10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

American White Pelicans spend their winter months along the Gulf states, California, parts of Arizona, and Mexico down into Central America. No matter how many times I see them, this particular species remains breathtaking. I’m talking, of course, about “my” flock of American White Pelicans.

Pelicans 221

Pelicans United States Canada Arizona 221

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

This added layer elevates Birding Under the Influence: Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery from a book of fun birding and travel adventures to a more complex memoir about the ways in which birding spurs self-reflection, motivates life change, feeds a need for wonder, and creates community. The absolute craziness of it all?

Birds 207

Birds Los Angeles Massachusetts New York City 207

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The 1st edition from 1999 was a complete revolution in just about everything, but predominantly the quality and realism of illustrations, showing what a field guide could be and seriously raising the threshold for other publishers. The section with vagrants has been expanded to accommodate more images and longer texts for several species.

Europe 249

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 249

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

Despite their foreign origin, introduced gamebirds in North America seem to enjoy a better reputation among birders than other nonnative birds. And because of the resemblance they bear to their New World cousins in the family Phasianidae , they even look the part of an “authentic” wild bird in North America. What’s in a name?

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Sometimes, they even have the same species… I’m looking at you, House Wren ! While this low-density species may be declining across its wide range, BirdLife International still considers it of Least Concern. Encountering this stunner, one of the largest passerines in South America, raises a number of questions.

Colombia 188

Colombia South America Argentina Ecuador 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2012

Residents of the Americas may find this hard to believe, but the ubiquitous, adaptable House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) is declining in its native lands. World Sparrow Day is celebrated annually on March 20th to raise awareness across the globe about the decline of the House Sparrow and how it impacts all of us.

Sparrows 182

Sparrows 2012 Raised America 182

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

This particular species is not native to New Zealand (similar to its status in North America). A European Starling in New Zealand made the news this week. The woman in the video found it as a chick at a few days old and hand reared it. In areas where starlings are introduced, the laws for keeping them as pets are relaxed.

New Zealand 164

New Zealand North America Laws Humane 164

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2015

With its red, white, and blue plumage, it is also clearly the most “patriotic” bird in America. Both species are notoriously aggressive, and out-competed bluebirds for the nesting cavities they needed to raise their young. It’s true, there was some push-back when naming the bluebird.

New York 160

New York New York City United States Birds 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2017

Perch are a fresh water species of fish that are native to Europe and N. The Great Crested Grebe can be seen across much of the world, but not the Americas, which is a shame because you guys would love this bird. First there was the Glaucous-winged Gull and the starfish , next, the Neotropic Cormorant with a plecostomus catfish.

Fish 100

Fish Asia America Suffering 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. Birkhead knows that these are sensitive topics.

Dissection 212

Dissection Birds Research Europe 212

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 once knew a guy who kept and raised cats. I find it astonishing that people argue of whether feral cats are bad for birds in North America. Unless we put them there. Have you ever seen the Dryfus Lion?

Feral Cats 253

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 253

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. Troupials raise their own chicks, generally 3 to 4 per clutch, they just steal the nest in which they raise them.

Baltimore 175

Baltimore Broker North America Raised 175

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2013

The group has a worldwide distribution; 28 species living and two additional extinct. Both extinct species were island-dwelling and flightless, suggesting a propensity of the group to disperse over long distances , a characteristic that any birder in late summer is familiar with. Scarlet Ibis , photo by Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela.

Birds 206

Birds North America Charlotte New Jersey 206

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? And a mere 120 bird species would be a good reason not to take Polynesia as an option.

Sri Lanka 256

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 256

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Thanks to fortunate foresight, a lot of land was set aside in Costa Rica as national parks and protected areas (and some of these are easily accessed) but the best forest still happens to be at the terminus of the road and en route, you will be treated to species deficit birding in plenty of pastures. A pair of Shining Honeycreepers.

Costa Rica 240

Costa Rica San Jose Sharks Monkeys 240

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2020

Diversity of habitat means, of course, great biodiversity, and the Introduction boasts that Bolivia “is the richest landlocked nation on Earth for bird diversity, the sixth richest overall, and the fifth richest in the Americas” (p. That’s pretty amazing–Bolivia has more bird species than India! ″ x 9.5″x

Bolivia 169

Bolivia Birds Brazil Switzerland 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2011

I always thought it was funny even before I really got what a stoagie was, because there’s something inherently joyful about the chittering, chattering Chimney Swifts that circle just about every neighborhood in eastern North America. And the next day they’re gone, coursing over the skies of South America.

North Carolina 167

North Carolina Nashville South America Tennessee 167

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 199

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2011

I mention all of this because we in North America, especially the southern part of North America, have storks too. Wood Storks are an exceptionally old species, and its existence predates the last Ice Age, around 15,000 years ago, by tens of thousands of years more.

Pedigree 170

Pedigree North America South Carolina Brazil 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

Primarily, Lapwings are an Old World family with over 20 species including Australasia’s Masked Lapwing , Asia’s Yellow-wattled Lapwing and the Red-wattled Lapwing of the Middle East. Masked Lapwing Africa is the spiritual home of the Vanellus family, boasting as many as 14 species including the abundant Crowned Lapwing.

Brazil 129

Brazil Protection Family Africa 129

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Strangely, the Indian Peafowl is not mentioned on eBird’s Hotspot list which shows the 67 species that have been seen there. A few other remnants of the former collections might raise eyebrows in some circles. A few other remnants of the former collections might raise eyebrows in some circles.

Collecting 100

Collecting South America Blackbirds Adoptable 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2011

The song referred to is that of the Wood Thrush , one of the natural world’s most beautiful singers, and a familiar sound to anyone who has spent time in the forests of eastern North America in summer. Sadly, the thrushes that breed around my parents’ house are likely not very successful in raising young.

Tennessee 169

Tennessee North America New York Raised 169

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

While this allows for the delightful prospect of Thanksgivingakkah, with attendant turkey dreidels and whatnot, it does raise certain perennial questions of the nature of time itself, as applied to birding. Rosh Hashanah, the New Year of the Jewish calendar, has come relatively early season-wise this year.

Psychology 158

Psychology Livestock North America Adoptable 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

If the home birding patch is in Canada or the United States of America, it’s not really that far. We just had to stop on the way, even if briefly, at Cinchona, Cinchona- always an easy place for in your face views of hummingbirds and species that visit the fruit feeders. We raised bins, and voila, Collared Forest-falcon !

Costa Rica 121

Costa Rica Falcons Birds North Carolina 121

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Her narrator is Gabriel, 23, raised in Northern California by an American father and a Uruguayan mother. 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. With no great fondness for his tech job in the U.S., Gabe agrees to come along.

Uruguay 152

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 152

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

So, the 49 subject species include birds with interesting family behaviors that we might not see every day (Cedar Waxwing, Great Blue Heron, Peregrine Falcon), migrant songbirds (Tree and Barn Swallows, House Wren), and common, everyday birds (Northern Cardinal, Downy Woodpecker, and, yes, Rock Pigeon). Egg biology, from Part I.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

Even if we couldn’t find time to raise the bins at a favorite patch, it only takes momentary glances into the sky and hearing chip notes from the trees to remind us that birds are on the move. Such is the case of a large coffee field near home where I had seen good numbers of warblers, other migrant species, and resident birds.

Costa Rica 144

Costa Rica South America Tennessee 2019 144

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. I’ve family to raise and no time for modeling.”

South America 159

South America Eggs Family Raised 159

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2011

Like the breeding activity of many species this spring, the grebes were late, probably due to the unseasonable weather. Note the raised crests as the female (on the left) turns to face the larger male (on the right). v=v1XAFo_uVgk References: 1 Audubon California ; 2 Birds of North America Online a. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1XAFo_uVgk

California 214

California Eagles North America Breeding 214

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2011

For birders especially in America, this landscape will soon provide doom, destruction, death, and decay. If you are mildly interested, proceed and read the caption. Despite being taken in Europe, this image exemplifies why forest birding in North America might soon be rated NC-17. American birders, brace to receive catastrophe.

North America 145

North America Europe Asia America 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2022

FLAP is the Fatal Light Awareness Program, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and this is how they raise awareness. But, yes, there are photographs of dead birds and x-ray images of the damage done to individual birds and photographs of the annual FLAP display, as shown below. ’s Lights Out DC, to name a few.

New York City 249

New York City Birds Illinois Science 249

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2015

The previous set up made sure that you discounted 20 years of working in difficult jungle in remote countries to better understand and conserve rare and interesting species, and gets you ready to treat him like the truly arrogant monster he undoubtedly is. How it raised its chicks? One look at his bio and you know he’s trouble.

Collecting 157

Collecting Papua New Guinea Science Birds 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Private property holders with prairie/agricultural land can potentially make a big difference in maintaining and recovering populations of many of these charismatic species. Aside from being one of our best-looking birds, Golden-winged Warblers are one of North America’s most imperiled warblers. Shocking, I know.

United States 156

United States Protection Endangered Species North America 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

The idea of Lost Animals was conceived after the publication of Extinct Birds (2001), a 400-page, four-pound book on 75 extinct species. They would pause over them and just gaze, sometimes even raising the book towards their eyes in the vain hope that this action would allow them to see more. Other species are less known.

Animal 265

Animal Mammals Hawaii Dolphins 265

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2011

But still, there is variation in variation and how rapid climate change occurs can matter, as demonstrated in a paper just published in Science: The Influence of Late Quaternary Climate-Change Velocity on Species Endemism. Species diversity drops and the systems become very simple and uninteresting, and probably not very stable.

Penguins 194

Penguins Birds Cooking Fish 194

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2012

But, before Jerry Liguori’s wonderful photographic guides of Hawks at a Distance (2011) and Hawks from Every Angle (2005) and before Clark and Wheeler’s classic Field Guide to Hawks of North America (2nd ed., The original Hawks in Flight treated 23 raptors, the major hawks that migrate through North America.

North America 217

North America Bald Eagle Birds Eagles 217

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2011

Rufous Hornero , Furnarius rufus is an ovenbird from South America. A pair may stay together for many years if they manage to successfully raise young together, but they will commonly build a new nest for each season. The nests are solidly built and last many years, providing nesting sites for other species.

Argentina 150

Argentina South America Brazil Chickens 150