10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2016

I purchased my first Sibley— The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America —in 2003. Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips? And, that falcons are about as far away from hawks as a bird family could get. This means that loons are no longer first!

North America 155

North America 2003 Birds America 155

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

In all of North America, only one avian species serves as both the beloved mascot of seven states as well as the totem to two professional sports teams (and an infinity of amateur ones!) The family Cardinalidae encompasses a plethora of New World passerines. However, Cardinalis phoeniceus is a South American species.

St. Louis 177

St. Louis United States Belize Guatemala 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

It is worth pointing out that titmice belong to the family Paridae , an expansive international clan made up primarily of what we call “chickadees” in the states but are known as “t**s” in the Old World. Why is this adorable, doll-eyed songbird so often ignored? Birders, because they look, notice them everywhere.

Arizona 262

Arizona Oklahoma Texas Mexico 262

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. As the rally tore through its itinerary, the species piled up.

Peru 254

Peru Birds South America Owls 254

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This small pine tree was very recently demolished by a brown bear. This is like Sibley calling his bird guide “The Sibley guide to Birds of Massachusetts and North America” The latter sounds silly, right? species found only around the Mediterranean or in Europe’s Southeast.

Europe 165

Europe Mammals Animal Birds 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

Found throughout South America in ever-dwindling numbers these extremely beautiful birds – threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the wild bird trade – are often difficult to see and hard to find. Each bird, regardless of species, seems perfectly content to wait for the other to make the first move toward the colpa.

Peru 254

Peru Parrots 2011 Research Center 254

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2021

So, while I am lucky enough to live with my wife and family near the village of Mapleton, in the Blackall Ranges, first join me for a little journey to part of the coast. As in North America this tattler loves the rockier outcrops down here in Australia too. Obviously, the Wandering Tattler is, for us, strictly a summer visitor.

Australia 248

Australia North America Cooking Fish 248

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2017

Duck : “any of various swimming birds (family Anatidae, the duck family) in which the neck and legs are short, the feet typically webbed, the bill often broad and flat, and the sexes usually different from each other in plumage.”. Many individual species get an entry too, though they are generally not capitalized.

Albatross 103

Albatross Bears Ducks Bald Eagle 103

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Not, as Linneaus thought, an ostrich, nor even, as later scientists concluded, a distant cousin of pigeons deserving of family rank, it was an honest-to-goodness pigeon, deeply embedded within the family Columbidae. One species alive today offers a glimpse of such behavior: the Nicobar Pigeon ( Caloenas nicobarica ). .’s

Solomon Islands 273

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 273

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

It’s my fantasy and it’s yours: Quit the job, say good-bye to the family, and bird. And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. And sun bears. It’s what I dream of every Monday morning. And mosquitos. And leeches.

Hunters 188

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Nice. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) Might I assume that women typically bear fewer children, or fewer survive? small families putting less pressure on the adult members of the family).

2011 205

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 205

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

Informed literature bears out my experience that most birds are seen singly or in pairs. A three-part trip report for Hong Kong including the Orange-headed Thrush and visiting Tai Mo Shan , Cheun Lung Family Walk, and Aberdeen Reservoirs, can be found on Redgannet. Very interesting species. Great shots! Married to a Canon?

2011 177

2011 Deer India New York 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

are up next, with a wonderful Australian species: It is very hard to choose a Best Bird of the Year any year. The male of this species has a royal blue throat, a white chest and rump, and a long v-shaped tail with intermittent white patches that makes it looks like part of it are floating in space. Clare (and Grant!) How cool is that?

2020 224

2020 Birds Germany Costa Rica 224

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2016

I must have keep 400 images in the file of just this one species. This late evening photo of an American Avocet is one of my all time favorites of this species. While California Quail are quite common all around North America, getting a really nice shot, out in the wild is always a challenge.

Grizzly Bear 114

Grizzly Bear San Jose Bears Fish 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2012

They occur in three biogeographic regions; the Neotropic, Afrotropic and Indo-Malaya ecozones, basically tropical South and Central America, Africa south of the Sahara and tropical Asia. They are generally cryptic species and despite frequent extended bouts of calling, their ventriloquial skills make them tricky to locate.

Ethiopia 225

Ethiopia Tanzania Africa Uganda 225

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Ever the moral perfectionist, Franklin argued that the turkey was a much more honorable and determined fowl, and suggested the bird – as an “original Native of America” – would make a decidedly more fitting avian mascot for the United States (seemingly implying – incorrectly – that the Bald Eagle is not an indigenous New World species).

2017 151

2017 Bald Eagle United States Turkey 151

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

In 1850, the Passenger Pigeon ( Ectopistes migratorius ) was the most abundant bird in North America and possibly the world. Even with today’s environmental laws, we are losing species at an alarming rate, and with Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary it’s no wonder. A newly created U.S. A newly created U.S. But I digress.

Hunting 109

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 109