10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2017

Despite mostly guiding them, I still somehow managed to see a European Badger sitting and watching me back for several seconds, before it slipped into bushes and quite a few White-tailed Eagles , e.g. four in just one morning. And how about Black Storks, otters and eagles? And, with it, its otters, eagles and storks.

Eagles 161

Eagles Campaign Otters Serbia 161

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2011

Bald Eagle image is by Francois Portmann and is used with permission You know, I’ve been thinking about this whole dustup over hunting cranes in Tennessee and now Kentucky. And while we’re at it, I think it’s time to open a limited season on Bald Eagles. We’ve always hunted Bald Eagles. I get it now, I really do.

Bald Eagle 251

Bald Eagle Eagles Hunting Kentucky 251

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Genevieve is awesome, but she is not a birder, and she guesses that the bird on her screen might be a young Golden Eagle. And that confusion, as often as not, results in someone calling something an eagle when it is not an eagle. People have heard of eagles. Hence, people are all the time telling me they saw eagles.

Eagles 180

Eagles Bald Eagle Fox Cows 180

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2024

I could imagine that timing the earlier emergence of insect prey at the breeding grounds is particularly problematic for insectivorous species. I was rewarded with nice scope views of Eurasian Eagle-Owls – by no means a surprise sighting as these birds breed here.

Soreing 169

Soreing Owls Woodpeckers Eagles 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Quite a few bird species have crests. Their main use is to display – either to communicate with other members of the species or to scare other species, as a raised crest makes the bird appear larger. In fact, crests occur in at least 20 of the 30 orders of extant birds, and in all major groups of passerines.

South Africa 194

South Africa China Africa Germany 194

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2012

When I emerged from my bedroom I learned what you, no doubt, as a regular reader have already deduced – it was the now-infamous “Eagle Steals a Baby” hoax video. I was pretty sure it was fake from the get-go, because who brings their baby to a golf course in Montreal to bait eagles?

Eagles 134

Eagles Psychology Primates Montana 134

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2014

The Bald Eagle is not just an American symbol, it is also a quintessentially American story. Inside a Bald Eagle’s Nest: A Photographic Journey through the American Bald Eagle Nesting Season , by Teena Ruark Gorrow and Craig A. Reviews Bald Eagle book review'

Bald Eagle 221

Bald Eagle Eagles Endangered Species Washington 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2023

Before I was born, it used to be a rare breeding species in mountainous areas south of Belgrade, but became extinct after the 1960s due to intensive poisoning of wolves. There’s an eagle… a White-tailed Eagle , a relatively common and numerous breeding species of riparian forests along large water courses and fishponds.

Bulgaria 261

Bulgaria McDonalds Eagles Serbia 261

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2024

Visiting Guyana brought with it the unavoidable expectation of seeing some mind boggling species – some endangered, some emblematic, others downright bizarre. Before we boarded the flight to Guyana we already knew that probabilities of seeing one of the target species was slashed to near zero. After all, there were already rocks.

Guyana 202

Guyana Brazil ALA Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2013

As mentioned earlier in these pages , wind farms and eagles don’t always go well together—the birds, which often scan the ground for prey instead of looking straight ahead while they’re flying, thus don’t see wind turbines until it’s too late. It’s not just eagles, either; other bird and bat species also fall victim to the turbines.)

Eagles 165

Eagles Bald Eagle Farming Obama 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

There were once two species of goose, a merganser, and a pair of raven species. And eagles. New Zealand had eagles. Once upon a time there was a much larger forest harrier, Forbes’ Harrier , and the all-time ultimate bird-of-prey, the Haast’s Eagle. This massive eagle, with a wingspan on up to 2.6

Eagles 101

Eagles New Zealand Bald Eagle Collecting 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2023

First birds came in the form of migrants and resident species that live in an oasis of precious green space near home. Those kept me below the 700 species threshhold but I won’t complain about 691 species. 48 Hummingbird Species. I also saw a high percentage of the raptor species possible in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 255

Costa Rica Buffalo Birds Endangered Species 255

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. Its species name graydoni is in honor of Philip Newenham Graydon (1864-1940), a British planter in Sabah. Why that makes Mr. Graydon worthy of having a bird species named after him is a mystery to me.

Birds 209

Birds Eagles Elephants Rhinoceros 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2022

Even so, we do have some sandpipers and plovers around; there have been recent reports of Surfbirds and various other wading species. Harpy Eagle! The biggest birding news for Costa Rica was a sighting of an adult Harpy Eagle in northern Costa Rica , near Boca Tapada.

Costa Rica 184

Costa Rica Eagles West Virginia Albatross 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2019

A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. Among the most desired bird species during May migration, brightly colored, beautiful and boldly patterned, how can a birder not get hooked on spring warblers? Great Green Macaw!

Costa Rica 176

Costa Rica Species Belize New Jersey 176

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. Booted Eagle by Kostas Papadopoulos The next morning was a lazy one, a late breakfast and even later excursion. Later in the day, roadside birds included a Booted Eagle and a Levant Sparrowhawk.

Greece 223

Greece Pelicans Birds Stray Dog 223

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, offers several great birding spots and here are some recommendations for areas to go birding in and around the city, how to get there by public transport, and some of the bird species you might expect to see. It is home to almost a hundred bird species, including woodpeckers and songbirds.

Transported 250

Transported Woodpeckers Birds Serbia 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Recently, while guiding on the slopes of Poas, without too much effort, we had more than a hundred species. Such a birdy day and yet, one that still lacked quite a few species. Poas itself seems to be pretty straightforward but I wondered how far down both sides of the mountain should be included in my species list. Two hundred?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird. The next option would be a very dark adult Greater Spotted Eagle … but I wasn’t ready!

Otters 254

Otters Croatia Eagles Protection 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2024

As if that wasn’t a small enough number already, one paper suggests splitting the species based on bioacoustic data and creating the Northern Fish Owl. As usual, habitat destruction is the major issue endangering this species. The owl is also at the center of conservation efforts, see here for details.

Fish 191

Fish Owls San Diego Russia 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2015

Each year, I hope to identify at least 600 species. That 600th species was a Streaked Xenops , an especially uncommon bird in Costa Rica usually seen at Tapanti National Park. That 600th species was a Streaked Xenops , an especially uncommon bird in Costa Rica usually seen at Tapanti National Park. Streaked Xenops.

Costa Rica 154

Costa Rica 2015 Species West Virginia 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

Already recorded this winter are Black-throated Diver , Goosander and several Greater Scaups , together with Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks and the regulars, Common Goldeneye , Caspian Gull , Pygmy Cormorant and White-tailed Eagle. Although many of them can be found in city parks, too, at the top of Avala your chances are higher.

Serbia 294

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Ducks 294

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

But I was hoping for a bit more avian variety and had my heart set on another whisky featuring a different species, but those plans fell through due to local unavailability of my first choice. A pair of Golden Eagles depicted by Clarence Henry Roe (1850-1909), an English painter who lived in Scotland for a time.

Eagles 200

Eagles Ireland Oregon Protection 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

And here in Europe, they are the real deal, an indigenous species and not domesticated animals gone wild. Photographed within Beljarica: five White-tailed Eagles by Snezana Panjkovic. Two hundred metres further on, two young White-tailed Eagles were soaring. I think all were males, at last two huge ones certainly were.

Serbia 243

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

One of the reasons that I usually start each year’s species list with a visit to the wetlands of Lake Cuitzeo is that the site offers so many species that I can find nowhere else. Not all the colorful species have feathers. There are several, almost identical, species of Flycatchers in the Myiarchus genus.

Eagles 207

Eagles Falcons Sparrows Species 207

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2021

That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.

Guyana 278

Guyana Otters South America Colombia 278

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2022

Yes, we do have warm, tropical weather and a fancy assortment of resident and wintering species. Nor is there any trudging through snow in search of extra hardy species or visits to feeders with the hope of finding a grackle or Red-winged Blackbird that failed to fly south. These were some of the highlights. The Count Meeting.

Costa Rica 236

Costa Rica Eagles Species Blackbirds 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2024

There are bird species with the power of personality and feathered friends with super migratory prowess. I live in Costa Rica, a place that makes up for the lack of cardinals with trogons, motmots, and like 900 other bird species. Prefer a White-fronted Nunbird or an Ornate Hawk-eagle? Snowcap anyone?

Costa Rica 242

Costa Rica Birds New York Parrots 242

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

On a recent visit I threw my bags in the hotel room and went straight there, and got over 60 species of birds in a few hours and fantastic views of Nilgai , the largest antelope in India. Commoner species include Bar-headed Geese , parakeets, shrikes, mynas and minivets. You should also see Gharial and Mugger Crocodiles there.

India 182

India Wildlife Tigers Eagles 182

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

In 2022, the 10,000 Birds eBird Collaborative submitted 1,837 checklists from 9 countries ( Australia , China , Costa Rica , Mexico , Saint Lucia , Serbia , Trinidad and Tobago , United Kingdom , and the United States ) and observed 1,273 species. The Collaborative life list increased to 4,140.

Saint Lucia 190

Saint Lucia Costa Rica United Kingdom Trinidad 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Last year, in November, I notched up a dozen species of butterflies, an impressive total anywhere in Europe so late in the year. Wintering Wallcreepers are always a possibility, too, generally in quarries where Eagle Owls are resident. Despite appearances, they are remarkably docile.

Greece 202

Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 202

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2023

In his first chapter, on the Raven, Moss is an enthusiastic borrower from Bernd Heinrich’s classic The Mind of the Raven , and in chapter ten (about which more below) a good deal is sourced from a 2022 book, The Bald Eagle , by Jack E. They were barely mentioned in The Voyage of the Beagle and not at all in On the Origin of Species.

Bald Eagle 149

Bald Eagle Montenegro Campaign Turkey 149

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

With more than 312 so far recorded bird species, Lake Kerkini National Park offers great birding year-round. In spring, a huge heronry of 10 species (including Spoonbill , Glossy Ibis , Squacco , Purple , and Night Heron , Pygmy Cormorant , etc.) Overwintering raptors include Greater Spotted , Golden , and Imperial Eagles.

Greece 262

Greece Wildlife Boars Otters 262

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2021

Of the 6 species of quetzal, the one that lives in the cloud forests of Central America usually gets the “most spectacular” badge. And yes, this species lives in Quetzal Valley, a place that actually does exist! On a recent visit, I was reminded of that when we saw the feathered remains of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle feast.

Costa Rica 261

Costa Rica Birds Eagles America 261

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2021

Once I observed a man walking his two small dogs here, passing by a perched White-tailed Eagle but looking down at grass and not noticing the largest raptor in Europe at all. The eagle seemed well-used to people and paid no attention either. Photo by Branislav Dencic.

Otters 258

Otters Protest Protesting Protesters 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2022

Gazetted as the “nature monument” in 2013, one of the few remaining – Bojcinska Forest by the village of Progar covers 670 ha / 1650 ac, with around 108 bird species and some 60 species of mammals. A Lesser Spotted Eagle high in the thermal, getting ever smaller. And a White-tailed Eagle making an appearance in the same thermal!

Croatia 219

Croatia Serbia Shelters France 219

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Cocoa Woodcreepers are the largest species of woodcreeper in T&T, and they have a proportionately massive bill. A massive shadow caught our eye on the opposite end, by the time we whispered “ Black Hawk-Eagle ” to each other it already was in view almost overhead. Definitely a hawk-eagle, but which?

Trinidad 162

Trinidad Eagles Bears Litter 162