10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Over 80 percent of North Dakota’s prairie has vanished, but there are still millions of acres in North Dakota, under both government protection and private ownership. Since 1966, when the Breeding Bird Survey first began monitoring, numbers have declined 79 percent.

North Dakota 138

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 138

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

I’m focusing on Turkey Vultures here because they are undoubtedly the species most birders in North America (the home of 10kB) are most familiar with, but the name vulture applies to birds found around the globe. It’s worthy of admiration , if not respect, for this most disrespected of birds. Here’s the kicker though.

California Condor 180

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 180

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

The population of parrotlets they studied was located on one of the many huge hatos (cattle ranches) in the Venezuelan llanos, a vast swath of flat flooded savannah in the central third of the country that drains into the Rio Orinoco. You don’t really know a bird until you’ve studied it on its breeding grounds. The Auk 108: 863-871.

Eggs 268

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 268

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

There is a small resident population in Polk County, Florida, in the middle of the peninsula, mostly on protected land, and once in a while they show up in a place where they can be easily observed. So, I was excited to read reports in late 2017 of a pair of Whooping Cranes being seen on a cattle farm.

2018 155

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 155