10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

Hauber Hauber’s mini-essays focus on specific behaviors, enhanced by references to recent research yet written in a relaxed, personal way. Hauber is really good at presenting scientific findings so they don’t seem scientific at all, simply reasonable answers to our questions. Mark Hauber is currently (just appointed!)

Chicago 188

Chicago Barn Owls Penguins New Zealand 188

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2015

Severe weather can stress birds and even influence the coloration of their feathers , new research finds. Scientists investigate the DNA of Hawaii’s free-roaming fowl. Researchers have figured out where the thought-to-be-extinct Bryan’s Shearwater is roosting. Help them rack up 4,000 species in 24 hours on eBird!).

Malta 187

Malta Barn Owls Cyprus Fowl 187

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

Here are some things I’ve learned from the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean by Scott Weidensaul: The Burrowing Owl is the only North American owl species where the male is larger than the female, albeit, only slightly larger. And the term is ‘non-reversed size dimorphism.’).

North America 229

North America Owls America Dominican Republic 229

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. They may have also had hunting dogs with them as well. Which would be weird.

Turkey 207

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 207

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2019

In birding, perhaps only the proverbial wild goose chase and snipe hunt rank below owling in terms of expected success. A Great Horned Owl illustrated in Game Birds: Life Histories of One Hundred and Seventy Birds of Prey, Game Birds and Water-Fowls by Neltje Blanchan. There’s the whole role of chance in owling, too.

2017 140

2017 Owls Game California 140