10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2015

Later, it was brought up that the now famous ducks appear not to mind the presence of humans. They don’t even take their tucked-in heads out, a position some resting ducks adopt, when people approach them to distances of only a few meters. Is this the first record of this species in the region in over a 100 years?,

Ducks 157

Ducks South America Peru Adoptable 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2019

More than 5,000 bird species in the world make some kind of seasonal movement. The harshest law of all, one more draconian than any human legislature could enact, is the law of unintended consequences. On our North American continent, tens of millions of birds are flying northward on peak spring nights.

Ohio 193

Ohio Bats Legislature Ducks 193

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Like so many nomads human and otherwise, the Pine Siskins are pleased to call this valley home base. I’ve written before about how much I enjoy the abundance of Pine Siskins in my adopted home. I was expecting Pine Siskins here. After all, there are pines. But I wasn’t expecting so many.

Blackbirds 163

Blackbirds Adoptable Humane Family 163

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2015

The early teen years are prime time for kids to adopt environmentalism as a cause. The human sense of fairness and empathy is strongly in place by age eight or so, while puberty sparks the sense that authority figures don’t always know best and that heady idealism that old fogies tend to see as self-righteousness.

Adoptable 180

Adoptable Groups Humane Birds 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Nearly 70 species of parrots have been recorded flying free at some stage or another in Miami, including Hyacinth Macaws. But its not just parrots that are doing well in their adopted city. Dozens of other introduced bird species, largely escapees from pet owners, now call Miami home. I suspect that it is just this. Reluctance.

Miami 130

Miami Parrots Research Birds 130

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

And I received confirmation of something I've known since 2004, when we adopted retired racing greyhound, Violet Rays: That there's sort of a critical period for dog-behavior acquisition, and if it's missed, the dog isn't likely to mature into the type of loving being whose behavior we've come to associate with "pet" dogs.

Dogs 100

Dogs Pit Bulls Greyhounds Kennels 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s very hard to organize the many ways in which human beings relate to avian beings into comprehensible text. We sing about them, we paint them, we use them as mythic and poetic symbols for our spiritual and emotional feelings, we wear them in myriad and often colorful ways, we adopt them as household pets.

Birds 205

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 205

Critter News

DECEMBER 14, 2008

If they are not adoptable, oh well, kill them. Of course, this is the military, so why should they be any better than humanity in general?) Frizzell explained that a large population of feral cats is ultimately detrimental to the overall environmental health of the base, its native species and ecosystems.

Feral Cats 100

Feral Cats Feral Cats Compassion 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Thankfully the days of visiting Africa purely for slaughtering its wildlife have mostly come to a merciful end, and safari operators have adopted the Big Five term to market tours that offer sightings of the fortunate remanants of Africa’s once teeming great herds.

Buffalo 195

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 195

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

California Condor 175

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 175

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

Also, feral Cats on islands seem to be a serious problem, causing the extirpation of some indigenous species. A hungry feral Cat in Minnesota goes and finds new prey in an area it previously had not explored, leaving the last few of one or another bird species alone for a while. They are invasive species.

Feral Cats 252

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 252

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2011

The kiwi (note, Maori loanwords do not get an ‘s’ when made plural) were first used as logos in the 19th century, and were quickly adopted as a a national emblem before the turn of the century. Both these tours are for the Little Spotted Kiwi , the smallest species and one now one mainly confined to offshore islands.

New Zealand 143

New Zealand 2011 Deer New York 143

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

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 198

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 198

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

“But lets see … I’d say one of my most memorable releases is that of a Purple Martin , a species of special concern in California. Biologists are trying to get them to adopt nest boxes, but no luck with the CA birds so far. It was like they said, “You reek of humans, go wash.”.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 214

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ohio Tulsa West Virginia 214

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Anyway, so I started checking my bird photo collection for photos of species starting with an A (after all, this is a bird photo blog, though I sometimes tend to forget this). Let us start with some of the cheaters in the A-Team – the ones just adopting the name of a continent to get into this post. Are you still with me?

South Africa 310

South Africa China Nevada Africa 310

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2020

This boldness isn’t restricted to exchanges with other grouse, either: in some locales, members of this circumpolar family are astonishingly foolhardy around humans. But there’s at least one night on the Scottish calendar when the grouse enjoys a reprieve, at least from human appetites.

Sheep 189

Sheep Branding Ireland Fowl 189

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. Errol Fuller’s The Passenger Pigeon is a beautifully illustrated, elegantly written “celebration” of the passenger pigeon and the artists who illustrated and photographed the species.

2014 159

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 159

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. This slow reproduction rate is unlike any other avian game species currently hunted.

2011 239

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 239

Animal Person

AUGUST 25, 2010

An Animal Person reader wrote me with the following question: There are many species of cichlids in Lake Victoria that are on the verge of extinction, and most are hardy and small enough to be kept in an aquarium. I intend to stick with rescuing rabbits from now on.) I'd really like to get your opinion on this.

Fish 100

Fish Rabbits Rescue Vegan 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2022

This is a rather photographer-friendly species, staying on the same branch for quite a while and even returning to it after catching some insects – you can see this on video here and here. While the source does not say so directly, it hints that this means the species is not as intelligent as Eurasian Magpies (which pass the test).

Finland 147

Finland Birds 2016 McDonalds 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2019

And, I looked at my eBird list and realized I’ve seen nine species of Antpitta and one of Gnateater. Antpittas and Gnateaters covers 64 species in six genera and two families. (I The Species Accounts feature highly detailed text by Harold Greeley, distribution maps, and over 250 photographs by a number of photographers.

Research 136

Research Eggs South America Costa Rica 136

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2020

Even through they subsist on insects during much of the year, European Robins are year-round residents of Britain, and during the colder, gray months of year, their colorful bearing and often audacious presence around humans was not lost on early observers.

Ireland 153

Ireland Branding Spain Compassion 153

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2013

And if a feral cat colony is near an endangered species, the colony should be eliminated. “Why can’t the kittens be adopted,” I asked in her comments section. We see several different types of species. Then one of my nieces started updating about a feral family she was watching.

Feral Cats 176

Feral Cats Feral Cats Family 176