10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 227

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 227

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation. The species are taxonomically divided into two families: Tytonidae, Barn-Owls, and Strigidae, Owls, encompassed in one order, Strigiformes.

Owls 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2023

I visited Tengchong in late 2020 and wrote about it – but I also went there earlier, in 2017, and this post shows some photos I took during that trip, along with the usual comments that seem to be much more about ridiculing my fellow humans (especially ornithologists and the like) than providing useful information on birds.

China 193

China 2017 Birds Indonesia 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2023

What most people do not know is that this common occurrence was actually the inspiration for a Johnny Cash song, “ Boy named Sue “ Of course, as this song was written for humans rather than for birds, the situation was adapted accordingly. Read it there if you want. Sexism, realism, or both? Judge for yourself. This is the female.

China 244

China Research India Zoos 244

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Kooyman (co-author with Jim Mastro) spent decades studying Emperor Penguins and can be considered the world’s foremost expert on the species. Empire Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the largest living penguin species, almost four feet tall (taller when they stretch), and the least likely to be seen on birding or nature trips.

Penguins 165

Penguins Seals Leopards Research 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 219

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 219

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Yes, Germans were a particularly supersticious breed in the days of old, and would not dare to use the word devil even when cursing. Being referred to as a raven parent is grim, because this is a rather strong insult paired with a damning judgement of your parental qualities. The eagle-owls of the genus Bubo are all called “Uhu“.

Germany 195

Germany Birds Hunters Owls 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2022

Wikipedia seems not too impressed with the species, stating that “the brown honeyeater is a medium-small, plain grey-brown honeyeater” The Latin species name indistincta (indistinct, obscure) sounds similarly underwhelming. The species was bred at the zoo of Memphis, Tennesee ( source ). ” ( source ).

Birds 147

Birds Australia Parrots Memphis 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

Gisela Kaplan has written a book about the species, and how they seem unperturbed by humans: “It’s one of their most successful defense strategies. When these birds breed, this can lead to highly cringeworthy announcements, for example from Adelaide Zoo : “We have egg-citing news! ” ( source ).

Birds 242

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 242

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2023

The broader Balangshan area has three different parts – the low elevation of nearby Wolongshan, the higher part of the road across the mountain that is referred to as the tunnel area among birders, and the actual Balangshan pass, which reaches an altitude of 4500 meters or so.

Birds 130

Birds China Science Research 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2023

It would be difficult to identify by its Latin species name only though – albogularis means white-throated, which does not really strike me as this species’ main characteristic. In contrast, even though ex-president Trump has orange hair, this does not definitely identify him as a male human.

Birds 147

Birds Asia Battery Woodpeckers 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Given the complexity of the research, the result feels like a bit of a letdown – “northern populations start migration earlier than southern populations, especially in autumn” The species name of the Chestnut-eared Bunting is fucata , from the Latin “fucare”, to paint red.

Birds 221

Birds Eggs Bangladesh China 221

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Not too many highlights, not too many species … hard to say whether this is just the usual nostalgia for a better but probably nonexistent past or a real phenomenon. This species is listed as vulnerable – similar to the Yellow-breasted Buntings, it is trapped on a large scale. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Birds 247

Birds Humane Japan Ducks 247

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

I was surprised that this species is named for its vocalization – which sounds like laughter. For example, the Diamond Dove is the world’s second-smallest species of the columbidae order ( source ). The Latin species name haematonotus (“blood-backed”) sounds a bit more exciting but not necessarily more accurate.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2020

This pervasive pandemic we’re currently experiencing has squashed everyone’s travel plans – humans that is. And when I say bird migration I’m referring to a specific group of birds – shorebirds. Last weekend I wasn’t on the hunt for any species in particular though. Greater Yellowlegs.

Trinidad 190

Trinidad South America Blackbirds Industry 190

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

As with Chinese male humans, having your own building is still vital to raising young. While the species favors forested hills at moderate elevations ( source ), there are no hills at all here at Nanhui, so maybe these individuals are outcasts or just eccentrics. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo: This could be your host species!

Birds 197

Birds Sparrows Protection Humane 197

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2018

They just crept west, bit by bit, in a patchwork that included expanded breeding range and wintering territory but not necessarily in the same places or involving the same populations. 1978, for reference, was the year of my birth. 1978, for reference, was the year of my birth.

New York Times 140

New York Times Montana Oregon Deer 140

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’”. The Hair-crested Drongo is a bit more common here.

Singapore 147

Singapore Birds Mountain Goats Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

As humans we place exceptional value in the beauty of an individual’s eyes. Eye color is even more varied in birds than it is in humans. In fact, many birds exhibit more pigment coloration in their eyes than humans (for the scientifically-minded these pigments are called pteridines, purines and carotenoids).

Birds 265

Birds Humane Breeding Pelicans 265

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

APRIL 19, 2016

For example, years ago, Eiton Tchenrov postulated that the wild progenitor of the domestic dog, some subspecies or another of wolf, could benefit from overlapping its breeding territory with human hunters. The humans tended to keep away a range of predators that might take the pups as a form of interference competition.

Alligators 122

Alligators Protection Leopards Birds 122

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Not sure why they spend time in Shanghai in winter when they could come here though, but then again, I usually do not understand most of the behavior of humans either. Yes, we have them in Shanghai as well.

Birds 229

Birds Eagles Elephants Rhinoceros 229

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

The bird on the photo is one of the estimated 3500-15,000 individuals still alive according to the HBW – a frightening thought given the (too) large number of humans, of which there are about 1 million times more (and of course, each of which weighs 5000 times more than the flycatcher). It is probably all downhill from here.

Birds 130

Birds Raised Cattle Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

But, sometimes an appreciation of birds and birding requires more than a reference book with images of birds and facts about their identifying field marks. And, Essay #195, “Our Human Values: The Ugly,” describes the standoff between catfish loving Double-crested Cormorants and catfish farmers in the Missouri Valley.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

None fly, most are curious and social, which probably contributes to our cultural perception of penguins as one step away from human. This is not your ordinary reference book, though it was cited as one of the best reference sources of 2014 by Library Journal. Some are cute, some are dignified (and royal!).

Penguins 209

Penguins New Zealand South Africa Albatross 209

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

JULY 7, 2020

It is a book with a careful infrastructure, however (even though it doesn’t have an index), with references to one section from another, enabling the curious reader to go down structured rabbit holes, pursuing information on nesting or skeletal systems or feather structure throughout the book. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2013

The birdlife in the Cape is nothing short of spectacular, with a healthy dose of charismatic endemic species. Over 40 species of South African endemics can be found in the Cape – Cape Sugarbirds, Cape Rockjumpers, Orange-breasted Sunbirds to name but a few. Part of the 3,000 strong penguin colony at Boulders Beach, Cape Town.

Penguins 226

Penguins South Africa Africa Sharks 226

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “Avifaunal Overview,” and “Species Accounts.” Not all habitat change is due to humans; there is Chestnut Blight destroying American Chestnuts in the early 1900s, and the more recent Dutch Elm disease. Most birders will go straight to the “Species Accounts.”

New York City 156

New York City New York Birds Breeding 156

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The report identifies 33 species that do not meet the Watch List criteria but are declining rapidly in many areas. These birds have lost more than half their global population, and the 33 species combined have lost hundreds of millions of breeding individuals in just the past 40 years.

North America 191

North America 2014 California Birds 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2015

The title is a bit deceptive, for while photographs are a huge part of the book, it is grounded in the 239 species accounts written by woodpecker guru Gerard Gorman. This is a comprehensive, handsome reference book that is likely to become the standard for many years. The Species Accounts vary in length from one to three pages.

Woodpeckers 252

Woodpeckers 2002 Europe Research 252

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Second, reading about birds courting and parenting brings out the tendency to identify, which leads directly to anthropomorphism, the tendency to assign birds human emotions and thoughts. Think of birds too much as humans and you lose the specialness that makes them birds. Some people love books like that. Yellow Warbler fledgling.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Over the next few days, the Alpine Accentors ( Prunella collaris ) will arrive on their high-Alpine breeding grounds – it is time to start singing, despite that the treeless Alpine landscape is still under metres of snow. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 221

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 221

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 246

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 246

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. Madagascar, however, has had more than its fair share of extinct or lost species and Madagascar Pochard was firmly on this list. Then in 1991, a fisherman on the lake caught a male in his fishing net.

Madagascar 246

Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 246

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

The section South Georgia Wildlife describes 65 species of birds, 20 species of sea mammals, nearly 60 species of insects, and more than 40 species of flowering and nonflowering plants. They breed in dense colonies, incubate their single egg on the feet, and take more than a year to fledge a chick.

Georgia 174

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 174

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

I am planning to have this post be the first in a (very) small series on Europe’s “large white-headed gulls” It will of course only be a small series since there aren’t that many large white-headed gull species in Europe and particularly because I don’t want to cause too harsh a drop in the blog’s visitor numbers.

Europe 129

Europe Spain Italy Ireland 129