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A review of the birdcentric novel “Accidentals” (the title of which is in the plural for a reason)

10,000 Birds

In Gaines’ first novel Carbon Dreams (2001) the science (there, geology) tended to overwhelm the story, but in Accidentals, she incorporates ornithology and microbiology skillfully into a well-woven whole. Her narrator is Gabriel, 23, raised in Northern California by an American father and a Uruguayan mother.

Uruguay 156
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Happy Global Big Day from Costa Rica!

10,000 Birds

It was organized to boost eBird use, raise funds for bird conservation, and just get more people out birding. I can also wait because the results of that birdathon were 260 species, and some fine, new, year birds like Upland Sandpiper, Common Potoo, and Purplish-backed Quail-Dove. I hope I see a White-bellied Mountain-gem.

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Into the Nest: A Book Review in the Time of Nesting

10,000 Birds

So, the 49 subject species include birds with interesting family behaviors that we might not see every day (Cedar Waxwing, Great Blue Heron, Peregrine Falcon), migrant songbirds (Tree and Barn Swallows, House Wren), and common, everyday birds (Northern Cardinal, Downy Woodpecker, and, yes, Rock Pigeon). Egg biology, from Part I.

Eggs 263
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Why Is the Federal Government Awarding Contracts to a Company That Was Involved in Smuggling Primates?

Critter News

Block pleaded guilty in February to felony conspiracy to violate the Lacey and Endangered Species Acts by conspiring to smuggle orangutans. Biggest contracts: $232,500 with Army for Live Animals, Not Raised for Food. 49,620 with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Live Animals, Not Raised for Food. Taking place in MT.

Primates 100
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Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

The idea of Lost Animals was conceived after the publication of Extinct Birds (2001), a 400-page, four-pound book on 75 extinct species. They would pause over them and just gaze, sometimes even raising the book towards their eyes in the vain hope that this action would allow them to see more.—more

Animal 270
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The Domestic Turkey and the First Thanksgiving

10,000 Birds

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. This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version.

Turkey 213
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Hawks In Flight, Second edition: A Review of a New Version of a Birding Classic

10,000 Birds

2001), before the videos and web sites, there was Hawks in Flight: the Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors by Pete Dunne, David Sibley and Clay Sutton. The new edition adds 11 species, birds such as Zone-tailed Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, and California Condor that are only seen in specific areas of North America.