10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Quite a few bird species have crests. In fact, crests occur in at least 20 of the 30 orders of extant birds, and in all major groups of passerines. 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.

South Africa 204

South Africa China Africa Germany 204

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2014

In Australia we definitely have our fair share of invasive species and the main problem is that we are such a huge land mass with such a small population. The population of Australia is concentrated mainly around the city areas along the coast and many invasive species have been able to spread with ease.

Australia 157

Australia Species Feral Cats Feral 157

Reddit Animals

MAY 9, 2023

I’ve always wondered what animal or insect genus has the biggest difference between the smallest and biggest. For example, birds have hummingbirds which are tiny (~10g) and then ostriches which are massive (100kg). But are there others, like spiders or fish? What do you think?

Ostriches 52

Ostriches Groups Species Fish 52

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2022

As is my self-declared tradition of speaking of groups of birds within the species gamut of Trinidad & Tobago, allow me to introduce you to yet another group of three. While the entire Tyrannidae family of Tyrant Flycatchers is massive, the Myiarchus group of those recorded on these two islands comprises just three species.

Trinidad 213

Trinidad ALA Groups Species 213

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

These and several other species might end up being armchair ticks if and when we take a closer look at their evolutionary history. This bunch of possible Costa Rican crypto birds can be grouped into four main categories: (1). A species that lives in both Costa Rica and South America but might be two separate species. (3).

Costa Rica 213

Costa Rica Species South America America 213

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2024

I was very happy about this lifer as I had been hoping to see this species in autumn during my stay on Heligoland. In addition, other typical species around included Eurasian Coot , Common Merganser , Mallard , and Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe. A Water Rail was hidden, calling from the reeds.

Netherlands 224

Netherlands Birds Ducks Hunting 224

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2021

The islands and surrounding islets of Trinidad and Tobago boast an astounding list of almost 500 species of birds. There is a recurring theme of threes within the multitude of bird species in T&T, you can see for yourself in some previous posts I made. There are of course a few more which I intend to get to in due course.

Trinidad 261

Trinidad Groups Family Species 261

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2024

Black-chinned Sparrow , a flagship species for this site. And I must say, based on this most unscientific sample group, the future for my own birder’s health could be quite rosy. And I must be careful to protect my skin, having had a couple of basal cells removed. It happens that I hate doing traditional exercise.

Birds 203

Birds Livestock Sparrows Mexico 203

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

The Latin species name alphonsiana refers to Prof. Of course, the Red-billed Leiothrix is a species native to Sichuan – in Britain, it is now discussed whether to regard it as an invasive species ( source ). While the Buffy Laughingthrush is a nice-looking bird, its Latin species name berthemyi is quite unfortunate.

Italy 189

Italy Birds China France 189

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

I have been lucky enough to get close views of two massive Old World Vulture species, the Eurasian Griffon and the Egyptian Vulture. Here in Mexico, I can almost always count on Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures to pad each outing’s list by two species. feet), even though it is one of the smallest of this group.

Turkey 200

Turkey California Condor Mexico Meat 200

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 216

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 216

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

So, Maley suggests recognizing four species, instead of the two currently recognized. I should also note that the abstract for the Condor paper proposes five , not four, species. Perhaps tenuirostris of Central Mexico is proposed as a full species, instead of being lumped with the endangered Pacific and Baja populations?

Species 220

Species North America Cuba Louisiana 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2023

I also felt slightly mocked by the fact that the species is so regular on passage here that people don’t even report it in the rarities groups (since I very obviously showed my excitement when someone at the observatory mentioned they saw a wryneck on the beach).

Birds 218

Birds Adoptable Groups Species 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2021

These magical forests hide isolated treasures like the critically endangered Golden Tree Frog – not to mention several species of birds not found anywhere else in the country. Last weekend I accompanied a small group of intrepid birders to El Cerro del Aripo, the tallest peak on the island at about 940m.

Trinidad 263

Trinidad Groups Parrots Species 263

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2023

Yet, there is one group of birds where even I prefer photographs: gulls. That is why I am so pleased to see the new “Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide” being illustrated with nearly 1400 colour photographs of the 45 species of gulls found in the Western Palearctic.

Europe 232

Europe Africa Greece Groups 232

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

Although the bird was found a while ago, it had still been seen the day before I went to check out the site with my mother (not a birder but interested in birds), who, in an unlikely coincidence, came across this species a few days earlier when looking through my bird guide and decided that she would really want to see this species.

Reptiles 214

Reptiles Falcons Species Groups 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Torresian Crows Corvus orru are the most common of the Crow family in the northern part of Australia and are the most likely of the Crow species that you will encounter. In Broome it is the only Crow species and we do not have Ravens , so it makes identification easy.

Australia 213

Australia Eggs Species Groups 213

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2024

The proximity to the Myanmar border is reflected in the presence of Burmese Shrikes here – on the wrong side of the border, but it is well known that this species has never been particularly good at geography. This photo explains the scientific species name haemacephalus (bloodheaded).

Myanmar 130

Myanmar Sri Lanka Nepal Birds 130

Reddit Animals

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

submitted by /u/ExcitingPush [link] [comments].

Groups 40

Groups Species Animal 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2024

Given that according to the HBW, the species prefers dense primary and secondary montane forests, the note that the bird also forages among kitchen waste (in the same HBW entry) seems somewhat incongruous. Fish & Wildlife Service has a web page for this species – but it contains absolutely no information.

Burma 201

Burma India Birds Indonesia 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2022

The exploration of triads within the avifauna of Trinidad and Tobago has taken me through various families and species groups on this blog. On the smaller island of Tobago there are three species of woodpeckers and three species of woodcreepers – one of each is found on Tobago but not Trinidad.

Woodpeckers 242

Woodpeckers Trinidad South America Hunting 242

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2021

We are too far into the year for many FOY sightings, but not quite far enough for most migratory species to make their return appearances. Still, in any given three-week period (which is the period I have dedicated to this latest group of thematic posts), dedicated birding will produce some sort of news. Does one ever?)

Louisiana 262

Louisiana 2000 Mexico Groups 262

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

In one stretch of rocky outcropping, a group of Ground Woodpeckers foraged along boulders searching for ants and as their name suggests, they forage on the ground in sparsely vegetated country. The herders are nomadic groups that move sheep from place to place, staying in brick structures that dot the landscape.

Lesotho 226

Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

I saw 32 species here in my first 24 hours, some of them exciting ones. The Wood-Rails like to move around in a very visible group. My second lifer this trip was a migratory Yellow-throated Warbler , a species I could not hope to see my previous trip, which had occurred in early summer.

Barn Owls 210

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 210

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

There was one odd reprint in 2018, when the Subalpine Warbler was split into the Eastern and Western species, but the changes in the guide weren’t sufficient to call it a 3rd edition, so it remained the updated reprint of the 2nd edition. I haven’t noticed changes in the few descriptions of harder to ID species that I compared.

Europe 255

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 255

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2023

White-winged Choughs – Corcorax melanorhamphos are native to southern and eastern Australia and one of the bird species that is likely to suddenly make you jump when you walk through a forest. White-winged Choughs tend to be in quite large groups of twenty or more as they feed on the forest floor or roost in the tall trees.

Litter 130

Litter Australia Groups Species 130

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2020

The authors wrote: [Species] “are the currency of field guides and of birding, but deciding what to treat as ‘species’ is inevitably a subjective endeavour. … We have tended to a liberal (= realistic) direction when recognising species.” There are no species distribution maps, only textual descriptions.

Chile 202

Chile Birds South America North America 202

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2023

As we entered the forest, however, the gradient began to increase significantly, and some members of the group opted out. Eventually the hourglass passed its final grains of sand; and the most dejected of the group departed first, determined to not capitulate to gravity’s constant demands on the treacherous descent.

Endangered Species 231

Endangered Species Game Groups Birds 231

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2020

One of the reasons Mexico is such a great birding area is that, while it shares all sorts of bird groups with the United States and Canada, it also is home to some of the northernmost representatives of neotropical and genera that do not (or just barely) reach that far north, such as Woodcreepers, Tityras, and Trogons. Species seen?

South America 264

South America Mexico America United States 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2022

I’ve been leading a small but faithful group on Trinidad for several years to count birds within a livestock farm that is generally restricted to the public (you can read about some of those shenanigans here ); this was the first time I was to embark on a CBC on the smaller island of Tobago. Anyway, I digress. Mangrove Cuckoo.

Falcons 241

Falcons Trinidad Ducks Groups 241

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2021

Many species seemed to come in threes, and today I shall continue my examination of these. Three species of antshrikes are resident in T&T. These endearing birds are almost always found in pairs or small family groups, and I often have difficulty deciding which bird to photograph as both males and females are equally beautiful.

Trinidad 220

Trinidad Bears Family Groups 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2023

I began recording my bird sightings with photographs in late 2009, and since then I have seen (or at least heard) a fair proportion of species recorded within my home country of Trinidad & Tobago. Of course, a major factor in this decision rests in its status as a resident species. Well, let me explain.

Birds 263

Birds Trinidad 2020 2012 263

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

This photo, which was shared on a local birders’ WhatsApp group, shows the enormous extension of burning reedbeds on that very windy day. And when I got home, photos I had taken of a flock flying overhead revealed Northern Pintails , another previously missing-in-action species.

Ducks 213

Ducks Pelicans Collecting Species 213

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. There is so much here! How do they know?

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2020

With 18 species of native Psittacids to choose from, birding in Costa Rica is always a thrill, especially for someone who grew up in parrotless Niagara Falls, New York! At least one of these species has adapted to nesting on buildings and a few others can nest in large parks. The other regular parrot around here is this species.

Parrots 270

Parrots Costa Rica San Jose Endangered Species 270

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2019

Of course, the California Condor is listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and it has been famously subject to some of the most ambitious conservation efforts (including litigation ) ever undertaken for a bird. But this potential population of California Condors will be a “nonessential experimental” group.

California Condor 224

California Condor California Endangered Species Oregon 224

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Thus, this study on the feeding ecology of African Harrier-hawk is imperative for understanding the species adaptation to environments and also a crucial factor to be considered while examining their economic status.” I guess blushing is easier if you have a bald face like this species.

South Africa 147

South Africa Niger Birds Mice 147