article thumbnail

The return of the Old Man

10,000 Birds

Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World states that “disturbance by local people, tourists, and egg and zoo collectors has similarly reduced the colonies, and more protection is vital”. The Italian wintering grounds are the WWF Oasis Laguna di Orbetello, where in February 2016 I was delighted to meet the flock.

Morocco 217
article thumbnail

Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Baby Bird Identification: A North American Guide–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Baby birds are cuteness personified, possibly even more so than other baby animals, including human babies, and pose interesting questions of survival and development. Baby birds may be separated from the nest and their parents because of natural occurrences (violent weather, floods) or unknowing human interference or predators.

article thumbnail

15 Australian Birds (Episode 1)

10,000 Birds

All photos were taken in Australia in December 2016 – locations included Brisbane and surroundings, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Melbourne, and the coast near Melbourne. Contrary to alleged preferences among humans, the golden-headed cisticola has a shorter tail during the breeding season ( source ).

Australia 181
article thumbnail

Altruism, Albatrosses, and Vicious Young Men

10,000 Birds

The oldest Laysan albatross was last seen raising a chick on Midway Atoll in 2016, at age 66. They emerged from their bloody rampage leaving fifteen adults dead, and fifteen destroyed nests with either smashed or missing eggs. Between the adults and their eggs, the three of them killed 32 live albatrosses.

Albatross 214
article thumbnail

Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Sadly, the ‘Alala do not survive, not her birds, not the neighboring wild birds, not the Hawaiian Crows released in 2016 with great hopes for re-introduction. Osborn leaves at the end of her brief tenure with hope that her charges will remain healthy and independent (one crow has already been treated for malaria and survived).

article thumbnail

What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

They did flush eventually, but not because of humans. There were an estimated 13,000 breeding pairs and roosting birds in 2016; additional islands have been created to support the increasing population and a raised (17-feet) walkway with observation platforms allows birders and photographers to enjoy them.

Houston 203