10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Birds know habitat. They don’t read treaties or draw maps or build walls and, as far as we can tell (since we can’t talk to birds, yet), they have no concept of political boundaries. Robert Gallardo’s self-published Guide to the Birds of Honduras came out in 2015, and is the first bird field guide dedicated to that country.

El Salvador 234

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2021

Ranging in color from off-white to dingy black, with pastel to gelatinous shades of yellow, orange, purple, and brown in-between, found in moist crevasses, decaying trees, rain-soaked pastures, mushrooms lack the beauty of butterflies and wildflowers cannot equal the action of bats, or flying fish, and certainly lack the spiritual zest of birds.

North America 270

North America America Species 2018 270

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2023

Everyone loves baby birds; 10,000 Birds even had a Baby Bird Week once upon a time! Baby birds are cuteness personified, possibly even more so than other baby animals, including human babies, and pose interesting questions of survival and development. Aren’t they usually in their nest with their parents?”

Wildlife Rehabilitation 270

Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds Family Collecting 270

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

The point is, the field guide I grabbed without hesitation was the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition by Jon L. No other field guide to North American birds does rarities so comprehensively and so well. (To Bins, camera, Nat Geo—the three essential elements for a mega-rarity twitch.

North America 187

North America America 2017 Birds 187

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 178

North America America Birds Family 178

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

For many North American birders, wood warblers represent everything exciting, compelling, and immediate about birding. That fallacious family name seems to have encouraged all manner of knaves, dunderheads, and miscreants when time came to label species. Consider some examples: NAMED FOR OTHER BIRDS. NAMED FOR PEOPLE.

Rights 113

Rights Connecticut Tennessee Nashville 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2013

With the Audubon Christmas Bird Count season in full swing here in the Western Hemisphere, one of the birds on my mind is Golden-crowned Kinglet , a bird often heard and seen on the counts I do every year, and thus one that holds special seasonal significance to me. Birds kinglets taxonomy and systematics'

Family 187

Family Guatemala Mexico Japan 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2017

There are birders who watch hawks and there are hawk watchers who bird. Raptors of Mexico and Central America by William S. This is the first identification guide that I know of that covers Mexico (technically North America but rarely included in North American raptor guides) and Central America. Clark and N.

Mexico 174

Mexico America North America Falcons 174

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

To celebrate spring migration, I usually review an exciting new bird book. You can blame the nice people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who took it upon themselves to send me a review copy of the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America by Seabrooke Leckie and David Beadle. Moths are more than bird food.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2017

The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow is innovative, fascinating, and challenging. The guide covers 520 species of birds regularly found in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, including, interestingly, a number of exotic species. But, first the basics.

North America 178

North America America Birds New York 178

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

I started out my birding life sitting on Benches 2 and 7 at the Jamaica Bay NWR West Pond, my Peterson’s in my lap, studying Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, and the occasional Pintail. But, as with many avian families, the more you look, the more complicated it gets. A minor item, but I like to get these things right.)

North America 161

North America Asia Europe America 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2023

Christian Cooper comes on screen about two-and-a-half minutes into The Central Park Effect , appreciating a Prothonotary Warbler at ‘the Point’ while telephoning a friend with the news (this is pre-text group), a nice hint of the collegial networks that underlie Central Park birding. Memoirs are rare in the birding world.

Emotional 228

Emotional Birds Minneapolis Nepal 228

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

Towhees are large, ground-hugging sparrows that occur only in North America. As I explained early on in my 10,000 Birds “career”, the first weird thing about our local Spotted Towhees is… they have no spots. There are many birds that I can see at a glance, be sure of their identity, and move on.

Mexico 222

Mexico North America 2015 Sparrows 222

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2022

In the world of birding, we have our stars, the birds that lift our spirits and provoke oohs, aahs, and admiration. These are the birds that make us race to the nearest park, scan refuge headquarter trees with anxious eyes, and turn some of us into temporary paparazzi.

Costa Rica 285

Costa Rica Nashville Tennessee Turtles 285

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2019

We should stop naming birds, especially non-European birds, after European and Euroamerican naturalists and scientists, especially if we are committed to making the worlds of birds and birding accessible to more people than the demographics that produced the Audubons, Wilsons, Stellers, and MacGillivrays.

Birds 260

Birds North America Cooking Campaign 260

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

So I contacted him for the exact location, which turned out to be a beautiful 14-acre property that belongs to his family, and he kindly invited me over. We didn’t manage to make it happen the first Monday, but on the 28th of June, we birded his property together. That’s 100% Barn Owl butt, right there.

Barn Owls 262

Barn Owls Owls Mexico Leopards 262

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2022

All right, I’ll admit it. I’m feeling pretty good about myself right now. I came back from a Monday birding trip and told my wife, prior to reviewing my photos, that I saw a bird that was either 1) interesting, or 2) historic. And the bird in question even allowed me some great photos! Not a Caspian.

Mexico 234

Mexico 2018 Ducks Breeding 234

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Knowing that there are reserves with long lists of 600 or more species, I set my threshold at more than 600 birds… and found only a few such hotspots. Such places are clearly under-visited, under-birded or eBird isn’t that popular in those parts of the world. Other countries still have to reach the 300 birds threshold.

Asia 276

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 276

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Are seabirds the last frontier of bird identification? They say so right here in the Preface of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide —seabirds are “some of the most challenging of all birds to identify.” Which makes the publication of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide a significant and happy event.

Albatross 167

Albatross North America Birds Groups 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

They are one of the most famous families of birds, and for good reason. Often taken for granted by residents of the islands, these feisty birds are only found within T&T and Venezuela – making them life birds for the majority of visiting birders. Most visible are the ubiquitous Copper-rumped Hummingbirds.

Trinidad 263

Trinidad South America Venezuela 2019 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They looked out their windows and across their patios and up from their apartment terraces and saw–birds. This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

The holidays started early this year, with the first night of Hannukah coming right at the end of Thanksgiving weekend! Here are the picks of the 10,000 Birds reviewing team (Tristan, Donna, Dragan, Mike, Corey, Carrie, and Mark) for 2021 bird books and other things with high quality, uniqueness, and giftability. * Tristan). ==.

Birds 246

Birds Colombia Collecting Bald Eagle 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

They also remind me why I love birding in Michoacán. The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. Both are large, stocky birds, with a large head and long, squared-off tail. Those are good numbers.

Mexico 194

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 194

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2021

I got back into birding less than a decade ago, long after moving to Mexico in 1983. So I can hardly speak with authority on birding in the U.S. A quick study as I researched this post revealed that fully 37 Arizonan “specialties” are common birds right here where I live. These are all summer-only in Arizona.)

Arizona 264

Arizona Mexico Los Angeles Dallas 264

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? Am I willing to give up the field guide which bears the mud and dirt of so many falls on so many birding trips?

North America 171

North America 2003 Birds America 171

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

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In September, I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to an increasingly popular destination for birding: Honduras. Chris Lotz, the owner of the international bird tour company Birding Ecotours , invited me to join him on a familiarization trip that included several highland sites as well as Pico Bonito Lodge.

Honduras 226

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 226

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2020

For bird books, we mean – reference works and field guides, books of essays and reminiscences, novels, and works on birdsong and other specialties. In any event, there is no better judge of potent potables in the birding world, no better writer about them, than Tristan Lowery, in his charming and unique “Birds and Booze” essays.

2020 209

2020 Birds North America Italy 209

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2020

There wasn’t much in the way of birds in the yard, maybe a Cooper’s Hawk winging through from the north, crows calling and House Sparrows chirping. That’s where the birds were, thousands of gulls, rafts of diving ducks, Buffleheads and goldeneyes buzzing the cold, gray water.

Costa Rica 244

Costa Rica Turkey Iceland Eagles 244

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 181

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 181

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In this post, we’ll share the most positive of the positives, at least for those who write for 10,000 Birds who decided to share. Of all the birds that make the list for a given year one of those birds must be the Best Bird of the Year. We are always content bird-watching around Broome anyway!

2020 245

2020 Birds Costa Rica Germany 245

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

The Durango Highway is arguably one of North America’s great birding roads due to the great variety of habitats, the spectacular mountain scenery of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the numerous Mexican endemics one can target. There are many dusty side roads in this area, many of which offer productive birding.

Mexico 201

Mexico Costa Rica Arizona Birds 201

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Conservationists and nature lovers both in America and abroad may rightfully feel a sense of dread at the rumors of Sarah “Drill Baby Drill” Palin as our next Secretary of the Interior. I have lots of family visiting this weekend, which will likely curtail avian observation. How about you?

2016 124

2016 Birds America Protection 124

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

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.

Dissection 234

Dissection Birds Research Europe 234

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Some people read cookbooks though they have no intention of whipping up a mushroom risotto, some people read bird guide books, even when the likelihood of actually seeing the creatures in those guides is remote. It covers 434 species across 9 orders and 18 families of birds. SCOPE & SPECIES ORGANIZATION.

Albatross 279

Albatross Penguins Family Groups 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

However, no matter how one enjoys or takes in interest in the avian side of life, an official list of the birds for a given area is of vital importance. With the rise in birding tourism, bird lists for entire countries have also become increasingly important. Not every list has Great Tinamou on it. So long buddy.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2021

Of all my favorite birding sites, by far the closest to home is la Cañada de los Filtros Viejos (“the Canyon of the Old Filters”, named for structures that once provided water to the city of Morelia). And, of course, I wanted to see how its birds are doing. I wanted to see how those scars were healing.

Mexico 238

Mexico Sparrows United States Virginia 238