10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It feels good to start a post with some truly attractive birds – such as two species of broadbills. Strangely, there do not seem to be many papers on this species. In one paper , you can find fascinating sentences such as “The new species is most similar to D. My cats refuse to even try Fiery Minivets.

Sri Lanka 228

Sri Lanka Birds Taiwan Cats 228

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2023

It covers 403 species: 172 nonpasserine species and 231 passerine species in the Species Accounts, 198 species beautifully illustrated by the author in the Plates section. The scarcity of information on the young of some avian species is astounding.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 272

Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds Family Collecting 272

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

And of eggs and nests and birds on nests. Into the Nest , as the title says, is about the courting, mating, egg-laying, nesting, and parenting behavior of “familiar birds”. Some chapters focus on one species (Yellow Warbler), some on several related species (Chickadees and Nuthatches). And of birds courting and mating.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

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. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science. How do they know?

North America 279

North America Research Birds Groups 279

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Decades of land transformation and hydrological changes resulted in the decline of the only species of apple snail native to Florida and the kite population followed suit. While the native apple snail continued declining, another species of apple snail native to South America began to appear in canals and ponds in South Florida.

Florida 232

Florida South America Eggs Bolivia 232

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Isla Rasa was declared a sanctuary in 1964, and egg-collecting and disturbance during the breeding season are discouraged. With the breeding colony concentrated on one small island this species is vulnerable to a catastrophic weather event. References: 1 Birds of North America Online , 2 BirdLife International. v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 159

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 159

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

The Andean Flamingo ( Phoenicopterus andinus ) is one of the three flamingos occurring in the high Andes of South America. Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Egg collection for local consumption still continues at lower scale.

Chile 155

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 155

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

The Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura) is among the most abundant and widespread terrestrial birds endemic to North and Middle America. Their habitats vary widely in both rural and urban landscapes; open habitats are preferred and the species generally shuns only extensively forested areas and wetlands 1.

Hunters 181

Hunters Hunting North America Game 181

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2020

Plus a few truly difficult species. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. But the Kentish Plover was sheltering its young under its body, and the Little Ringed Plover was incubating an egg — right in the middle of downtown Madrid! So seeing this beautiful (though common) European species was a special treat.

Austria 154

Austria Spain 2019 Birds 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2014

The featured image above shows a female incubating eggs from my first resident breeding pair back in 2007. Violet-green Swallows will nest solitarily or in colonies and in my experience seem much more mellow than other swallow species. The four to six eggs are white and unmarked. References: 1 Birds of North America Online.

Eggs 164

Eggs North America 2007 Woodpeckers 164

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2013

When it comes to New World flycatchers, empids tend to irritate me for the same reasons they irritate everyone, but species in the genus Contopus make me much happier for inexplicable reasons. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2013 184

2013 North America Birds Eggs 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

The northwestern spread of this non-native species made it to my yard a few years ago. The lightest shade of lavender coincides with a 0 – 2% frequency of sightings, the next darker shade 2 – 10%, the next 10 – 25%, the next 25 – 40% and the darkest (almost black) shade is a 40 – 100% occurrence of the species.

Breeders 182

Breeders 2002 North America Bahamas 182

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Twenty two species are distributed among six genera, depending on what happens to be extinct, and for the most part one grebe is like another. This makes Grebes vulnerable to climate change and the predation of invasive species. It is easy to see how Minks set lose in a welcoming habitat could eat an entire species.

2010 208

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2015

The Brown Pelican and the Peruvian Pelican are closely related and once were considered the same species. The Brown Pelican occurs in both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and northern South America. The species reached pre-pesticide numbers by the late 1990s and was fully delisted in 2009.

Pelicans 157

Pelicans North America Peru Fish 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The Bank Swallow ( Riparia riparia ) is North America’s smallest swallow. The report identifies 33 species that do not meet the Watch List criteria but are declining rapidly in many areas. The main reason for this rapid decline, as in the case of most species, is loss of habitat. Click on photos for full sized images.

North America 191

North America 2014 California Birds 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2013

They packed up in June of 2013 and headed south from San Diego with the southern tip of South America as their destination. We hope that our journey will provide important information about many Neotropical bird species as well as inform conservation.” Very little is known about this enigmatic species.

South America 192

South America San Diego Mexico America 192

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

Osborn, a passionate field biologist who participates to the core of her being three re-introduction projects aimed at saving three very different, endangered species: Peregrine Falcon, Hawaiian Crow (‘Alala)*, and California Condor. Sophie Osborn’s stories are personal and inspiring, but this is more than a personal memoir.

California Condor 193

California Condor Falcons California Birds 193

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. 266-67).

Dissection 236

Dissection Birds Research Europe 236

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Today, the species has all but disappeared east of the Mississippi River and has declined in western parts of its range, most likely caused by the expansion of the House Wren which destroys and removes their eggs from nest sites 1. References: 1 Birds of North America Online. This is what I am used to seeing.

Mississippi 173

Mississippi North America Eggs America 173

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

It was not a kitty cat, even though all of its relatives in the Americas were. But they don’t live in North America. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. In North America, you’ve got Bears at the large end, Cats in the middle, and at the smaller end, the Mustilids.

Feral Cats 256

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

Shrikes by the numbers: The family Laniidae is composed of 31 species of shrike, around the globe. The most common species here in North America is the Loggerhead Shrike , Laniidae ludovicianus which has 11 subspecies. Each nesting pair will have 4-8 eggs, and there is some reference to location being a factor on that quantity.

Butcher 121

Butcher Birds North America Mexico 121

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2014

The Results of the 2014 Tricolored Blackbird Statewide Survey confirm that this species is in rapid decline. ” The report continues: “Following the breeding season, most tricolors are found in the Sacramento Valley where they aggregate with red-winged and other blackbird species and feed, often in large flocks, on ripening rice.

Blackbirds 191

Blackbirds California 2014 2013 191

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

Clicking on the map will take you to an explanation of this important biome, including its climate and its plant and animal species. All four major flyways in North America — the aerial migration routes traveled by billions of birds each year — converge in one spot in Canada’s boreal forest, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in northeastern Alberta.

Obama 256

Obama 2008 United States Industry 256

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2015

This results in all eggs and chicks being taken by the water and a failed nesting attempt. During the wet or flooded season most Amazonian shorebirds congregates on the eastern coast of South America in coastal mangroves, estuaries, coastal lagoons, river mouths, and even rice fields.

South America 169

South America Fish Breeding Eggs 169

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

The Black Swift is considered a Species of Special Concern in California. Plus the fact that they only lay one egg per season which is incubated for about four weeks and the chicks don’t fledge for another fifty days gives you some notion as to why these birds are a Species of Special Concern.

California 222

California North America Costa Rica Niger 222

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2012

We have just three native species of lizard in New York State ( Northern Fence Lizard , Five-lined Skink and Coal Skink ) and one introduced species ( Italian Wall Lizard ). Green Iguanas range from southern Mexico and the Caribbean islands to South America and are relatively common.

New York 167

New York Reptiles Eggs South America 167

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2017

Though they weight less than two ounces, Least Terns migrate from South America to the West, East, and Gulf Coast to breed on dunes or flat gravel roofs (there are also populations in the middle of the United States). In Florida, the Least Tern is a state-designated threatened species; the interior populations are federally endangered.

South America 104

South America United States Protection Pelicans 104

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2013

The White-headed Woodpecker is a non-migratory bird found in mixed coniferous forests dominated by pine trees in far western North America. Yah, another western species. White-headed Woodpeckers usually lay 4 to 5 eggs in a clutch and we’ve seen at least three different nestlings here now. White-headed Woodpecker Male.

Woodpeckers 154

Woodpeckers North America America Eggs 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2012

Right now we’re pretty much a three species town, Ravens with a chance of Hoary Redpolls and a sprinkling of Rock Ptarmigan. (I I smashed the High Arctic Christmas Bird Count record this January 2nd by managing to find all three species here in town. Typically there are four eggs in a brood especially on good year.

South America 163

South America Eggs Family Raised 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2015

Western Bluebirds ( Sialia mexicana ) like the male shown above, as well as Eastern Bluebirds ( Sialis sialis ) and Mountain Bluebirds ( Sialis currucoides ) have all benefited from 90 years of nest boxes and bluebird trails, monitored by thousands of bluebird enthusiasts across North America.

Tenant 161

Tenant Farming Illinois North America 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2011

If you were an Eskimo Curlew (and boy, do we wish you were) somewhere in Newfoundland ready to head south across the sea to South America, eating an extra bit of food before take-off will certainly be easier than going down for a quick drink of fresh water somewhere over the Atlantic. Or picture yourself as a bird fetus within an egg.

Mammals 254

Mammals Birds Eggs Fish 254

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2015

Another species of Python, the African Python ( Python sebae ) has established a small population in the 2,877-acre Bird Drive Area (BDA) in South Florida. Photo Credit: Invasive and Exotic Species of North America (www.invasive.org). The invasive Burmese Python ( Python molurus ) is well established in the Florida Everglade.

Pythons 186

Pythons Florida Mammals Reptiles 186

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2013

The two dozen species are, nearly to an individual, long bodied and bicolored. In North America, at least in the eastern part of it, we celebrate the return of the Baltimore Oriole to parks and farms this time of year. Icterus is a wide-ranging neotropical genus consisting of the technicolor blackbirds we call orioles. Just lazy ones.

Baltimore 183

Baltimore Broker North America Raised 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Both the male and female of the species have a bright red crown. Within a group, 1–7 male co-breeders compete for matings with 1–3 joint-nesting females who lay their eggs in the same nest cavity. Acorn Woodpeckers are the only species to store individual nuts in holes drilled in granaries. Click on photos for full sized images.

Woodpeckers 187

Woodpeckers Breeders Groups North America 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Horned Larks breed widely over North America, including up here in the High Arctic. Here they are a common breeding bird, one of our two species that migrate from here to Europe and then south. I had hoped to have some Semipalmated Plover chick photos for comparison but as of last night they seem to be still at the egg stage.

Eggs 195

Eggs North America Breeding Europe 195

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

Cliff Swallows migrate to North America from their wintering grounds in South America to nest in large colonies, sometimes numbering in the thousands. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

In the marshes of the estancia , he discovers what he comes to believe is a new species of rail – one of the “accidentals” of the title. And the nandu, a South American rhea, has an intriguing chick-survival strategy: a week before hatching, the male (who does the incubating) pushes one egg out of the nest.

Uruguay 156

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 156