10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 and 2011 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. Felonious Jive really likes a ravishing returning rarity – a Falcated Duck.

2012 153

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 153

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

Typical of the species. The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Both species seemed content to observe each other though. A pair of Tropical Screech-owls have been roosting in a cherry tree for a number of years. This young male Summer Tanager didn’t linger or waste time.

Trinidad 213

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 213

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. Now my Queens list stands at a whopping 302, which means I have actually added thirteen species since my last predictions.

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Many of us picture owls in the sky, silently soaring, or perched atop tree branches or light poles as they sleep or keep an eye out for prey. However, on my first trip to Aruba I scanned the ground for a very special type of small owl, known for its terrestrial antics.

Prairie Dogs 101

Prairie Dogs Tortoises Owls South America 101

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

Choosing among the hawks, eagles, and owls at the raptor residence (alas no rehab for these irreparably injured birds of prey) and the active late winter species in the park seemed impossible, until an impressive Pileated Woodpecker put on a powerful display of excavatory activity.

2012 165

2012 ALA Woodpeckers Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2012

I’ll admit that I rarely reach 20 bird species a day, especially this time of year. Plus, the time was finally right for me to savor a local slice of that southern Snowy Owl invasion. This weekend, however, I needed to take my mind off all those gaudy birds Corey was scoping down at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.

2012 163

2012 Birds Medical Owls 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2023

This was remedied in 2012, when I reviewed the second edition. For some reason, I never bought the classic Hawks in Flight, by Pete Dunne, David Sibley, and Clay Sutton.) The number of plates per species varies, which makes a lot of sense. We are certainly rich in raptor identification and natural history books. And video resources.

2011 100

2011 North America 2005 Eagles 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2012

The risk of extinction for Amazonian birds has increased substantially: 07 June 2012 The risk of extinction has increased substantially for nearly 100 species of Amazonian birds, reveals the 2012 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ update for birds released today by BirdLife International.

Parrots 205

Parrots 2012 Birds Humane 205

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2012

Finishing a year with 372 species is nothing to sneeze at and the fact that I added twenty-five birds to my ABA list was nice. I begin 2012 with 284 birds on my Queens Life List , 478 birds on my ABA Life List , and 1,048 birds on my World Life List. The number one bird of the year for me for 2011 is the Burrowing Owl.

2011 172

2011 Puffins United States New York 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Eight days with 20 of the world’s top birding guides looking for some 1,000 species and three dozen endemics. You can see as many hummingbird species as the folks at Magee Marsh are seeing warbler species—during 25 minutes on a Sunday afternoon. The Peruvian Screech-Owl they found hooting at Bosque Pomac? I heard that.

Peru 255

Peru Birds South America Owls 255

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

I started keeping year lists – not just blogging about them but really keeping track of what I see each year – as late as 2012, roughly 30 years into my birding career. Therefore, the 2012 list itself was never the focus of my year listing, it was competition and blogging. Species List. February. […].

2017 100

2017 Germany 2012 2013 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2014

In this book, rare birds are species “for which, on average, only 5 or fewer individuals have been found annually in North America since around 1950.” Species that were once seen rarely and have now become more common, like Clay-colored Thrush, are not included. Rare Birds of North America covers 265 species within these parameters.

North America 258

North America America Birds United States 258

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2013

In the past two years, our bookshelves have welcomed Jerry Liguori’s Hawks At A Distance (2011), the second edition of the classic Hawks in Flight (Dunne, Sutton, Sibley; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), and Chris Earley’s updated edition of the excellent regional guide, Hawks and Owls of Eastern North America (2012).

North America 218

North America Bald Eagle Falcons Owls 218

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

I was delighted by the invitation and spent hours going through my photos, printing them out, imagining fifteen 4-year olds entranced by egrets, herons, and Burrowing Owls. Jake’s favorite before-bedtime book when he was just a bit younger was Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, a picture book I had picked up at a nature center.

Birds 219

Birds Owls Switzerland Lions 219

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Press, 2012). Brit birder Goodie didn’t do an ordinary big year; he decided he would see every Pitta species in the world (32 at the time) in one year. Published, by Mack’s nonprofit organization, it also serves as an example of successful alternative publishing in the birding world.

Papua New Guinea 185

Papua New Guinea 2014 Penguins Birds 185

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2013

SINGAPORE, DECEMBER 2012 – Ask any birder where you should go birding in Singapore and the short list will always include Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve , this city-state’s finest wetlands. I also pulled three species of tailorbird along with Asian Glossy Starling , Black-naped Oriole , and White-bellied Sea-Eagle en route.

Singapore 138

Singapore Zebras Zoos Owls 138

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement. And, then there are the more familiar birds–Wood-warblers, sandpipers, hawks–some species migrants, some species with a wide range. Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

There is another area of the Queens County CBC where a team will also likely see Monk Parakeets , Myipsitta monachus , but I am seriously determined to count that bird for my area, Coastal Flushing, a section of northeast Queens, New York, that includes Whitestone, home of one of the loudest invasive bird species in the U.S.

Chicago 206

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

As 2013 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. My best bird of the year is based on the sighting rather than the species. Only trouble is, which of the seven species I saw this year do I pick?

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2013

A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Barn Owl on a dry tree trunk and a… traffic jam!

Africa 197

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

There are 35 raptor species that have a presence in the United States and Canada, 56 (more or less) if you count by subspecies, and they are all covered in admirable, exhausting, unbelievable detail in B irds of Prey of the East: A Field Guide and Birds of Prey of the West: A Field Guide by Brian K. Species Accounts.

North America 196

North America Birds Mississippi Bald Eagle 196

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2013

The story of the cahow, a “Lazurus species” that was thought to be extinct for over 300 years and then discovered to be breeding on a tiny remote island in Bermuda, is part of modern birding legend. photo of Elizabeth Gehrman: Ingrid Skousgard, 2012. Beacon Press, 2012. These are magical experiences. by Elizabeth Gehrman.

Birds 170

Birds Rats Breeding 2012 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

One of the surprises this year was an incredible image by Mario Cea in which he used an extensive array of flash units, and a remote sensor to trigger his digiscoping setup and capture some great shots of Little Owl ( Athene noctua ). This species prefers swampy habitat and I don’t think the creek was appealing enough to keep it around.

2011 237

2011 Eagles Bald Eagle Owls 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

2011 is about to become 2012 and birders the world over are taking a look at their year lists and reminiscing about the awesome sightings and devastating dips that they have experienced. This year I watched them from the day they arrived , until two chicks successfully hatched, the northernmost breeding record for the species.

2011 188

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2016

All species are from the ABA area, and all groups must meet at least one of these criteria: (1) the group “represented a good opportunity to build core birding skills,” (2) the authors thought it was a group that needed “a refreshed treatment,” (3) the authors were intrigued by the group and wanted to present it using their unique format.

Birds 190

Birds Groups 2015 North America 190

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. All other harrier species may also be around, including Pallid Harriers which are recorded each year as (semi-)vagrants.

Germany 101

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 101

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

On 26 January 2012, my first full day in Florida for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, I had a mission for the evening. How could I have gone on a field trip dedicated specifically to encountering this single, singular species and come back with the bird unseen, unheard, and unticked?

Florida 159

Florida Wildlife Groups 2012 159

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

There are also dry areas but this great diversity has resulted in an incredible bird list of over 900 species including Africa’s 2nd highest count of endemics (after South Africa). A two-week birding tour could expect around 400 species and up to 550 in 3 weeks, including sightings of most of Ethiopia’s endemic and near-endemic birds.

Ethiopia 271

Ethiopia Eritrea Africa Mammals 271

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2012

NARITA, JAPAN, DECEMBER 2012 – The art and science of layover birding deserves more rigorous study and perhaps a federal grant. Every species I mentioned appeared often throughout the day, but diversity improved considerably as we headed towards Naritasan Temple by way of the famed irrigation channel.

Japan 121

Japan Birds Stud Ducks 121

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. Jackson, 2012. The warbler is on the road to being delisted from the Endangered Species List.

Michigan 236

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 236

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2018

This all started way back in 2012 and several of us continued on in 2013 , 2014 , 2015 , 2016. On Christmas Day we did a bird list around Broome and although we also found over one hundred species on both that day and on New Year’s Day the lists were quite different. Pacific Swift- Apus pacifica -Broome, January 11th.

2018 100

2018 Ducks Barn Owls Falcons 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2014

For the moment I’ll stick with the split babbler families although I may relump the laughingthrushes, ground and tree babblers per Molye et al (2012). Since I’m the New Zealand beat writer I’ll be using their names for their species, but for clarity I will give other commonly used names if a species has them.

2014 150

2014 New Zealand Singapore Rhinoceros 150

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

The Second Atlas’s logo, designed by bird carver Larry Barth, with its perched Scarlet Tanager, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ruffed Grouse, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Common Raven, and Eastern Bluebird, gives a good idea of the diversity of birds that can be found in Pennsylvania. The second page is the map page. Brauning and Andrew M.

Pennsylvania 236

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

For my new book, due out in 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, I’ve been researching sandhill crane hunting. Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species.

2011 252

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 252

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

In reverse order, the medals were awarded for “most species seen in a country”, to Australia with 420, USA got the silver, scoring 556 while the runaway winner was Costa Rica with 646 species. Barn Owl – Tyto alba. Indian Scops-Owl – Otus bakkamoena. Eurasian Scops-Owl – Otus scops.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2018

During October, 7 countries (Costa Rica, Australia, USA, India, Hong Kong, UK, Serbia) were birded by 11 beats who shared 135 checklists and noted 697 species. Pacific Screech-Owl – Megascops cooperi. Stygian Owl – Asio stygius. Bare-shanked Screech-Owl – Megascops clarkii. Alphabetic Taxonomic.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2018

They noted 598 species as a team, bringing the year total to 2118 and pushing the life list to 3555. Stygian Owl – Asio stygius. Bare-shanked Screech-Owl – Megascops clarkii. Eurasian Scops-Owl – Otus scops. Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl – Bubo lacteus. Little Owl – Athene noctua.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 113