10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

Ron Pittaway has published his winter finch forecast for the winter of 2014-2015. Though Ron is based in Ontario his reports are eagerly anticipated by birders across the northeastern United States and eastern Canada because it takes into account a vast array of data to figure out which irruptive species might show up where.

2014 236

2014 2015 Alaska New Hampshire 236

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Audubon guides to birds have been around since 1946. The first guide bearing the National Audubon Society imprint was Audubon Bird Guide; Eastern Land Birds , written by Richard Hooper Pough, and illustrated by Don Eckelberry. Plate 28 from Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds, by Richard H. Knopf, 1994/97.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

This is Liz’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. The rise in drone popularity over the past few years has been meteoric — and in our typical human arrogance, we’ve once again ignored the fact that for the past 150 million years, the sky has belonged to the birds.

Birds 182

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

One of these days, Jeopardy will feature a category called “Field Guides” and the first clue will be: “This landlocked South American country finally got its own bird field guide in 2016, but it wasn’t available in the United State until 2019.” Bolivia doesn’t come up much in discussions of birding travel.

Bolivia 172

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Ron Pittaway has published his winter finch forecast for the winter of 2013-2014. Though Ron is based in Ontario his reports are eagerly anticipated by birders across the northeastern United States and eastern Canada because it takes into account a vast array of data to figure out which irruptive species might show up where.

2013 161

2013 2014 Alaska Canada 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2013

In 2013 I birded in two countries, submitted eBird checklists for seven U.S. states and thirty-seven counties, and added a whopping ninety-two species to my life list. I would like to end 2013 with 303, 512, and 1,150 birds on those lists. But what were my top ten birding moments of 2013?

2013 173

2013 New York City New York Trinidad 173

Reddit Animals

JULY 6, 2023

The research used data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska. The study showed that a warmer ocean, particularly during marine heatwaves or El Niño events, resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands to millions of marine birds within one to six months of the temperature increase.

Washington 40

Washington Alaska Wildlife 2014 40

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

These birds may be the North American ash tree’s last line of defense against the EAB invasion. A study in the journal Biological Invasions used Project FeederWatch information to determine that populations of the above-named birds increased (although the Hairies and Downies initially decreased) in areas of heavy EAB infestation.

Woodpeckers 273

Woodpeckers Illinois Science Chicago 273

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

All of these titles deal with birding in specific North American geographic areas: The Atlantic coast, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The photos show the forms of the bird seen on the east coast and are annotated with notes on plumage and other distinguishing field marks. It’s time for some short book reviews. Well, short for me.

Pennsylvania 165

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2016

There is bird version of this in the Everglades. It turns out that there is an example of this with wading birds in the Florida Everglades. This example is important because it appears that the protector species, not just the protected species, gains a benefit, the latter having been documented many times before.

Alligators 115

Alligators Protection Leopards Birds 115

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2017

Way back in the days when blog posts still got a lot of comments, I wrote a piece on why field guides that arrange species in a more or less strict taxonomic order regularly frustrate me. Taxonomy is constantly changing and so does the order of species in field guides. Phillipps, Q. & van Balen, N. Brickle & F.

Brunei 154

Brunei 2009 2016 2014 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2014

Birding being a visual and an auditory pursuit, it’s not surprising that publishers have taken advantage of the media of its day to produce bird books accompanied by CDs or DVDs. These allow birders to hear as well as see the birds they are studying. But, that technology is for another article.)

2006 196

2006 2014 Connecticut North America 196

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! It is possible to reach it on the Friday afternoon, sleep there and go birding at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Well, do you really? The Forgotten Road does not exist on the GPS screen either. Am I complaining about it?

Serbia 187

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2019

Owling on Christmas Bird Counts is a peculiar business. Some counters are unfailingly resolute in their dedication to this thankless graveyard shift of the birding world, marching headlong year after year into the bleak winter landscape in search of their heard-only, nocturnal quarry. There’s the whole role of chance in owling, too.

2017 137

2017 Owls Game California 137

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 147

North America Sparrows America United States 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Producing a book about birds and nesting is a dangerous business. The truth is that there are few images cuter than baby birds in the nest opening their mouths and begging for food, but there are curmudgeons amongst us, myself included, who don’t like to admit this. And of birds courting and mating. We simply refuse to squee.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2016

Once you eliminate the risque jokes (I know, I know, but it’s a family blog) the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet might have the most comical name in American birding. How did this itty-bitty bird come to be saddled with a moniker that sounds exactly like a punchline about bird names? There is no great mystery here.

Costa Rica 102

Costa Rica 2014 Family Collecting 102

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

Most of the books about extinction, including Fuller’s Extinct Birds (now, ironically, out of print), describe what was lost and look for explanations, scientifically and historically. The idea of Lost Animals was conceived after the publication of Extinct Birds (2001), a 400-page, four-pound book on 75 extinct species.

Animal 267

Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 267

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

We are facing a plague of poaching that is again decimating the species. A different research says, from 2002 to 2011 the known populations of forest elephants declined by 62%. Steven had no binoculars, but impressively sharp eyes and great knowledge of birds. In Africa, one elephant is being killed every 15 minutes.

Elephants 184

Elephants Botswana Zimbabwe Africa 184

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2014

The Yellow-rumped Warbler ( Setophaga coronata ) complex is one of the most abundant and widespread representatives of the New World warbler family in North America, present in many parts of the United States even through the winter months, when the birds feed on small fruits and other foods, including sap. So Toews et al.

United States 233

United States 2011 Guatemala North America 233

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2014

There is a fantastic paper just out in Science : “Sustained miniaturization and anatomoical innovation in the dinosaurian anceestors of birds” by Michael Lee, Andrea Cau, Darren Naishe and Gareth Dyke. But birds are dinosaurs. Birds have a number of features that distinguish them from, say, camels. As Lee Et.Al

Camels 198

Camels Whales Whaling Apes 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2014

When the proprietors of Costa Rica’s Finca Luna Nueva Lodge graciously invited Corey and me to visit, we were both thrilled at the prospect of awesome Costa Rican birds at an amazing ecolodge. Anyone attuned to Neotropical birding knows well that the Arenal area is famous for phenomenal birding, perhaps among the best in the world.

2014 204

2014 Costa Rica Birds Groups 204

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2016

This property is located in northern Butte County which is nearing the (dwindling) northern most historic range for this species in California. Journal of Raptor Research 27:175-179., 2 Menzel, Sandra, “ An Assessment of Artificial Burrows for Burrowing Owls in Northern California ” (2014).Master’s

Owls 101

Owls California 2010 Colorado 101

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Have you ever birded a place so young that birds still have no names? At first we followed one trail, without success, then we followed the other one – the same happened – and when we were ready to enter the boat, to cross the river arm behind the sandbank, there it was, the bird with no name.” Thamnophilus sp. Thamnophilus sp.

Colombia 277

Colombia Birds Fish Venezuela 277

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 213

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 213

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

The result is a nature lover’s paradise rich with mountains, beaches, and birds. Lots and lots of birds! I visited Hong Kong from February 20-27, 2014. Though my trip wasn’t dedicated exclusively to birding, that was part of my daily routine and sometimes the focus of my day. Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island.

2014 213

2014 Eagles Asia Groups 213

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Sometimes I just want to hug eBird, or more specifically, whoever writes the short species descriptions (even though I am not the typical hugging kind of person, trust me on this). There are about 50 different species of flowerpeckers globally. There are about 50 different species of flowerpeckers globally. “Dull, me?

Los Angeles 184

Los Angeles Birds Woodpeckers Owls 184

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

The magnificent history and diversity of birds on Earth came into sharper focus this month with the publication of 28 new scientific papers in Science and other journals. One of the central papers, Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds (Jarvis et al. American Flamingo photo by Dick Culbert).

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

The Eurasian Wryneck is the woodpecker that doesn’t look like a woodpecker, the bird with the portmanteau name that is also a medical condition (and which may remind some people of a Nora Ephron essay). They are slim and small-headed birds and their bills are fine, not strong and dynamic. They are ant specialists.

Woodpeckers 232

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 232

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

I’ve never been to the Indonesian Archipelago, but I really like the birds there. Lynx Edicions, the ornithological (and now mammal) publisher that gave us the Handbook of the Birds of the World , has now published Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea , by James A. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W.

Indonesia 125

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 125

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

There are few bird names that will elicit great big smiles and Penguin is one of them. Other contenders are Kookaburra, Shoebill, and Umbrellabird, but people smile when they hear these names because they know a song or because they can’t believe these are real names of real birds. <pause> Do I have your attention now?

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia New Zealand Albatross 278

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

It is the 100th Anniversary of the extinction of the species known as the Passenger Pigeon and writers are paying attention. And, when you think about it, it is pretty remarkable that anything new can still be said about the bird. We have a lot of source material. “Winter Sports in Northern Louisiana: Shooting Wild Pigeons.”

2014 160

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 160

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2018

In addition to my monthly posts here, I have also written short pieces and feature articles that rely on bird-related scientific literature. Other papers are locked behind paywalls.) That research ultimately led to an article about the conservation efforts regarding the Laysan Duck in the June 2017 issue of Birding.

Transported 113

Transported 2011 Research 2012 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2014

The second edition of the National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition has one of the longest book names in bird bookdom: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, 2nd Edition: Now Covering More Than 1,000 Species With the Most-Detailed Information Found in a Single Volume.

North America 177

North America America Birds Family 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

It’s December and that means one thing—a great excuse to buy books on birding. I thought I’d do a round-up of some of the best bird books reviewed this year, a few memorable titles from recent years past, and one that wasn’t reviewed but which I love, that would be great holiday gifts. Books for Beginning Birders.

Papua New Guinea 181

Papua New Guinea 2014 Penguins Birds 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2022

With nine years of experience using it and birding with beginning birders, I would like to update that opinion. Without birds like Blackburnian Warbler to spark people’s interest in birding, we would have far fewer birders. He has been birding since he was a kid, led birding trips across the U.S.

United States 213

United States North America Species 2013 213

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

I had a few commitments at home, requiring me to wait a few days before I joined him to do what wives do and then go birding! I soon collected maps and off I went to wander the parks and look for birds. In only a few days I have added over 30 species to my year list and already I have over 50 species close to the city.

2006 163

2006 Research 2007 2014 163