10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2019

Luckily, for birds, I didn’t have to, as a skulky Winter Wren sought shelter right outside my dining room window, adding a highly improbable third wren species to my yard list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2019 126

2019 New York Shelters Birds 126

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen. How can I narrow down the eight-hundred-sixty-three species to ten? How can I, by listing only ten, call eight-hundred-fifty-three species not worthy?

2019 137

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 137

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2019

Corey had most of the morning on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to bird and he made the most of it, adding over twenty species to his year list for Queens and just generally enjoying spring migration. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2019 113

2019 Kentucky Birds Ducks 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2019

Of what he did see, a pair of Bald Eagles at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was the highlight, a species that didn’t used to be around in June in Queens at all. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. So, Bald Eagles as his Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

2019 114

2019 Bald Eagle Jamaica Eagles 114

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2019

Based on how naturally parrots and leafbirds (the real ones in Asia, not the figments that plague birders in every country) blend into foliage, I’d imagine that most arboreal avian species would want the same advantages. Corey enjoyed a spring like outing on Sunday morning, adding eight species to his Queens year list.

2019 114

2019 Asia Turkey Parrots 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2019

Our Little Big Day (only half a day birding… feel free to use the term) turned out a little smaller than Ivy and I had hoped, but we mustered 38 species on a day most migrants seemed to spend getting as far from Rochester as possible. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2019 117

2019 Pelicans Birds Experience 117

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2019

I found myself in fine company on the hawk watch platform at Braddock Bay, where streaming flocks of Turkey Vultures were infiltrated by a variety of hawk species. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Did you join the party?

2019 114

2019 Turkey Birds Experience 114

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2019

We encounter all sorts of exciting FOY species, including a particularly gorgeous Black-throated Green Warbler. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. The post Best Bird of the Weekend (First of May 2019) appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

2019 114

2019 New York Birds Experience 114

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2019

Though he had quite a few species to choose from his easy favorite was any of the many Razorbills he saw at Breezy Point. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. The post Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of January 2019) appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

2019 113

2019 New York City New York Birds 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2019

The best of the bunch was a winter species, Common Redpolls probably winging it to the boreal forest. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. The post Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of March 2019) appeared first on 10,000 Birds. No worries, because better days lie ahead.

2019 114

2019 Birds Experience Experiments 114

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Ecuador is one of the world’s leading destinations for birdwatchers, and no wonder: with more then 1,600 bird species found throughout the small country, Ecuador has the world’s highest density of bird species found per acre. In fact, 1,600 different bird species accounts for almost 20% of the species known to exist in the world.

Ecuador 253

Ecuador Birds 2019 Cattle 253

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2019

The sighting or species in question need not meet any standard except those you set for it. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. The post Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of February 2019) appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

2019 113

2019 New York Birds Experience 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2020

That is the state of our 2020 year lists and general birding experience. Some of us have already enjoyed some New Year’s day bio-blitzing, but the first weekend of the year offers so much potential to become reacquainted with the species you haven’t seen since 2019. Embrace it… the opportunity, not the birds!

2020 183

2020 2019 Birds Experience 183

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

Although Bobolinks are a very rare migrant, lots of other birds are possible, more than enough to rack up hundreds of species over the course of the year. Each January, I hope to identify at least 600 species over the next 12 months, this year, I’m hoping that Marilen and I (aka Team Tyto ) will find 700.

Costa Rica 196

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 196

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

I had the good fortune to visit Lake Nakuru in Kenya in 2019, one of the high elevation rift valley soda lakes. Obliging species like Grey-headed Kingfisher , Long-crested Eagle , and even a pair of Greater Blue-eared Starlings ensured we didn’t get anywhere quickly. There were many other species around this prolific area.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

The Shoebill serves as the symbol of the magnificent wildlife experiences Uganda offers visitors, which may seem a bit odd. That honor goes to the Gray-crowned Crane , a very sexy species in its own right. Having finally seen this iconic species, I can assure you that the experience wildly exceeds expectations.

Uganda 252

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 252

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

More than 20 species are recognized, many look similar and to throw a bit more challenging flavored sauce into the Megascops mix, there might be a few more species awaiting description. One of the more recently, officially recognized screech-owl species is the Choco Screech-Owl.

Costa Rica 187

Costa Rica Owls Panama Argentina 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2021

I don’t know whether head brewer Chris Schell – a Delmar native with a decade of craft brewing experience – is a birder or not, but each beer is adorned with trippy, vaguely sci-fi depictions of birds by Boston artist Ian Tartasky , some of which seem to be identifiable to species.

New York 260

New York Boston 2019 Collecting 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2019

If you are into amazing avian-dense trail experiences, you either want to bird Pipeline Road or want to bird it again. But this type of singular experience can be enjoyed in the Old World as well. The lush understory supports a multitude of different ecological niches yet still affords good sightlines to spy the species within.

Uganda 198

Uganda Africa Monkeys Birds 198

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

They were my target species, and I remember being delighted in not only seeing them well, but finding feeding flocks that were remarkably unconcerned about being watched. Such an intimate encounter with one of the world’s rarest birds was a memorable experience.

Morocco 215

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 215

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

They are of the race islandica , a sub species of the nominate race, limosa. Most of the Icelandic population winters in the British isles The sightings stopped, but then on 18 February 2019 EY70 137 was observed on Lady’s Island Lake, Wexford, Ireland. Black-tailed Godwits on the move. Was this where it spent its winters?

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

An associated issue is that the Belize and Costa Rica guides share many of the same descriptions of species, written by Howell. Similarly, descriptions of species repeated across volumes do not lose their accuracy with each publication. Other species are splits and lumped and have had their names changed. Why are these issues?

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

An expanse of habitat as vast as Murchison Falls NP in Uganda, as excessively generous in beauty and biodiversity, permits endless ways to experience both its birds and animals. Mike and Corey attended the 2019 African Birding Expo in the company of African birding legend Herbert Byaruhanga and a slew of international birding professionals.

Uganda 177

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. In other words, eBird is effectively a complete history of my birding experiences. After an initial period when all species are new, the lifers begin to follow a pattern. In 2019, it is hard to imagine birding without eBird.

Puerto Rico 143

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 143

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

On my 21-day Kenyan safaris we reckoned to find around 600 species of birds and around 60 mammals, both impressive totals. In 2023 I attempted to keep a year list of mammal encounters: the list barely exceeded 20 species, while it became complicated by seeing bats and voles that I was unable to name specifically.

Fur 176

Fur Bulgaria Otters Estonia 176

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. How do they know? I do wish there was more about research on female bird song.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Myers, a professional birding guide in “real life,” summarizes the etymology and history of all common bird names (of bird families and groups, not all 10,000-plus species). The guide covers 265 of Maine’s 461 bird species: common nesting species, common migrants, and wintering birds.

Sri Lanka 216

Sri Lanka Malaysia Birds Suriname 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

Solid Air: Invisible Killer- Saving Billions of Birds from Windows is the summation of Dr. Klem’s expertise, experience, and professional life–what we scientifically know about bird and glass collisions, a handbook on how to prevent them, and, not insignificantly, the story of a remarkable career. by Daniel Klem, Jr.,

New York City 247

New York City Birds Illinois Science 247

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

So, for example, Essay #15, “Individual Variation,” uses Herring Gulls to introduce the concept that one species, even one species at a specific age, can vary widely in appearance. The Checklist is more than a taxonomic listing of species and chapter number and title; it also contains useful notes on each bird family.

Birds 114

Birds North America Breeding America 114

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

eBird doesn’t offer such an option, so I used the second best: the species was observed in one month only. I counted them very roughly, but I do have a lot of experience estimating flocks. What qualifies a bird to be included in the top-5? My first criterion was that I observed it only once during the year 2018.

2018 116

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 116

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Her bird books are Birds by the Shore (previously Notes from the Shore, 1995 and re-issued 2019) and the award-winning The Genius of Birds (2016), which focused on studies of bird cognition. It’s fascinating stuff.

Research 213

Research Birds Science Costa Rica 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Habitat is very important to Hashimoto’s art, they are part of her observational and creative experience, and I think it’s this attention to appropriate waters, plants, climate, and time of day that make her bird portraits special. The index lists bird species by whole name, which is less than satisfactory. Skipstone, 2019.

Birds 143

Birds Eggs Laws Woodpeckers 143

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 142

North America Sparrows America United States 142

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2019

With hope, your memories of birding in 2019 will evoke wonder, excitement, and satisfaction for years and decades to come. I recently despaired of ending this calendar year without seeing a single Wild Turkey when that species used to be so reliable in my part of New York.

2019 136

2019 Nevada Turkey New York 136

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

I write this on the final day of the year, the last bit of 2019. If birders still fancied adding that Purple Finch, Ivory Gull, or Three-wattled Bellbird in 2019, December 31st would have been their final chance. During a memorable guiding trip in June, we hit the jackpot with all three species of hawk-eagles in just a few days.

Costa Rica 179

Costa Rica 2019 San Jose Eagles 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

But when I felt familiar with perhaps half of the species around my town, I started to feel that my field guide is now too bulky and too hefty to carry, and that was the era before smartphones and phone apps. It is not a concept for a total beginner, more of a reminder to someone with some experience. Subspecies are not included.

Birds 236

Birds Botswana Africa Ecuador 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 200

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 200