10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

Apparently, Longcanggou is a great place to see a variety of parrotbill species. I can only partly confirm this, with my sightings restricted to two species. Like many of the largest species within bird families, the Great Parrotbill looks somewhat plain, at least in the weather I encountered it.

Pandas 197

Pandas Birds Mammals China 197

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2022

I was surprised that this species is named for its vocalization – which sounds like laughter. For example, the Diamond Dove is the world’s second-smallest species of the columbidae order ( source ). The Latin species name haematonotus (“blood-backed”) sounds a bit more exciting but not necessarily more accurate.

Australia 147

Australia Birds Parrots Ostriches 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Not too many highlights, not too many species … hard to say whether this is just the usual nostalgia for a better but probably nonexistent past or a real phenomenon. This species is listed as vulnerable – similar to the Yellow-breasted Buntings, it is trapped on a large scale. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Birds 224

Birds Humane Japan Ducks 224

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Some differences in animal behavior are quite striking. According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch. It concludes that human activity influences the breeding activity of the lapwing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

After writing this last sentence, I looked up the species in the HBW and found the sentence “Song poorly documented” in the appropriate section, while with regard to calls, the description is that “call is a two-note raspy nasal ‘ryeeh-reh’”. The Hair-crested Drongo is a bit more common here.

Singapore 147

Singapore Birds Mountain Goats Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2022

Yes, sure, Rock Pigeons are not a vulnerable species, unless you count the number of times they have been mocked, scorned, and shooed away. They’re apparently not a sensitive species either, because this derision doesn’t seem to bother them at all! Watcha looking at, human?”

2018 206

2018 New York City Birds Abandon 206

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Such programs are somewhat inefficient anyway – in one study , the breeding success of wild male pheasants was 2-5 times higher than for hand-reared and released ones while for females, hand-reared birds were 3 times as vulnerable to predation as the wild ones. Apparently, there is a website just showing stamps depicting bird species.

Birds 186

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 186

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2021

As all my cats are indoor animals, I do not feel particularly responsible or guilty for this. On the other hand, in April, some other species start breeding here in Shanghai. Nearby, two Grey-headed Lapwings have apparently decided to stay in Shanghai and start preparations for breeding. Maybe the birds know something.

Birds 171

Birds Farming Alaska Breeding 171

10,000 Birds

APRIL 19, 2016

This often applies in animal behavior and ecology, and this often comes about in relation to predator pressure. For example, years ago, Eiton Tchenrov postulated that the wild progenitor of the domestic dog, some subspecies or another of wolf, could benefit from overlapping its breeding territory with human hunters.

Alligators 113

Alligators Protection Leopards Birds 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2014

It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. Most were introduced, meaning they were brought to Florida by humans. One such species is the familiar mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

Florida 199

Florida Ducks New Zealand Feral 199

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2018

Major extinction events that are geologically instantaneous have been followed by periods of time with reduction of species or unstable habitats that last for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. There are about 10,000 species of them, after all, which is a lot for a vertebrate. But, that is also a naive view.

2018 101

2018 Science Humane Species 101

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

There’s a new proposal before the American Ornithologists’ Union’s North American Classification Committee to split Painted Bunting into two species (yay! — maybe, more later) and to name the new species “Eastern Painted Bunting” and “Western Painted Bunting” (no!).

Mississippi 264

Mississippi Mexico Alabama North Carolina 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This is how it looks like: Or at sunset: A species I did not come for from Shanghai is the Black-crowned Night Heron. Not sure why they spend time in Shanghai in winter when they could come here though, but then again, I usually do not understand most of the behavior of humans either. Yes, we have them in Shanghai as well.

Birds 206

Birds Eagles Elephants Rhinoceros 206

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

The mechanism by which this is happening in at least some species of birds is very interesting. The breeding season is longer, starts earlier. ” This can also explain why advances in migration timing are not common among species migrating over long distances. Birds have been migrating earlier. ” GannetCam.

Taiwan 186

Taiwan Iceland United States Breeding 186

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. Other species have certainly expanded their ranges, but never in such a rapid and global scale. Cattle Egret has been introduced by humans to Hawaii and the Seychelles.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

However, in this post, I’d like to lay out the basic numbers as we pretend to know them about overall bird mortality, human related causes of mortality, and somewhere in there I’ll note that the number of birds that are killed by windmills is so small that it says “zero” on my pie chart. So keep that in mind.

Killing 274

Killing Cats Fish Birds 274

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Many of the great debates over human behavior, those related to things such as race or gender, are muddled and messy because plasticity is ignored. Plasticity in humans is probably modulated primarily through experience and enculturation. We know that animals can essentially lose their predator avoidance behaviors.

Birds 116

Birds Research Humane Pets 116

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2013

Its amazing to me that there are still places on earth where wildlife is blissfully unafraid of humans. It was made a National Park in the 1980s and is a major breeding and nesting area for over 30,000 seabirds. The frigates are by far the most numerous and evident of the island’s nesting species.

Whales 258

Whales Whaling Sharks Marine Life 258

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

The rise in drone popularity over the past few years has been meteoric — and in our typical human arrogance, we’ve once again ignored the fact that for the past 150 million years, the sky has belonged to the birds. Over time, it’s these physiological changes that can disrupt animals’ breeding or rearing habits.

Birds 180

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 180

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

In fact, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , “The Golden Eagle is the most common official national animal in the world – it’s the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.” The oldest known Golden Eagle was over 30 years old, and as a species they prefer open and semi-open landscapes.

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Eagles Kazakhstan 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

For some reason that I do not quite understand myself – given that I really rather dislike children and am not too positive about the rest of humanity either – I recently put up a little display of bird photos inside my Shanghai compound, which I share (as the only foreigner) with about 1700 Chinese. Some Birds of Shanghai.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

The vast majority of you reading this accept it is happening, and for the time being it is caused by humans. That said, there are many species we should be extremely concerned about. The Pika’s story is shared with a number of montane bird species. Climate Change. Their prey base just wasn’t there.

North America 209

North America Birds San Francisco Suffering 209

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2013

There are some seven birds among the 100 most endangered species on the planet on the list of fauna and flora listed as the rarest by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Zoological Society of London – and this morning, I am after one of those! You know the secret of how African park rangers find animals for tourists?

India 235

India Gazelles Endangered Species Pakistan 235

Animal Person

APRIL 1, 2010

I think of "old speciesism" as analogous to racism and sexism in that it is exploitation based on species. Meanwhile, "new speciesism" is the notion that within a paradigm where rights are included for nonhuman animals, some are more deserving of rights than others for any of a variety of reasons (e.g.,

Speciesism 100

Speciesism Apes Advocacy Salamander 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2018

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to some of the largest assemblages of breeding seabirds in the United States. Invasive species , particularly rodents, have long been a problem on the Hawaiian archipelago. Implementing mitigation measures identified for selected species. They are also disease vectors.

Mice 102

Mice Albatross Honolulu Endangered Species 102

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

However, ongoing research at Sia Essential Species Repository (see below) reveals this is not always the case, and that there are actually five phases between albino and leucistic. Jamie Lindstrom of the VCA Northview Animal Hospital in Pittsburgh, and Dr. Erica Miller, formerly of Tri-State Bird Rescue in Delaware.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 190

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Birds Delaware 190

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2011

By weird things I don’t mean human weird things, like for example wasting their time in wild places looking for unusual feathered animals and ticking them off a list, but things that fall outside of their usual repertoire of normal behaviour. It is easy to forget sometimes that birds can do weird things.

Albatross 176

Albatross Hawaii Seals Parrots 176

Animal Ethics

JUNE 7, 2016

In light of this horrible incident, is it right for the zoo to carry on a breeding program that subjects more animals to such unnatural lives? It is estimated that due to conflicts with humans, the bushmeat and body parts trade, disease and habitat destruction, large mammals in Africa may be extinct by the end of this century.

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles Gorillas Zoos Non Human 40

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

On the first day, before the sun was even properly up, I already had one of my target species under my belt: the storied and spectacular White Stork. Not only is Spain a stronghold for these birds, but they are hard to miss — huge, bright white, social, and not in the least shy of humans and human dwelling-places.

Spain 169

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 169

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

. … The ordinance would allow Minneapolis residents to establish cat “colonies” where abandoned and wild cats can be fed but also vaccinated, neutered and identified in an effort to humanely cut their population and control disease. Cats are domesticated animals that are not indigenous wildlife in North America.

Feral Cats 202

Feral Cats Feral Cats Minneapolis 202

Critter News

DECEMBER 12, 2009

Another animal dies at the Calgary Zoo and more questions are being raised about their practices. The Calgary Zoo is again under scrutiny as details emerged Friday about how a capybara, a species of giant South American rodent, died after becoming caught in a hydraulic door last weekend as it was being moved from one area to another.

Zoos 100

Zoos Animal Welfare Welfare Elephants 100

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

And managing means killing them, breeding them, and otherwise fiddling with their populations. Here's the good news: This is a very readable explanation of how animals in the Hundred Heartbeat Club (there are 100 or fewer individuals in the wild today) got to be in the club. This is all very unveganly, but I went for it nevertheless.

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. They feed on animal plankton and build their nests by burrowing in the dirt on offshore islands. That means crows join humans, apes and monkeys in exhibiting advanced relational thinking, according to the research.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

Animal Person

MARCH 18, 2009

The New York Times presents us, this morning, with "Equine Alternative" regarding the recent discovery that horses decided to allow themselves be domesticated by humans for our mutual benefit, earlier than we had thought (3500 BC, and we preciously thought it was more like 2500 BC). Forgot to hit "publish now" on this. Let's leave them alone.

Experience 100

Experience Experiments Horses Transported 100

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 198

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 198

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

No one in the room–neither dog nor human–can tell which cup hides the biscuit. Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. “Humans are unique. See a video on how dogs think like us.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2011

While we continue to decimate our short and tall grass prairies many species reach their inevitable peril. Here in Colorado many species are affected, but perhaps none more than our beautiful Mountain Plovers and Ferruginous Hawks. I feel blessed to live in Colorado where I can see these beauties in migration and breeding.

Prairie Dogs 162

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 162