enjoying the proximity of a monastery is the White-winged Grosbeak. My extensive birding experience allows me to be very confident that the bird below is a Rosefinch.

Birds 226

Birds Germany India 2018 226

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2023

Like the Eastern Crowned Warbler (which eBird mysteriously calls a “boldly marked songbird” despite its similarity to about 50 other warbler species) … … and the Arctic Warbler (or maybe some other warbler looking very similar). Here is a mugshot of a Long-tailed Shrike. T-shirts will be available soon.

Birds 130

Birds China Taiwan Raised 130

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). The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Many of these (like Plumbeous Kites and Swallow Tanagers ) are here to breed, and they do so alongside a host of resident species. The forest eventually quietens a bit with the majority of species sitting on nests – but only for a short while as before long insect boons after the rains encourage many flycatchers to materialize.

Birds 250

Birds Falcons Raised Species 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Such programs are somewhat inefficient anyway – in one study , the breeding success of wild male pheasants was 2-5 times higher than for hand-reared and released ones while for females, hand-reared birds were 3 times as vulnerable to predation as the wild ones. Apparently, there is a website just showing stamps depicting bird species.

Birds 211

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 211

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Out of the approximately 26 species of snipes worldwide, two have been recorded on Trinidad. The trouble begins with the recognition of the fact that both species of snipe were formerly part of a single species – Common Snipe ( Gallinago gallinago ). Any snipe is a good snipe, they say. Only one has been seen on Tobago.

Trinidad 274

Trinidad Welfare North America Emotional 274

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

The White-shouldered Starling is not very common in Shanghai or even in China in general, despite its species name sinensis. It is another species on which limited information is available – there is still work left for ornithologists outside of the determination of mitochondrial DNA.

Birds 130

Birds Tigers Humane Ecuador 130

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

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

For this reason, the species is evaluated as Vulnerable.” The Rufous-tailed Robin used to be called Swinhoe’s Robin but apparently, somebody decided that there were already too many bird species (6, according to the HBW) named after him. The Latin species name, however, is still elegans. And it is still justified.

Birds 208

Birds China Eggs Owls 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

Do you really need to have Kai’s birding experience further detailed not just by month but a level below? As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo: This could be your host species! There was a breeding pair at Binjiang Forest Park this June.

Birds 197

Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 197

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

Penguins are also bellweathers of climate change; dwellers of remote areas you’ve (probably) never heard of; creatures who have developed unique, innovative ways of adapting to the harsh environments where they breed and rear chicks and the water environments in which they feed and swim. And that’s just the top section!

Penguins 209

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2015

I am within one of Florida’s sub-tropical zones, and my birding experiences have expanded, with life birds galore. I thought so too when I first went out, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many species I do encounter every day! If I approached too closely they scurried away, so I raised my lens to take identification photos.

Florida 157

Florida Birds Mice Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

In addition, it has over 450 bird species and more than 30 in-country endemics, of which it is possible to see every single species! Those large international agencies use reputable local ground agents, and in my experience this creates a safety cocoon around the travellers. Where to look for the birds?

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

After writing this last sentence, I looked up the species in the HBW and found the sentence “Song poorly documented” in the appropriate section, while with regard to calls, the description is that “call is a two-note raspy nasal ‘ryeeh-reh’”.

Singapore 147

Singapore Birds Mountain Goats Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2014

This is similar to the fact that all birds, even first time breeders within a species build identical nests. Further support for inherent behavior comes from experiments. Egyptian Vultures raised is isolation used rocks to crack eggs presented to them. The behavior was inherent. Woodpecker Finch using a tool.

Fish 163

Fish Woodpeckers Ostriches Eggs 163

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. Due to the longevity of this species it appears that they are able to maintain their population. They do not react to Lesser Frigatebirds when they are in pairs and breeding.

Eggs 178

Eggs Breeding Australia Raised 178

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

Unlike other bird races where participants keep tight-lipped about bird species as mundane as a House Sparrow , this event gives a prize to the team that helps the most. But isn’t all of that data sharing counterproductive for a bird race where the team with the most species wins? Waiting for the sandgrouse.

Costa Rica 181

Costa Rica Eagles Birds 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2011

Rufous Hummingbirds have a well-earned reputation for getting lost — they breed along the west coast but turn up in New York in fall and winter pretty regularly — and an equally well-earned reputation for hardiness, as they breed farther north than any other hummingbird species, into Alaska.

South America 158

South America New York Alaska America 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. Islands, for various reasons, experience more extinctions than continents (with Africa being the only continent not suffering a bird extinction!). This bird was kept in captivity until it died a year later.

Madagascar 246

Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

We are familiar with the story, birds flying north in the boreal summer, taking advantage of the warmth, long days, and abundant insect life, to raise their young. In the High Arctic we find several migrating species that break that mould. This tiny passerine winters in Africa, places like Tanzania, Nigeria, Somalia.

Africa 204

Africa Somalia North America Nigeria 204

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2012

Over twenty species of wood-warbler may be recorded in a single winter in Miami-Dade County, with several more species recorded regularly in Monroe and Broward. In addition to these widespread species, Common Yellowthroat and Northern Waterthrush are reliably seen in the right habitats.

Florida 159

Florida Miami Cuba Bahamas 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Raised in and around the West Texas steppe country where temperatures reached 100 degrees with regularity, he began life as the Dust Bowl and Great Depression converged. That summer of 1938, when he was ten years old, Cade read of two brothers, Frank and John Craighead, who wrote of their experiences with falcons in National Geographic.

Falcons 190

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

Turkey 210

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 210

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

So, curious about which birds nest in two places, I quickly found out that it’s Phainopepla, a western bird, a relief because I was concerned that it might have implications for my data collection for the NYS Breeding Bird Atlas. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley. The Portfolio of Birds is comprised of 87 2-page spreads.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

A lovely looking and distinctive sounding bird (so they say, I sadly have not seen one…yet), the Kirtland’s Warbler can only be found during its breeding season in Jack Pine forests 5 to 20 years old in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list.

Michigan 240

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 240

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

They diverged at approximately the same time as the rockjumpers (two quite unique bird species endemic to Southern Africa and now in their own family), and as a result for a while were even placed in the same family. Forest cover in both species’ ranges is being destroyed at an unsustainable rate and these birds’ populations are dwindling.

Sierra Leone 272

Sierra Leone Ghana Cameroon Equatorial Guinea 272

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Over 3,200 photographs have been used, most showing species in their habitats. There is also text, distribution maps, a dark red bar “warning” about similar looking rare species, and conservation symbols. So, how do you find the species account for Kestrel if falcons are not placed between woodpeckers and parakeet?

Ireland 150

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 150

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2011

Mallards , of course, bring new meaning to the term dabbling duck , what with all those wild mallard hybrids and domestic cross-breeds running around. But apparently, all the Anas -species ducks are overly amorous or at least indiscriminate. NORTH AMERICAN TEAL HYBRIDS Clearly at least two teal species take to each other.

Ducks 239

Ducks North America Denmark America 239

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 12, 2011

With June 1 marking the first day of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season, it’s crucial to raise awareness about the importance of planning for pets’ safety before it’s too late. Make sure you ask if they have any limitations on the number, size, species or breeds they allow. Some dog breeds (e.g. are not allowed.

Pit Bulls 100

Pit Bulls Pets Shelters Medical 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

It is my best bird because it is just such an incredible species, and looking at it made me realize that I had temporarily stopped to fully appreciate birds during the stressful last few years. This year I watched them from the day they arrived , until two chicks successfully hatched, the northernmost breeding record for the species.

2011 192

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 192

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. It’s no coincidence that the two species that pass Hare’s pointing test also share a profound cross-species bond. Ones that came up to the scientists did.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 183

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Let us for once judge a book by its cover, and take a thorough look at a Black-headed Gull in breeding plumage. 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? Ring-billed Gull - yes indeed. Nice piercing, dude!

2011 167

2011 Birds Deer Europe 167