10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

The vast majority of the 10,000+ living species of birds are passerines, and the vast majority of those have a similar system of breeding: Mom and dad bird make a nest and share parental responsibilities roughly equally, if not identically. In the latter, three or more adult individuals contribute to the raising of offspring.

Breeders 206

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 206

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists. But the starting point has to be a real attraction, not a fake one.

China 237

China Birds Pythons Eagles 237

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

She lives part-time in Uruguay and is co-director of the Fiction Meets Science program at the University of Bremen, Germany, which seeks to bridge the “two cultures” of science and literature. Her narrator is Gabriel, 23, raised in Northern California by an American father and a Uruguayan mother. Gabe agrees to come along.

Uruguay 155

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 155

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Starvation and predators make it hard to grow up, and birds have evolved a lot of strategies to give (at least some of) their chicks the best chance in life. One strategy that varies among birds (and other animals) is the number of offspring. Seabirds are one group of birds that go for the latter strategy. So why do it?

Eggs 165

Eggs Puffins Breeding Raised 165

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). But it is all for science, I hear them say.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147